Global diary
A comprehensive record of recent events around the world
Thursday January 16
INDIA: India’s oldest team, Mohun Bagan, will merge with another Kolkata-based side, ATK, and play in the Indian Super League next season. Bagan are currently top of the rival I-League, which they have won four times, but club general secretary Swapan Sadhan Bose says: “As much as we want the romance of the maroon-andgreen jersey and it’s130-year-old tradition to continue, there comes a time when romance almost invariably requires a partner named practicality.” Officials reveal that the name of the new merged club will have elements of both sides when launched in June.
Friday January 17
CYPRUS: All league games are suspended this coming weekend as referees protest at bomb damage to an official’s car in Larnaca. The Cyprus Football Association describe the attack on Andreas Constantinou’s vehicle as an “act of terrorism”.
PORTUGAL: Benfica beat Lisbon rivals Sporting 2-0 to set a new Primeira Liga record of 17 away wins on the trot. Substitute Rafa Silva gets both goals and now has 11 in his last 13 league games.
QATAR: Al Sadd win the Qatar Cup for a seventh time, beating Al Duhail 4-0 in the Final with goals from Nam Tae-hee, Baghdad Bounedjah (two) and Akram Afif.
UAE: Al Nasr beat holders and city rivals Shabab Al Ahli 2-1 in the UAE League Cup Final.
Saturday January 18
GERMANY: Signed from Red Bull Salzburg for €20m, 19-year-old Erling Haaland comes off the bench with his new side trailing 3-1 at Augsburg and scores a hattrick in 23 minutes as Borussia
Dortmund win 5-3. “I am pretty relaxed about it, I don’t really know why,” says Haaland. “I’m at a fantastic club with great teammates and good people around me. I came here to score goals and it was a good debut for me.”
Sunday January 19
CYPRUS: Police arrest a 30-yearold player in connection with a probe into alleged match-fixing in Cyprus’ second-tier league and cup games.
FRANCE: Souleymane Camara sets a new club record with his 430th appearance for Montpellier when he appears as sub in a 5-0 win over Caen in the Coupe de France.
Monday January 20
BRAZIL: Real Madrid sign 18-yearold Brazilian midfielder Reinier from Flamengo for €30m.
ITALY: After being fined €20,000 and having a section of their Stadio
Olimpico stands closed after their supporters made fascist salutes during a Europa League game against Rennes, Lazio contact individual supporters demanding that they pay the club €50,000 in damages. In a letter to those the club has managed to identify, Lazio president Claudio Lotito writes: “Quite apart from the penal aspects of your behaviour, this also inflicted serious economic damage on the club, which between missed ticket sales and the fine, counts for at least €50,000.” He went on to add: “As only the fans identified are responsible for the damage to the club, we invite you to contact us so that you can agree a method of payment to reimburse Lazio.”
Tuesday January 21
RUSSIA: Alexander Kokorin, who was released from jail in September but has not played since rejoining Zenit, signs for relegation-threatened Sochi on loan until the end of the season. He served almost a year in prison after he assaulted the chauffeur of a TV presenter and two government officials during a drunken night out.
SPAIN: Former Osasuna director Angel Vizcay tells a judge the club made payments to opposition players to fix games in an attempt to keep Osasuna in La Liga. They escaped relegation in 2013 but finally went down in 2014.
Wednesday January 22
FIFA: A record £5.6billion was spent in 2019 on transfers in men’s football according to a FIFA report,
which is an increase of more than 5.8 per cent on the previous year. English clubs were the biggest spenders with £1.5bn.
Friday January 24
CYPRUS: The car of Aris Limassol president Yiannakis Panayi, whose side are top of the Second Division, is damaged in a bomb attack at his home. It is unknown if the incident is related to Aris being involved in one of the four second-tier matches being investigated for suspicious betting activity.
GERMANY: Erling Haaland makes it five goals in two games, scoring twice more as a sub as Borussia Dortmund beat Cologne 5-1.
Saturday January 25
CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: With a 2-2 draw at home to Moroccan side Raja, Esperance set a new record in the competition of 20 games without defeat.
ITALY: Torino concede seven
goals at home in Serie A for the first time, losing 7-0 to Atalanta. PORTUGAL: Ricardo Horta gets a late winner as Braga beat Porto 1-0 to win the Taca da Liga Final.
Sunday January 26
CHINA: Group B of the Asian Women’s Olympic qualifiers in February is moved to Australia from Wuhan, following the outbreak of Coronavirus. The previous day’s Super Cup game between Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai Shenhua was postponed.
ITALY: Lazio’s club record 11-match winning run ends with a 1-1 draw against city rivals Roma.
Wednesday January 29
ENGLAND: Everton turn down an offer of £85m from Barcelona for Brazilian striker Richarlison.
Thursday January 30
CHINA: The Chinese Football Association postpones all domestic football due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus which has killed up to 170 people so far, with 7,711 confirmed cases of infection.
Friday January 31
ENGLAND: Only £25m is spent by Premier League clubs on transfer deadline day – the lowest figure since 2010.
Saturday February 1
GERMANY: Borussia Dortmund beat Union Berlin 5-0 with two more goals from Erling Haaland who has now got seven in his three games for the club.
WALES: Connah’s Quay Nomads beat Cymru South side STM Sports 3-0 in the Welsh League Cup Final to secure a place in next season’s Scottish Challenge Cup.
Sunday February 2
ITALY: With two penalties in Juventus’ 3-0 victory over Fiorentina, Cristiano Ronaldo is on target for a ninth successive Serie A game and takes his tally to 10 goals in his last six appearances.
SPAIN: Fuenlabrada midfielder Cristobal Marquez is sent off twice in his side’s 2-0 defeat against Girona in the second tier. Shown a straight red card for a high challenge, he walked off the pitch, only to be called back when the referee looked at the pitchside monitor and changed his decision to a yellow. However, before play could restart Cristobal got into a confrontation with Girona’s Alex Granell and both players were
subsequently booked – resulting in Cristobal heading down the tunnel for a second time.
Monday February 3
ITALY: Gian Piero Gasperini is voted Serie A’s coach of the year by his fellow bosses after guiding Atalanta to a third-place finish last season and a spot in the Champions League for the first time in their history. Bologna’s Sinisa Mihajlovic is second with Massimiliano Allegri third after leading Juventus to the Italian title.
Tuesday February 4
GERMANY: Giovanni Reyna is on target for Borussia Dortmund in their 3-2 DFB-Pokal defeat by Werder Bremen and, at 17 years and 82 days, is the youngest scorer in the competition’s history.
SPAIN: Reports claim second-tier Malaga could be relegated due to their dire financial situation. It is said La Liga may force administration upon the club and that would see them demoted from the Segunda.
Wednesday February 5
KENYA: FIFA issues a life ban to Ugandan player George Mandela for his involvement in “match manipulation” while with Kenyan club Kakamega Homeboyz. Teammates Moses Chikati, Festus Okiring and Festo Omukoto are all handed four-year bans.
Thursday February 6
ENGLAND: Premier League clubs vote to bring the summer transfer window in line with the rest of Europe. Rather than close the day before the top-flight campaign begins, as has been the case for the past two seasons, the 2020 window will shut at 5pm on September 1.
SPAIN: For the first time since 2010 the Copa del Rey Final will feature neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid as they lost to Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad respectively in the quarter-finals.
Sunday February 9
ARGENTINA: A second division match between Independiente Rivadavia and Atlanta is abandoned when police say they are unable to guarantee spectators’ safety as armed fans fight on the terraces. The game is halted for 20 minutes when fighting breaks out before the match is eventually called off with the score at 0-0.
ITALY: After Juventus’ 2-1 loss at Verona the previous day, Inter
come from 2-0 down to beat Milan 4-2 and go top of Serie A.
Monday February 10
ITALY: Without any head coach experience at domestic level, former Italy under-21 boss Luigi Di Biagio becomes the first man to make the leap from working only with the national team set-up to leading a club in Serie A as he replaces Leonardo Semplici at SPAL until the end of the season. The club are bottom of the table, having won just four league games.
Tuesday February 11
CYPRUS: Defending champions APOEL fire coach Kare Ingebrigtsen after just 45 days in charge.
FRANCE: Ousmane Dembele is set to miss Euro 2020 after undergoing surgery on a hamstring tear.
GERMANY: Jurgen Klinsmann resigns as coach of Hertha Berlin after just 76 days in charge.
PARAGUAY: After being released by Turkish side Kayserispor for personal reasons in December, Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor joins Olimpia, where he is reunited with former Manchester City teammate Roque Santa Cruz.
SPAIN: Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas is reported to be set to run against Luis Rubiales in the next elections for Spanish FA president.
Wednesday February 12
USA: MLS newcomers Inter Miami could be forced to change their name after losing the first part of a legal dispute with Internazionale. The Serie A side are suing for trademark infringement, and claim the term “Inter” is synonymous with them and no one else.
Thursday February 13
FRANCE: Fourth-tier Epinal’s run in the Coupe de France is over as they lose 2-1 to Saint-Etienne in the quarter-finals. Fellow Championnat National 2 side Belfort also went out of the competition at the lasteight stage, losing 3-0 to Rennes on Tuesday.