Global diary
Storiesfromthefourcornersofthefootballworld
Friday June 26
OCEANIA: Australia and New Zealand win the race to host the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
PHILLIPINES: Former Chelsea academy graduate James Younghusband retires, following his brother Phil who ended his career last November. Both made over100 appearances for the national team.
Saturday June 27
GERMANY: On the last day of the league season, Werder Bremen beat Cologne 6-1 to climb out of the Bundesliga relegation zone and above Fortuna Dusseldorf into the play-off place. Hoffenheim defeat Borussia Dortmund 4-0 with all four goals from Andrej Kramaric, and Timo Werner scores with his final touch as an RB Leipzig player.
Sunday June 28
AUSTRIA: Red Bull Salzburg beat TSV Hartberg 3-0 to clinch the league title and complete a domestic double, having won the cup in May.
ITALY: Arthur has a medical in Turin and will join Juventus from Barcelona when the Champions League ends, with Miralem Pjanic heading in the opposite direction.
TANZANIA: Simba SC are crowned champions of Tanzania – the first African country to restart its league after a threemonth shutdown – despite being held to a 0-0 draw at home by mid-table Prisons FC.
Monday June 29
ITALY: Benevento beat Juve Stabia 1-0 to secure promotion to Serie A with seven games to spare.
Tuesday June 30
CAMEROON: The Africa Cup of Nations, which was scheduled to take place in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6, 2021, is postponed until January 2022.
GERMANY: With debts of around
€ 200m, Schalke face an uncertain future as billionaire backer and chairman Clemens Tonnies resigns after fan protests over his running of the club.
SPAIN: Lionel Messi’s goal in Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Atletico
Madrid is the 700th of his career, making him the seventh player in history to reach that milestone.
AFRICA: CAF confirms plans to launch a Women’s Champions League tournament, due to start in 2021. ASIA: The South Asian Football Federation Championship, due to begin in Bangladesh in September, is postponed for a year. Maldives won the last edition in 2018.
Wednesday July 1
BULGARIA: Lokomotiv Plovdiv retain the domestic cup, beating CSKA Sofia on penalties after a goalless draw, with winger Momchil Tsvetanov winning the competition for a record sixth time.
DENMARK: The cup final is suspended for14 minutes as fans refuse to obey social distancing. When play resumes, SonderjyskE go on to beat AaB 2-0 – with Anders Jacobsen scoring both goals against his old club – to claim their first major trophy.
ENGLAND: Fundraising campaign begins to raise money for a statue for Jack Leslie, who was denied an England call-up in1925 because he was black.
FRANCE: Lille owners unveil plans to add Boavista to their portfolio of clubs. UZBEKISTAN: Uzbekistan join India, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in contesting to host the 2027 Asian Cup. AFRICA: The FAs of both Ghana and Benin take the decision to cancel the 2019-20 season, having been on hold since March, with no champions declared.
Thursday July 2
ENGLAND: Manchester City give Liverpool a guard of honour ahead of the two sides’ game at the Etihad Stadium, then go on to beat them 4-0, with former Red Raheem Sterling on the scoresheet.
Friday July 3
ENGLAND: Arsenal are fined £34,000 by FIFA for inserting illegal, secret sell-on clauses for player transfers, following an investigation into the deals of Chuba Akpom to Greek side PAOK and Joel Campbell to Italian side Frosinone in 2018.
Saturday July 4
SPAIN: La Liga announces that they will ban betting companies from sponsoring shirts in the league.
JAPAN: The J. League returns with a 0-0 draw between defending champions Yokohama Marinos and Urawa Red Diamonds.
ITALY: Juventus win the Turin derby 4-1 against Torino, while Lazio are beaten 3-0 at home to Milan, inching defending champions Juve closer towards yet another Serie A title.
ENGLAND: Mason Greenwood scores his first-ever Premier League brace as Manchester United win 5-2 at home to Bournemouth.
PORTUGAL: Arsenio Rodrigues Jardim, better known as “Seninho” and the player who scored twice for Porto to eliminate Manchester United from the1977-78 European Cup-winners Cup, passes away at the age of 71.
Sunday July 5
QATAR: Xavi extends his contract at Al Sadd, with a reported clause that will allow him to join Barcelona if an offer comes in.