Global diary
Stories from the four corners of the football world
Saturday September 12
EUROPE: Top-flight football returns to England and Spain with the kick-offs of the 2020-21 Premier League and La Liga seasons.
THAILAND: Domestic action returns to Thailand for the first time in more than six months as the Thai League 1 gets underway.
SOUTH AFRICA: Mamelodi Sundowns complete an historic treble by beating Bloemfontein Celtic 1-0 in the final of South Africa’s Nedbank Cup.
Sunday September 13
BRAZIL: Chapecoense are crowned champions of the 2020 Catarinense State Championship after beating Brusque 1-0 (3-0 on aggregate), nearly four years after the plane crash that devastated the club.
Monday September 14
NETHERLANDS: Feyenoord become the latest club to sign up to a behind-the-scenes documentary, which will be shown on Disney+.
ASIA: The AFC Champions League resumes, with reigning champions Al Hilal defeating Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan 2-1 with a 97th-minute winner.
SOUTH AMERICA: The Copa Libertadores restarts six months after it was first postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.
ENGLAND: Jack Grealish signs a new contract at Aston Villa, as does striker and captain PierreEmerick Aubameyang at Arsenal.
SCOTLAND: Anthony Stokes is released by Livingston just four weeks after signing.
Wednesday September 16
ENGLAND: English National League side Macclesfield Town are issued a winding-up order.
ITALY: Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo completes his coaching badges, finishing second in his class.
GERMANY: RB Leipzig contact FIFA, alleging that Leeds United owe them €21 million for the transfer of Jean-Kevin Augustin.
SUDAN: After almost six months of stoppage due to coronavirus, the 2019-20 Sudan Premier League resumes with matchday 26 fixtures.
Tuesday September 15 Thursday September 17
USA: MLS expansion team St. Louis City SC set a new league record by receiving 50,000 season-ticket deposits on their first day.
FIFA: The latest FIFA rankings are revealed, with Belgium remaining top. Russia are the biggest movers, moving six up places.
FRANCE: Former France defender Daniel Charles-Alfred dies.
Friday September 18
ITALY: American tycoon Kyle Krause acquires a 90 per cent stake ownership of Parma.
GERMANY: Defender Neven Subotic leaves Union Berlin after spending 11 of his last 12 seasons in the Bundesliga.
ITALY: Italian regions begin to open stadiums to small crowds.
EGYPT: Al Ahly extend their run of Egyptian league titles to five by winning the 2019-20 campaign – their 42nd in their history.
Saturday September 19
Sunday September 20
CAMEROON: Ephrem M’Bom, left-back at the 1982 World Cup, passes away.
USA: In Montreal Impact’s clash with Philadelphia Union, Romell Quioto scores after five minutes, then gets sent off ten minutes later.
TUNISIA: Esperance win their fifth Tunisian Super Cup title, beating rivals CS Sfaxien 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw.
ENGLAND: Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan tests positive for COVID-19.
Monday September 21
VIETNAM: Hanoi FC win the Vietnamese Cup final with an 88th-minute winner to defeat Viettel 2-1.
SIERRA LEONE: The government and football association jointly announce that both the men and women’s teams will receive equal pay.
ITALY: Referee Daniele De Santis is found dead in his apartment, along with his partner.
PORTUGAL: Sporting rename their youth academy the ‘Academia Cristiano Ronaldo’. Meanwhile, former Boavista and Portugal midfielder Jaime Alves passes away aged 55.
Tuesday September 22
ITALY: Serie C players announce that they will go on strike in protest at the introduction of 22-man squads.
CONCACAF: It’s announced that the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals and final, will be moved from March to June 2021 in the USA.
ENGLAND: West Ham manager David Moyes, plus Hammers players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen, all test positive for COVID-19.
Wednesday September 23
ASIA: Defending champions Al Hilal are kicked out of the AFC Champions League after coronavirus forces them to name a starting line-up of just nine players with two goalkeepers on the substitutes’ bench.
GERMANY: Mainz players boycott training in protest over the treatment of team-mate Adam Szalai, who was told to train away from the first team after being transfer listed.
PORTUGAL: The world’s richest footballer, Faiq Bolkiah – son of the Prince of Brunei with an estimated net worth of $20 billion – joins Maritimo.
ENGLAND: Kai Havertz scores his first Chelsea goals with a hat-trick in a 6-0 EFL Cup third round victory against Championship side Barnsley.
Thursday September 24
HUNGARY: Bayern beat Sevilla 2-1 after extra-time in the UEFA Super Cup. Leon Gortezka cancels out Lucas Ocampos’ third
minute penalty, before Javi Martinez scores the winner.
BRAZIL: Flamengo coach Domenec Torrent tests positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases at the club to 17, including several players and the vice-president.
ITALY: Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic tests positive for COVID-19. NORTH MACEDONIA: Tottenham Hotspur beat Shkendija 3-1 in their Europa League qualifier, but the game is overshadowed by Spurs boss Jose Mourinho successfully complaining to UEFA about the size of the goalposts before the game.
Friday September 25
USA: FC Cincinnati announce that they’ve formed a strategic partnership with German side Hoffenheim.
Saturday September 26
PARAGUAY: Cerro Porteno are crowned champions of the Paraguayan Apertura tournament after defeating River Plate 3-1.
GERMANY: Augsburg stun Dortmund by beating them 2-0 to go top of the league. Approximately 6,000 fans were allowed inside the stadium to watch the game.
ITALY: Internazionale score twice in the last three minutes to seal a thrilling 4-3 victory over Fiorentina, while Atalanta beat Torino 4-2 away in an exciting evening in Serie A.
Sunday September 27
ENGLAND: An extraordinary Premier League weekend, with Leicester winning 5-2 at Manchester City, Manchester United beating Brighton 3-2 with a penalty awarded by VAR after the final whistle had blown, and Chelsea recovering from a 3-0 deficit to draw with West Brom.
GERMANY: Bayern Munich’s 32-match unbeaten run is brought to an end by Hoffenheim in a shock 4-1 defeat.
Monday September 28
PAPUA NEW GUINEA:
Reigning champions Lae City FC finish top of the 2019-20 National Soccer League.
Tuesday September 29
TURKMENISTAN: Turkmenistan welcomes the return of
domestic football, with Altyn Asyr beating Ahal on penalties to win the Turkmenistan Super Cup after a 1-1 draw in Ashgabat.
EUROPE: In the Champions League qualifying play-offs, Olympiakos, Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros secure their places in the group stage.
Wednesday September 30
EUROPE: Midtjylland, Red Bull Salzburg and Krasnodar also book their places in the Champions League group stage.
QATAR: VAR is used in an AFC club competition for the first time, in the Champions League quarter-final between Al Nassr and Al Ahli Saudi FC.
GERMANY: Bayern Munich win their fifth trophy under Hansi Flick, beating Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in the German Super Cup.
Thursday October 1
KYRGYZSTAN: FC Dordoi are crowned champions of the Kyrgyz Republic for the 12th time after their 5-1 victory over fellow Bishkek outfit Alga gives them an unassailable six-point lead with one round remaining.
ENGLAND: Tottenham secure their place in the Europa League group stage after hammering Maccabi Haifa 7-2 thanks to a Harry Kane hat-trick. Meanwhile Arsenal beat Liverpool 5-4 on penalties in the EFL Cup.
PORTUGAL: Milan also seal their place in the Europa League group stage, requiring an astonishing 24-penalty shoot-out victory to see off Rio Ave.
UEFA: Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski is named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year, while new Chelsea signing Pernille Harder collect the Women’s gong.
Friday October 2
FRANCE: Neymar registers his first goals of the season in a 6-1 victory for Paris Saint-Germain over Angers.
Saturday October 3
MALAYSIA: Johor Darul Ta’zim wrap up their seventh consecutive Malaysia Super League title by beating Sabah 4-1 to move eight points clear with just one game to go.
ENGLAND: Everton’s perfect start to the season continues with a 4-2 victory over Brighton, with
goals from Dominic CalvertLewin, Yerry Mina and two for James Rodriguez putting the Toffees top after four games.
USA: DC United make an illegal substitution in a heavy MLS defeat to Atlanta United – bringing on Russell Canouse, who was not named on the official teamsheet – leading to a ten-minute sideline discussion involving the referees, officials and both benches.
Sunday October 4
ENGLAND: In another crazy
day in the Premier League, Tottenham beat Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford, before champions Liverpool lose 7-2 away to Aston Villa. GERMANY: Robert Lewandowski scores four goals, including a 93rd-minute penalty, in Bayern’s 4-3 win over Hertha Berlin.
FRANCE: Dimitri Payet scores then gets sent off three minutes later in Marseille’s 1-1 draw with Lyon. Meanwhile, Rennes’ winning streak is brought to an end by a draw with Reims, yet they remain
top of the table on goal difference.
ITALY: Atalanta’s strong start continues with another highscoring win, beating Cagliari 5-2. Elsewhere, two red cards are shown in Lazio’s 1-1 draw with Internazionale, while Juventus are awarded a 3-0 over Napoli with the latter also being docked one point for failing to fulfil the fixture.
SPAIN: Sergino Dest makes history by becoming the first American to play for Barcelona after coming off the bench in a 1-1 league draw with Sevilla.
Monday October 5
CHINA: Former China women’s national team head coach Hao Wei is named as successor to Li Xiaopeng at Shandong Lueng.
NIGERIA: American Randy Waldrum is named head coach of the national women’s team of Nigeria.
ENGLAND: Tammy Abraham, Ben Chilwell and Jadon Sancho are told to delay their arrival to the England squad after breaching lockdown rules to attend a party.
Wednesday October 7
FRANCE: Eduardo Camavinga becomes France’s youngest goalscorer in over 100 years in the 7-1 victory over Ukraine – the worst defeat in their history. 45-year-old keeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy comes out of retirement to appear on the bench after three other keepers tested positive for COVID-19.
ANDORRA: England U21s are held to a shock 3-3 draw by minnows Andorra after Christian Garcia scores a 91st-minute equaliser for the hosts.
Thursday October 8
FIFA: FIFA rejects Sevilla forward
Munir El Haddadi’s request to switch from Spain to Morocco.
EUROPE: Northern Ireland, Scotland and Slovakia book their places in the European Championship play-off finals thanks to penalty shoot-out wins, while Serbia also qualify by beating Norway 2-1.
SOUTH AMERICA: South American qualifying for the 2022 World Cup begins. Uruguay and Argentina both pick up wins, while Paraguay and Peru play out an action-packed draw.
INDIA: Bhawanipore kick off the 2020-21 I-League qualifiers with a 2-0 win over Bengaluru United, while Mohammedan Sporting Club strike in stoppage-time against Garhwal as competitive football finally returns in India.
Friday October 9
ENGLAND: Premier League announces plans to show all fixtures on television, but with an extra pay-per-view charge of £14.95 for selected matches.