Governing Bodies
AS THE PREMIERSHIP RETURNS; THE DOS AND DON’TS
No spitting and no handshakes – the English Premier League season resumes on Wednesday (June 17) looking very different from three months ago.
Amid the coronavirus crisis, the league has issued detailed guidance before the big kick-off, stating: “Strict protocols have been put in place to ensure that stadiums are as safe as possible for everybody present.”
AFP Sport takes a look at the new rules in place:
STADIUM SAFETY
About 300 people will be allowed into stadiums for each of the remaining 92 matches of the season.
Grounds will be divided into three zones: red, amber and green. Each zone has unique protocols and procedures.
Only those who have undergone tests in the five days before a match can enter the red zone in any stadium, which includes the pitch, technical area, tunnel and dressing rooms.
Those individuals must have a “clinical passport” – a bar code that shows their most recent test result is negative – before being granted access.
PRE-MATCH
Players and staff are required to undergo daily screening for the virus.
Before leaving for a match, they must complete relevant checks for Covid-19 and report any symptoms.
Teams can travel to the stadium via car, coach, plane or train, but must do so in sterile environments and must observe social distancing.
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder, whose team visit Aston Villa in the opening game of the relaunch on Wednesday, said: “We are going on three buses. The main guys are on the first one, so you will see the team from who gets off first.”
Players and staff will be given a sterile route from their vehicles to the dressing rooms, which must have enough space to allow for suitable social distancing.
Teams will be encouraged to stagger their use of changing rooms. Showers can be used, as long as individuals remain socially distanced.
Sheffield United will not use the away dressing room at Villa Park and have instead been allocated a press room and players’ lounge to change in.
“We are changing in a big media room at Villa Park, not in the changing rooms and our players have to stay two metres apart when there is a break in play,” Wilder said.
At some stadiums, teams will use different tunnels. Where there is one tunnel, players and match officials will stagger their journeys to and from the pitch.
HYGIENE
Widespread disinfection will take place including of changing facilities, dugouts, matchballs, goalposts, corner flags and substitution boards.
People other than players and coaching staff on team benches must wear face coverings.
NO HANDSHAKES
When teams line up for the Premier League anthem, players will now stand in a staggered formation.
The traditional handshakes between the two teams will no longer happen and there will also be no handshakes at the coin toss.
Trainers’ benches will be expanded to enable social distancing during matches.
SPITTING BAN
Players have been told to maintain distancing during goal celebrations. No spitting or nose-clearing is allowed and players will use their own water bottles.
In the Bundesliga, Hertha Berlin defender Dedryck Boyata found himself in hot water last month after grabbing the face of team-mate Marko Grujic.
Boyata apologised, saying players had to “adapt” to the new rules.
Premier League players have also been told to avoid mass confrontations with opponents or match officials and to try to restrict interaction with opponents after the match.
-AFP
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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