Spectators are unlikely to be able to return to football stadiums until next year at the earliest due to the continued threat of the novel coronavirus, according to Jaume Roures, the head of Spanish media company Mediapro which broadcasts LaLiga. 

Roures, whose company also manages the international broadcasting rights for the Spanish top flight and broadcasts the Champions League, also predicts the end of colossal transfer fees for players due to the pandemic. 

UEFA's Euro 2021 Women's Championship, to be held in England, will be played one year later in July 2022, European soccer's governing body decided at an executive committee meeting on Thursday. 

The tournament was moved after UEFA's Euro 2020 men's competition had to be postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The opening match will be held on July 6 with the final on July 31. 

The global players' union FIFPRO says there has been a sharp rise in the number of players reporting symptoms of depression or anxiety since the sport was brought to a standstill by the COVID-19 outbreak. 

FIFPRO said that 22% of women players and 13% of men players who took part in a survey reported symptoms "consistent with a diagnosis of depression" such as lack of interest, lack of appetite, lack of energy and self-esteem. This compared to 11% and 6% respectively in a similar survey conducted in December and January. 

Last month's Rhine Derby between Borussia Monchengladbach and FC Koln should've been a high-spirited event. Instead, it was played in an eerily quiet, empty stadium as the Bundesliga played out its first game behind closed doors as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Now, the DFB (German FA) says playing in empty stadiums is the only way the competition could resume next month.

The novel coronavirus has crippled the global economy and devastated lives and families but Atlético Madrid and Spain midfielder Saúl Ñíguez believes there is a way out if people show solidarity with each other. 

With football on hold during the health crisis, Saúl, 25, has launched Saldremos Juntos (“We'll get through this together”), a campaign to boost Spain's freelancers and small businesses whose livelihoods have been bludgeoned by the pause in activity. 

Of Europe’s top five leagues, Germany’s Bundesliga remains on course to be the first to return to the pitch. All clubs have resumed training in small groups, and the league still expects to return on Saturday, May 9. 

However, Bundesliga chief executive Christian Seifert recently told the New York Times that although matches in the top two tiers would resume at the beginning of May, all the games would be played behind closed doors — a measure that’ll likely last through the remainder of the season.

The players and coaching staff at Serie A side AS Roma have agreed to go without four months' salary to help the club through the crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Serie A has been suspended since March 9 and it is not known if or when the season will be able to re-start. 

There is unlikely to be any relegation from the English Premier League if the season ends with no more play possible because of the coronavirus outbreak, Brighton and Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom has told British media. 

Premier League clubs met on Friday to discuss possible models for finishing the season but all options remained hypothetical after the U.K. government extended lockdown restrictions for another three weeks. Brighton were two points clear of the relegation zone with nine matches remaining when the league was brought to a halt on March 13. 

Barcelona coach Quique Setien is pessimistic that the Spanish top flight season will be able to be completed and has called LaLiga's conditions for the campaign recommencing "a non-starter" due to the continued threat of the novel coronavirus. 

LaLiga has been on hold since March 10 due to the pandemic although president Javier Tebas has said matches could start up again on either May 29, June 7 or June 28, most likely without spectators. Tebas has estimated Spanish clubs would lose around $1.09 billion if the season is not completed. 

The U.S. Soccer Federation said on Wednesday it was shutting down its youth development academy permanently due to the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

U.S. Soccer, the sport's governing body in the United States, said in a statement the decision to shutter the academy, which it founded in 2007 and included competitions across five age groups, was effective immediately.