Royal Roundup: It’s RSL’s kit reveal day!

Here’s your news from the soccer world for Friday.

INTERNATIONAL

• In a blow to Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League hopes, Brazilian superstar Neymar is out for the next 4 weeks with a left adductor injury. [SportsLens]
• Bayern Munich beat Tigres UANL 1-0 to win their 2nd Club World Cup. [FIFA][Concacaf]
• The coach for EPL’s Newcastle United revealed on Thursday that he and others have received online death threats. [Guardian]
• Egypt’s Al Ahly shocked Brazil’s Palmeiras 3-2 in penalty kicks to win 3rd place in the Club World Cup. [FIFA]
• The new Canadian Premier League has a money problem. [24thMinute]
• Rachel Daly has been called up to the England Women’s National Team camp. Daly currently plays for Houston Dash in the NWSL. [NWSL]
• The English Premier League, Football Association, Players Unions and other groups have sent an open letter to Twitter and Facebook CEO’s to take responsibility for abusive content being spread on their platforms. [Guardian]

“Online abuse is not a UK problem, it’s a world problem. This is happening to NBA players, NFL players, other sports people and other celebrities. So for me there’s a global need for change, a global desire for change and so the fact that [the tech platforms] are domiciled in the US frankly should be irrelevant.” - Edleen John, FA Director of equality, diversity and inclusion.

USA

• 5 NWSL players tested positive for COVID-19 after the league conducted over 600 tests in the first week of pre-season. [NWSL]
• American youth Brenden Aaronson scored his first goal for Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday. The Bulls would go on to beat Vienna 3-1. [SBI]
• Fort Wayne Indiana has approved a $150 million soccer-centric development project in hopes of securing a USL League 1 expansion team. [SSD]
• The pandemic, coupled with some unfavorable conditions in the NWSL have pushed many of the top Women’s Soccer players abroad. [Emory]

MLS

• Due to the delay in negotiating the new CBA, the MLS season is being pushed back 2 weeks from it’s originally announced date, the new start date will be April 17th. [USAToday]
• Three MLS players have been called up for the Costa Rican National Team camp for Olympic Qualifying. [MLS]
• 10 year MLS veteran CJ Sapong has finally been picked up as a free agent by Nashville SC. [USAToday]
• The rumor mill is churning that the Vancouver Whitecaps - unable to play in their home stadium due to pandemic travel restrictions, will play their home games at Utah’s Rio Tinto Stadium. [Canoe] Meanwhile, Toronto FC is considering the Tampa Bay area for their home games. [Canoe]
• Commissioner Don Garber has announced that the league is likely to lose close to $1 billion during the 2021 season due to the ongoing pandemic. [SBI]
• FC Cincinnati’s new stadium will be ready to open in mid-May. [Cincinnati]
• MLS teams in the Concacaf Champions League found out their opponents during the draw on Wednesday night. [SBI] The bracket is below showing several possible MLS/LigaMX clashes in the Quarterfinals.

Concacaf

UTAH

• The Utah Royals Arizona youth team has joined the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) for the 2021 season. [SoccerWire]
• Utah Valley University has announced the signing of a letter of intent for goalkeeper Jason Smith, currently the starter for Barça Academy’s U19 MLS Next and UPSL Team. [SoccerWire]

VIDEO

It’s Real Salt Lake’s 2021 kit reveal day! 8 AM through the RSL homepage and social media accounts.