By Andrew Warshaw
October 20 – The head of the umbrella body representing European leagues went back on the offensive today over the gap between rich and poor saying it would be a “real disaster” if UEFA fails to address future competitive balance in its club tournaments.
October 20 – Manchester United pocketed €44.5 million of the more than €423.1 million in payments from UEFA for winning the 2016/17 Europa League. 56 clubs shared in the payments that were increased from the €411.1 million distributed in 2015/16.
October 20 – FIFA says it has struck a deal which it hopes will lead to world players’ union FIFPro withdrawing a legal complaint against the transfer system at the European Commission (EC).
October 20 – Danny Jordaan, the public face of the 2010 South Africa World Cup and head of his national association, has sensationally been accused of rape by a well-known singer and one-time parliamentarian.
By Paul Nicholson
October 20 – A Brooklyn federal judge has granted the request by prosecutors to keep juror names secret and for the jurors to be sequestered during the trial of Jose Maria Marin, Juan Angel Napout and Manuel Burga – the former bosses of Brazilian, Paraguayan and Peruvian football – whose trial begins on November 6.
October 20 – Amid the euphoria of beating Olympiakos 3-1 on Tuesday despite playing a large chunk of the game with 10 men, Barcelona fans unveiled a massive banner reading ‘Dialogue, Respect and Sport’ before kick-off, calling for a resolution to the political crisis between Catalonia and the Spanish central government.
October 20 – The British government’s sports minister has stepped into the debacle over racial comments made to two England women internationals by urging the English FA to improve its handling of discrimination claims.
By Mark Baber
October 20 – Nigeria’s FA has agreed a budget of N6.3 billion ($17.5 million) for 2018, with the focus being on Russia 2018 following the national team’s successful qualification for the World Cup.
October 20 – The Danish Football Association (DBU) says it has reached a “partial agreement” with the women’s national team over a long-running pay dispute, paving the way for the team to play the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Croatia on Tuesday.
October 20 – The search for a suitable venue for the Asian Cup qualifier between Malaysia and North Korea in November has been partially resolved with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirming the game will take place on neutral ground – without for the moment saying where.
October 20 – Everton are the dirtiest team to have played in the Premier League since it was formed in 1992. The Merseysiders have collected more ‘dirty points’ that any other club and are almost 700 points ahead of second placed Chelsea.
October 20 – Iconic rock band The Rolling Stones have combined with Paris Saint Germain to launch a limited-edition capsule collection which will launch exclusively withinthe legendary Parisian fashion boutique Colette.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 19 – The reputation of English football bosses has plummeted to an all-time and potentially fatal low following a grovelling apology to former England women’s internationals Eniola Aluko (pictured) and Drew Spence for racial comments made to them by former manager Mark Sampson.
October 19 – Despite insisting it would abide by FIFA’s decision, South Africa has submitted documentation to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) supporting Burkino Faso’s appeal challenging FIFA’s decision to replay the South Africa-Senegal World Cup qualifier.
October 19 – Nasser Al-Khelaïfi (pictured) the under-fire Qatari boss of beIN Sport Media who is at the centre of corruption allegations over World Cup TV rights, has agreed to meet next week with Swiss prosecutors who brought the case.