By Paul Nicholson
October 25 – The FIFA Council meeting this Friday in Rwanda will look again at the proposed revised competition structure for the international calendar – a new Club World Cup competition, and a move towards some kind of Nations League. All underpinned by the elephant in the room of $25 billion of Saudi money.
October 24 – The geo-political financial partnership between Saudi Arabia and Japanese financiers SoftBank, rumoured to be the operators of the financial vehicle behind the $25 billion FIFA international calendar sell off, looks like it might have run into difficulties over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
October 24 – The head of the Spanish FA, Luis Rubiales, hopes FIFA will try to block the controversial La Liga fixture scheduled to be switched to the United States in January when its Council meets this Friday in Rwanda.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 23 – The global outcry surrounding Saudi Arabia in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi will be the elephant in the room when Gianni Infantino’s plans to radically change the game’s global landscape is discussed by the FIFA Council later this week.
October 19 – Tickets for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France go on sale this afternoon on FIFA’s website.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – His critics may describe his actions as verging on paranoia but banned former UEFA chief Michel Platini remains steadfast in his attempt to clear his name and prove he was the victim of a plot engineered by former FIFA officials.
October 15 – FIFA ethics committee judges have banned the former president of Dominican Republic’s federation for 10 years from all football-related activities at both national and international level.
October 15 – Just weeks after taking centre stage at FIFA’s much-trumpeted coaches forum in London to debate tactical and technical trends following the World Cup, Marco van Basten is leaving his role as the organisation’s chief technical development officer at the end of the month.
October 12 – Former FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi is fighting his ban from the global game at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The former Thai strongman is seeking to have the ban lifted as Thai FA elections approach.
October 10 – FIFA has launched a major initiative to expand the women’s game worldwide with the unveiling of the governing body’s first-ever ‘global strategy’ for the women’s game, with the aim of creating an international women’s club competition and doubling the participation of women in the game to 60 million by 2026.
By Samindra Kunti
October 8 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has launched another stinging attack on his successor Gianni Infantino, accusing the latter of “selling out the people’s game,” alluding to Infantino’s expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams and his mysterious $25 billion investment plan.
October 5 – FIFA’s competitions committee has proposed an increase in prize money for the upcoming Women’s World Cup in France next year. The amount of the increase has not been disclosed but the proposal has now been sent to the finance committee for review before it presented to the FIFA Council for approval.
October 1 – No rival candidate has yet come forward to challenge Gianni Infantino when he bids for re-election next year but if anyone does, African football will stand firmly behind the present incumbent.
October 1 – The British government says it would provide the necessary financial guarantees for a joint UK-Ireland 2030 FIFA World Cup bid.
September 26 – Watch out the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Juventus because FIFA have announced ground-breaking plans to limit the number of players a club can loan out each season to prevent top talent being hoarded.