Adidas unveils Telstar 18, the official 2018 World Cup match ball
By Mark Baber
November 10 – Adidas has revealed the official match ball for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, paying homage to the first-ever Adidas World Cup ball.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Handy game-changing decisions for Swiss that VAR would have caught
November 10 – Amidst growing debate over whether the formal introduction of video technology would prove counter-productive after of a string of poor judgements, Northern Ireland are ironically crying foul having seen their World Cup hopes take a dive because of two crucial decisions that almost certainly would have been overturned by the system.
ITUC’s Burrow hails Qatar’s ending of kafala as start of a ‘new era’
November 10 – One of the fiercest critics of Qatar’s record on workers rights has welcomed steps made by the Qataris to end the ‘kafala’ employment system in the country and says other Gulf leaders should copy Qatar’s lead.
St Petersburg official admits to $850k stadium scam
November 10 – A former deputy governor of St Petersburg has admitted to his involvement in an embezzlement scheme related to the construction of the city’s World Cup stadium.
Hong Kong fans keep up anti-China defiance with boos and banners
November 10 – Several hundred Hong Kong fans once again defied a Chinese law against disrespecting the national anthem when they booed the anthem at a match on Thursday.
iFOREX renew PSV sponsorship for second year
November 10 – Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven have extended their partnership with iFOREX as an Official Sponsor of the club for the 2017/18 season.
FIFA’s cartel culture ‘is foreign to the rule of law’, says Maduro
By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – The Portuguese official ousted by FIFA as its chief governance and electoral watchdog has blasted the organisation’s approach to political neutrality under Gianni Infantino as “shocking” and says there is no chance of reform from within because of its closed-shop mentality.
News analysis: Greek courts starts to unravel football allegations
By Lefteris Charalambopoulos
November 9 – An irreversible decision issued by the Council of Appeals Court Judges in Athens, Greece, charging 28 individuals of match-fixing, drops four charges against Evangelos Marinakis and puts an end to speculation and some wild allegations against the shipping magnate and owner of Olympiakos. It also raises questions about the depth of the malaise and infighting that plagues Greek football.
England’s young guns looking for a place to fire
When England won the recent under-17 World Cup to add to their under-20 triumph in June, one of my journalist colleagues (I wish I could take the credit) came up with a novel and intriguing idea.
Samoura stands FIFA solidly behind Johansen despite Sierra Leone corruption indictments
November 9 – The bitter in-fighting over who runs Sierra Leone football has taken a remarkable twist with FIFA intervening to overturn a decision by the country’s national FA to remove Isha Johansen (pictured left) from her role as president – right in the middle of a court case in which she is charged with corruption.
Indian crisis: Patel appeals ban, FIFA scream interference, but transgression list looks long
By Samindra Kunti
November 9 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its sidelined president Praful Patel (pictured) have challenged the Delhi High Court’s ruling that deemed Patel’s presidential elections invalid and taken the case to the Supreme Court with an appeal.
Hat-trick of annual profits for Sheikh Mansour’s Man City (just) as revenue hits £473m
By David Owen
November 9 – Manchester City, the Abu Dhabi-owned club whose multi-talented squad under Pep Guardiola already look like waltzing off with this season’s Premier League title, have reported a minuscule pre-tax profit of just £104,000 for 2016-17.
Billion dollar play-off. Peru playing for big stakes in 2018 qualification decider
November 9 – The 2018 World Cup play off between Peru and New Zealand could be worth at least $1.3 billion to the South American country if they are successful.
Exclusive: Marinakis opts to step down at Olympiacos but confident match-fixing charges will be dismissed
By Paul Nicholson
November 8 – Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis is to stand down as chairman of the club while the judicial proceedings regarding the match-fixing allegations against him are completed.
Wearing the shirt. An apolitical statement?
November 9 – A sensitive row has broken out over Spain’s kit for next year’s World Cup with designers Adidas accused of scoring an own goal.