November 1 – Manchester United have said they are “cooperating fully” with a review into historical sex abuse by the English FA after allegations against former club employee Billy Watts, who died in 2009.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – The murky business of World Cup bidding has been thrust back into the spotlight by leaked emails which claim to offer a blueprint of how Russia could bribe FIFA’s most senior officials to vote for them to stage the 2018 tournament.
October 31 – Celtic and Lazio have been charged by UEFA after fans participated in “illicit chanting” during the Europa League group clash between the two teams last week.
By Paul Nicholson
October 31 – The esports business is expected to generate $1 billion of income this year, rising to $5 billion annually in five years time. It is an income growth wave that football has been keen to catch, but a report by the KPMG Football Benchmark team argues that the attraction of football to esports should not be solely about revenue generation.
October 31 – As Osasuna socios ask their board to rethink the club’s shirt sponsorship by Kirolbet, so betting company activity in football is also focussing minds in Belgium where the Belgium Gambling Commission (BGC) has opened an investigation into Jupiler Pro League club KAA Gent.
October 31 – FIFA has launched a new web-based legal portal that will hold detail and documents of FIFA’s legal and compliance activities including disciplinary decisions handed down from its ethics bodies as well as information on procedures.
October 31 – Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg has broken the goalscoring record in the Women’s Champions League, becoming the competition’s all-time top scorer with 53 goals following a brace on Wednesday against Denmark’s Fortuna Hjorring.
October 31 – In a highly unusual move, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has threatened to pull his team out of the League Cup competition due to fixture congestion.
October 31 – AS Roma have teamed up with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport until June 2021.
October 31 – An independent review of one of English football’s most respected anti-discrimination organisations, Kick It Out, has found a series of governance shortcomings including “failures of communication” concerning how it handled an allegation of sexual assault made by a member of staff in 2017.
October 31 – Bury FC, the first English professional team to go out of business for 27 years, have been given a 35-day extension after a winding-up petition was adjourned in the High Court.
October 30 – English anti-discrimination campaigners have denounced UEFA for failing to throw Bulgaria out of the competition, or at least dock points, as punishment for their fans’ racist abuse of England players in the recent Euro 2020 qualifier between the sides.
October 30 – FIFA’s decision to expand the Club World Cup and play it in June 2021 has been attacked by Togo’s veteran French coach Claude le Roy who says it will “kill” the Africa Cup of Nations.
By David Owen
October 30 – Wolves chairman Jeff Shi has confirmed that a stake in the resurgent Midlands club is up for sale, while disclosing that the Chinese-controlled outfit made a profit of roughly £20 million in 2018-19.
October 30 – Conmebol is still maintaining that the final of the Copa Libertadores will be go-ahead as planned in Santiago, but wants to clarify the situation in a meeting with the Chilean president Sebastian Pinera amid the ongoing social unrest in the country.