By Paul Nicholson
October 30 – The final session of the International Football Arena (IFA) event in Zurich lived up to expectations, producing a passionate debate across a wide range of issues surrounding the hosting of big events. If the final verdict was that there is still a place for mega events, the conclusion was clearly that more needs to be done in communicating what hosting of the events will entail.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – As widely anticipated having ended his illustrious playing career, David Beckham has decided his next move: starting a Major League Soccer team.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – For the first time ever, FIFA plans to offer companies the opportunity to purchase regional sponsorship packages for the World Cup, starting with Russia in 2018 and Qatar four years later. Speaking at a post-LOC 2018 board meeting in Kazan, FIFA’s Marketing Director Thierry Weil confirmed the new commercial structure, highlighting the opportunities and value on offer.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – FIFA and Russia’s 2018 World Cup organisers have joined forces to play down Michel Platini’s idea of expanding the World Cup to 40 teams. The UEFA president made the proposal in a newspaper in which he suggested that all but one of the extra teams be drawn from continents other than Europe in an attempt to find a compromise to pacify Continents seeking greater representation.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
October 29- The head of European football’s leading anti-racism watchdog says kicking Russia out of club and national competitions could prove counter-productive in terms of teaching the country how to eradicate the abuse of black players.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 29- Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb, who heads the organisation’s anti-discrimination task force, says English football needs to seriously address the issue of coaching and management opportunities for retired black players and other ethnic minorities.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 29- Bayer Leverkusen’s controversial Bundesliga win over Hoffenheim will be allowed to stand despite Stefan Kiessling’s “phantom” goal that raised fresh debate over the need for goal-line technology.
October 29- Gareth Bale, the world’s most expensive footballer, has been named among the candidates for Fifa’s prestigious world player of the year award – along with several regular names.
October 29- Under the chairmanship of Fifa vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Asian football officials have concluded a high-profile round table in Jordan by recommending a series of proposals to boost the development of grassroots football in the region.
By Jake Gable
October 29 – The European Professional Football Leagues’ (EPFL) Best Practice Awards have recognised The Football League in England as its Golden Award winner at their ceremony in Paris.
By Matt Scott
October 28 – The FIFA World Cup would be expanded to a 40-team tournament under a proposal aired by Michel Platini today. UEFA’s president has responded to a plan discussed by Sepp Blatter, his FIFA counterpart, to cull the number of European teams competing at the tournament finals.
By Paul Nicholson in Zurich
October 28- The 15th International Football Arena conference was opened in Zurich today by FIFA president Sepp Blatter who, in front of an invited audience of 200 football business executives, said it was vital that the spirit of the game was maintained as “the game of the people”.
October 28 – Lionel Messi’s Argentina, the first country from South America to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals, have chosen Belo Horizonte as their training base camp well before the draw on December 6.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 28 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter will make a personal visit to the emir of Qatar on November 9 to discuss the treatment of migrant workers following highly publicised reports of severe labour rights abuses that have caused widespread embarrassment to organisers of the 2022 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 28 – FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, who has been acting as the organisation’s main trouble-shooter for next year’s World Cup in Brazil, says fans should not be put off from attending by the latest outbreak of violence in the country.