By Samindra Kunti
November 4 – In a historic first, Egyptian hosts Wadi Degla and Mali’s AS Mande will kick off the maiden African Women’s Champions League on Friday, but question marks remain over the competition’s prize money, sponsorship and media visibility.
November 4 – Cash-strapped Barcelona are the latest club to enter the scramble to create NFTs, announcing a deal with Cyprus-based Ownix, a premium Ethereum-based NFT marketplace.
November 4 – An English fan who racially abused Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy has been sentenced to 10 weeks in jail.
November 4 – LaLiga has formally opened the bidding process for the domestic sale of domestic audiovisual rights, for the first time extending the license period from three to five seasons and increasing the number of packages of rights available.
November 4 – City Football Group has extended its global partnership with Nissan into a third term in a deal that coversManchester City, Melbourne City, New York City FC, Girona FC and Sichuan Jiuniu FC.
November 4 – FIFA has committed to new climate change targets at the COP26 climate conference, committing to reduce their carbon emissions and reach NetZero by 2040. Those pledges collide with FIFA’s plans for a biennial World Cup and the carbon footprint of the organisation’s own supremo Gianni Infantino.
November 4 – Online bookmaker Betway has signed a multi-year extension with Belgium’s Croky Cup, a sponsorship first signed in 2016.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 3 – After an investigation lasting almost six years, the former heads of FIFA and UEFA, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, have been charged with fraud over the infamous “disloyal payment” that brought the careers of both powerbrokers crashing down.
November 3 – Five Eritrean footballers from the women’s Under-20 national team have gone missing during a regional tournament in Uganda, raising concerns that they may have defected.
November 2 – City Football Group (CFG) have reportedly opened negotiations to acquire a 20% stake in Russian club Spartak Moscow.
November 3 – Forex CFD broker IC Markets, has signed partnerships with six La Liga Clubs for the current 2021/22 season. The financial trader also has six deals with clubs in Germany’s Bundesliga.
November 3 – Ajax have extended their main shirt sponsor Ziggo for a further two years, taking them through to at least 2025. Ziggo first sponsored the club in 2015.
November 3 – UK football charity, the Football Foundation, has launched its new ‘Power Up Your Grass Pitch’ campaign, with the ambition goals of reaching over 7,000 ‘good quality’ grass pitches by 2024 and 20,000 by 2030.
By Samindra Kunti
November 2 – Italy’s Antonio Conte has become the Tottenham Hotspur manager on a contract reportedly worth £20 million and taking him through to June 2023. He replaces Nuno Espírito Santo, the London club’s second consecutive Portuguese coach to be sacked.
November 2 – Sports marketing agency Sportfive has picked up the commercial rights to Nigeria’s top tier league and the country’s national teams in a two-year contract starting this year.