By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – As Qatar’s relationship with its Gulf neighbours grows ever more tense, the man leading the country’s 2022 World Cup preparations has re-iterated, not for the first time, that his country has nothing to do with terrorism and is in fact leading the fight against it in the region.
November 13 – The career of former France captain Patrice Evra has been plunged into disgrace with the veteran defender thrown out of European competition by UEFA until the end of June next year for his infamous kick on one of his own Marseille fans in a Europa League tie at Guimaraes earlier this month.
November 13 – CONCACAF, the confederation for North, Central America and the Caribbean, will hold its third annual Women’s Football Day on Saturday, November 18.
By Paul Nicholson
November 10 – The stand-off in the blockade of Qatar by its Gulf neighbours has inevitably dragged the hosting of the 2022 World Cup into the geo-political mix with news that the United Arab Emirates has a plan to attack Qatar’s currency and devalue its economy. Alongside the financial warfare sits a PR offensive designed to destroy confidence in the Qatari economy and change the hosting status of 2022.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 10 – FIFA has been urged by its own advisory board on human rights to step up monitoring risks to those working on construction sites at World Cup venues in Russia and Qatar.
By Paul Nicholson
November 10 – Amazon and Manchester City have now officially announced a ‘multi-part’ documentary series that will go behind the scenes at the club and will air exclusively on Prime Video next year across 200 territories worldwide.
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.
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.
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.
November 10 – Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven have extended their partnership with iFOREX as an Official Sponsor of the club for the 2017/18 season.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.