October 17 – The coach of Honduras has accused FIFA of being “inhumane” for scheduling the two legs of the World Cup playoff against Australia within five days of each other.
October 17 – Predictions that Tottenham Hotspur would break the Premier League’s 10-year attendance record in their clash against Bournemouth fell 2,600 fans short with Spurs only filling 81.67% of Wembley Stadium (73,502 was the official attendance figure) for their clash with Burnley.
October 16 – The UAE Pro League Committee (PLC) has engaged sports data and technology company Sportradar to collect and build stats-based content with the objective of building the fan base for the league in the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – Former FIFA number two Jerome Valcke, back in the firing line after months of relative silence, has strongly denied colluding with the boss of Paris St Germain and beIN Sports, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, over suspected corruption linked to 2026 and 2030 World Cup broadcasting rights.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – The United States are looking for a national coach once again after Bruce Arena as expected stepped down following the humiliation of the country failing to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986.
By Samindra Kunti in New Delhi
October 16 – Hosts India were eliminated from their first World Cup on home soil following a 4-0 trashing by Ghana. England, France, Brazil and Germany marched into the knock-out phase with ease.
October 16 – Morocco have been confirmed as replacement hosts of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN), beating off competition from Equatorial Guinea and Ethiopia.
October 16 – Former Ivory Coast star Yaya Toure says next year’s World Cup in Russia could be a watershed in FIFA’s efforts to stamp out racism.
October 16 – It isn’t every day that an international footballer ends up becoming president of the government of his country.
October 16 – Facebook have one, Netflix announced they are making one, and now Amazon Prime are joining the US OTT broadcast entry into fly-on-the-wall football docuseries with a Manchester City biopic.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 13 – In a stunning twist to their anti-corruption football probe, Swiss federal prosecutors have opened a criminal case against the Qatari boss of Paris St Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, for suspected bribery linked to World Cup broadcasting rights.
October 13 – Five Ecuadorian players have been suspended from the national side for indiscipline following this week’s 3-1 home defeat to Argentina which sent the visitors through to the World Cup finals.
October 13 – Switzerland’s Esther Staubli is set to make history by becoming the first European female referee – and only the second ever – to officiate in a FIFA men’s tournament.
October 13 – Viewing figures for Premier League football in the UK are showing a rebound in interest from the start of the season, after summer data showed that viewing figures for Sky’s Premier League coverage had slumped to their lowest point in seven years last season.
October 13 – Having initially announced that 2 million tickets had been requested with two days to go before the close of the first 2018 World Cup ticket sales window, FIFA has now confirmed more than 3.4 million requests.