November 17 – A group of Palestinian footballers played a Basque country team on Saturday in a friendly match in front of 50,000 fans, coloured by political overtones linked to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
November 7 – Lionel Messi has responded pointedly to Cristiano Ronaldo’s claim that winning the World Cup does not define greatness – calling the triumph “the ultimate achievement” for any footballer – as the Messi vs Ronaldo debate rears its head once more.
November 7 – What do you give to the man who has everything? In the case of Lionel Messi, it’s the keys to the city of Miami.
November 4 – The Fifpro Women’s World XI remains one of football’s highest individual honours as it recognises excellence by players, for players. This year, the Lionesses of England have dominated, with six players making the World XI.
October 30 – Heineken’s official beer sponsorship of the Champions League that began in 1994 looks set to end after Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev announced it was in exclusive negotiations for the rights to all UEFA’s men’s club competitions.
October 17 – The much-hyped Villarreal–Barcelona LaLiga game that may, or may not, take place in Miami this December has once again descended into confusion and contradiction.
October 14 – UEFA has officially launched the media rights tenders for its men’s club competitions via its new partners UC3 and newly formed US agency Relevent Football Partners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Relevant, the sports marketing group behind the staging of the controversial LaLiga regular season match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami on December 20.
October 10 – Not US President Donald Trump, but María Corina Machado has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
October 10 – Under the jurisdiction of US president Donald Trump, politics and sports do mix as demonstrated by Argentina’s friendly against Puerto Rico, which was scheduled for Chicago next week, being moved to Florida, as a sweeping immigration crackdown has left Chicago on edge.
October 1 – World players’ union FIFPRO has re-established a player council to include footballers in shaping decisions.
September 29 – Turkey has called for Israel to be suspended from football, becoming the first UEFA member association to publicly and formally do so.
In a letter to UEFA and FIFA, Turkish Football Federation (TFF) president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu called the situation in Gaza “inhumane and unacceptable” and demanded that Israel be suspended as pressure grows on football’s governing bodies to act.
September 28 – The UN has blacklisted a construction company owned by Real Madrid’s Florentino Pérez, the president of Real Madrid, for operating in occupied Palestinian land using local resources to build infrastructure that helps sustain Israel’s illegal settlements.
September 12 – Bulgarian top tier club Spartak Varna continues to struggle for survival following the departure of the club’s previous owner departed following a dispute with the team’s fans.
September 10 – Paris tops a 2025 ranking of sports cities worldwide but hosting major football events and the upcoming 2026 World Cup is proving a driver of cities up the ranking of cities with the strongest association with sport.
September 3 – Grimsby Town have been fined £20,000 by the English Football League (EFL) after fielding an ineligible player, Clarke Oduor, during their dramatic Carabao Cup upset against Manchester United last week. The Mariners eventually knocked out Rubin Amorin’s Red Devils 12–11 on penalties, after surrendering a 2–0 lead in normal time.