By Samindra Kunti
October 6 – The All India Football Federation president Praful Patel (pictured) will roll out his master plan for Indian football to the FIFA Council at the end of the month in aim to underpin his bid for the U-20 World Cup. He has also expressed interest in bringing the Asian Cup to India.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 5 – Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have launched a three-nation bid to host the 2030 World Cup, the event’s centenary tournament.
By Paul Nicholson
October 5 – The value of broadcast rights will continue to rise driven by demand for premium content and spending power of the five digital giants from the US – Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft – and China’s Alibaba and Tencent, said Martin Sorrell, CEO of ad agency WPP.
October 5 – The financial rumour mill is again buzzing with talk that Mike Ashley could at last find a buyer at a price he would accept for Premier League Newcastle United.
October 5 – The list of potential host cities for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico has been further trimmed, this time to 32.
October 5 – FIFA must do more to combat the increasing incidents of homophobic chanting according to European football’s anti-discriminatory body FARE.
October 5 – English Premier League clubs have rejected a proposal to end equal distribution of overseas TV money and replace it with handing a greater share to those who finish highest in the table.
By Samindra Kunti in Delhi
October 4 – NTPC, Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited and Byju’s have completed the roster for the six national sponsorship slots for the U-17 World Cup in India, FIFA announced.
It was interesting to read my colleague Andrew Warshaw’s piece this week recounting Catalán sports minister Gerard Figueras’s thoughts on where the region’s top football clubs might play should the region achieve independence.
October 4 – Spain’s players say they are focused solely on Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Albania and that they are getting tired of being asked about teammate Gerard Pique’s outspoken stance on the independence referendum in Catalonia.
October 4 – English Premier League club chiefs are gathering in London today for what is being touted in some quarters as one of the most important meetings since the league’s creation in 1992.
October 4 – In a significant intervention over organisation of the World Cup, Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed concern over delays to preparations but says they are not yet “critical”.
October 4 – A section of Lazio’s stadium will be closed for two Serie A games following another outbreak of racist chanting by the Italian club’s fans during the 6-1 home win against Sassuolo last Sunday.
October 4 – Despite talk of luxury taxes, salary caps and squad limits, the financial reality is that top clubs can afford the ever-inflating costs of players and staff, according to latest research from the KPMG Football Benchmark team.
October 4 – The Premier League had another sold out weekend for Round 7 of the season with four clubs reporting over 99% of their stadium capacity full, eight clubs over 95% and all ten home teams over 90%.