Spurs open biggest club shop in Europe and plan on getting a Stadium for Christmas
October 25 – Tottenham Hotspur have made a statement of intent with the opening of the largest club shop in Europe at their new stadium.
Arsenal launch AI ‘Robot Pires’ to boost fan engagement
October 25 – Arsenal have launched a new chat tool, powered by artificial intelligence and operating across social media channels including Facebook Messenger, Slack, Sky and Telegram, that will give supporters easy access to the latest news, fixtures, results, videos, player stats and ticket information.
Lokeren coach Maes is charged by Belgian police in money laundering scandal
October 24 – Police have arrested Lokeren coach Peter Macs (pictured) in the latest move linked to the wide-ranging investigation into the damaging match-fixing and money laundering scandal hitting Belgian football.
Saudi partners SoftBank pull out of Riyadh summit raising questions over ‘morality’ of Infantino’s $25bn
October 24 – The geo-political financial partnership between Saudi Arabia and Japanese financiers SoftBank, rumoured to be the operators of the financial vehicle behind the $25 billion FIFA international calendar sell off, looks like it might have run into difficulties over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
Spanish FA boss Rubiales calls on FIFA to stop LaLiga’s Miami-bound caravan at the border
October 24 – The head of the Spanish FA, Luis Rubiales, hopes FIFA will try to block the controversial La Liga fixture scheduled to be switched to the United States in January when its Council meets this Friday in Rwanda.
Raji begins post-Bility Liberian FA financial clean-up and puts focus on youth programmes
October 24 – Newly elected Liberia Football Association (LFA) president Mustapha Raji (pictured), who took over from the controversial Musa Bility, says the country badly needs to step up youth development – starting with schools.
CSKA Moscow fans crushed as Rome escalator crumbles
October 24 – Authorities in Rome have launched an investigation after more than 20 people, mostly fans of CSKA Moscow, were injured when a crowded escalator suddenly speeded up and then collapsed.
Two Koreas are getting closer but not yet singing the same song
October 24 – As wrong anthems go, few have been more sensitive. South Korea’s players were astonished when organisers of their youth match against Jordan played North Korea’s instead.
Tebas fires broadside at opponents of plan to play Spanish league game in US
By David Owen
October 24 – La Liga President Javier Tebas has hit out at opponents of the Spanish league’s plans to play a top-flight match in the United States later this season, accusing them of “Puritanism”.
Clean-up begins as Somalia’s Stadium Mogadishu sees army exit and footballers enter
October 24 – The return of Somalia’s national stadium to football usage took a symbolic step forward this week with members of the government and the football federation leading a clean-up operation at the venue.
Reconstruction of Inter Milan continues with creation of women’s first team
October 24 – It has taken 110 years and a new Chinese owner, but Italian and European giants Inter Milan have finally have pledged to start a women’s first team.
Infantino takes whistle-stop tour of fast-completing Qatar 2022 infrastructure
October 24 – Qatar 2022 World Cup infrastructure was given a flying inspection visit by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, en route to the FIFA Council meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, later this week.
FIFA and Infantino bring the $25bn world game Saudi sell-off proposal back to Council
By Andrew Warshaw
October 23 – The global outcry surrounding Saudi Arabia in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi will be the elephant in the room when Gianni Infantino’s plans to radically change the game’s global landscape is discussed by the FIFA Council later this week.
Ronaldo ‘confident’ that ‘truth’ will triumph in Mayorga rape allegations
October 23 – Cristiano Ronaldo has broken his silence over the rape allegations against him saying his “lawyers are confident” and that the truth will come out.
Gravina takes Italian FA hot seat promising to relaunch the national game
October 23 – Italy has a new federation (FICG) president with Gabriele Gravina (pictured) elected on Monday almost a year after the departure of his predecessor.