Glasgow to host regional round of legends 6-a-side format
October 5 – Glasgow will welcome a galaxy of football legends and three days of world-class six-a-side Football as the Star Sixes come to town in January.
$1bn Barca set new revenue records and promise there is more to come
By Paul Nicholson
October 4 – Barcelona have confirmed record revenues of €914 million ($1.05 billion) for the 2017-18 season, an increase of €206 million on the previous year. The club says it is on course to break the €1 billion mark by 2021.
Modric keeps hero status and out of jail as Croatian court clears him of perjury
October 4 – A Croatian court on Wednesday cleared against Croatia international and FIFA’s world player if the year Luka Modric of giving false testimony in a criminal trial.
Ronaldo takes to Twitter to proclaim his innocence of Las Vegas rage accusation
October 4 – Cristiano Ronaldo has issued a firm denial of the sexual assault allegations made against him by Kathryn Mayorga, an American woman, with whom Ronaldo went out in 2009 in Las Vegas.
AXA signs as Liverpool global partner with focus on Asian growth
October 4 – Premier League Liverpool have added insurer AXA as the club’s first Global Insurance Partner in what it describes as a multi-year deal. No value was given for the sponsorship.
Jose, look at the stats: Forget big squads, focus on low player turnover if you want to win
October 4 – Club squad sizes are irrelevant when it comes to the Big 5 leagues, according to new research data that found that for the last 13 seasons big-5 league clubs fielded on average 27.5 players per season.
Safe standing: Big 5 leagues would benefit for end to all-seater rules, says report
October 4 – A KPMG Football Benchmark study into the possibility of re-introducing standing-only for areas in stadia in the top divisions of England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain concludes that with the new safety measures available, the commercial and fan engagement opportunity for clubs merits a hard re-visitation of regulations in countries that still have a standing ban.
FIFA to boost women’s prize money for France 2019 World Cup
October 5 – FIFA’s competitions committee has proposed an increase in prize money for the upcoming Women’s World Cup in France next year. The amount of the increase has not been disclosed but the proposal has now been sent to the finance committee for review before it presented to the FIFA Council for approval.
Kashima Antlers and Persepolis edge first leg wins in ACL semi-final thrillers
October 3 – Kashima Antlers and Iranian giants Persepolis moved one step closer to an AFC Champions League title showdown after both sides earned narrow victories in the first leg of their respective semi-finals.
Former Al Hilal player Al Jaber is latest Saudi to take a tilt at the AFC presidency
By Paul Nicholson
September 3 – Saudi Arabia’s ambition to hold the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has seen a second Saudi declare he will run in the presidential election next year.
Ahmad says CAF have backed Cameroon for AFCON 2019 from the start
October 3 – Africa’s football chief Ahmad Ahmad is reported to have promised Cameroon’s president Paul Biya that CAF has “never thought about” stripping the country of hosting rights for next year’s African Cup of Nations.
Mutu £15.2m loss is a big win for Chelsea and for CAS’s integrity
October 3 – Former Romanian striker Adrian Mutu has been ordered to pay Chelsea £15.2 million after losing an appeal at the European Court of Human Rights, a landmark sum as the highest compensation figure ever set by FIFA in such cases. It is also an important judgement for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), endorsing its position as sport’s independent judicial process.
Guerrero’s storm over a teacup ends with a loss as Swiss court this time rejects doping appeal
October 3 – After a succession of twists and turns, Peru captain Paolo Guerrero has lost his final attempt to get his 14-month ban for a doping offence permanently lifted.
James Dostoyevsky: Laughable accusations against UEFA. This time around.
Like UEFA president Alexander Ceferin or not, he has shown a steady hand running UEFA since he took over from – who was it again? Time flies, doesn’t it… The ‘man who came in from the nowhere’ and took charge of Europe’s football confederation has been accused of a lot of things since he took office. Most of them have had about as much basis as a Döner Kebab without lamb and onion.
OTT channel Eleven breaks English ‘blackout’ rule with Barca vs Bilbao broadcast
October 3 – OTT streaming service Eleven Sports has challenged the English FA’s ban on the broadcast of live football matches on Saturdays between 2.45pm and 5.15pm by showing live coverage of Barcelona’s match against Athletic Bilbao last weekend.