November 16 – China has moved to boost its national womens team’s competitiveness with the establishment of two teams – called the Red Team and the Yellow Team.
November 16 – Atlanta United owners, currently enjoying a successful first season in the MLS with sell out crowds and a trip to the play-offs, have made their next expansion move by entering a team in the USL, the second tier of US football, for the 2018 season.
November 16 – In a bid to make the women’s game more sustainable and accelerate the growth of the game, UEFA is unbundling commercial rights for its women’s competitions and appoint a sales agency specifically for women’s football sponsorship.
By Paul Nicholson
November 15 – The depth of the corruption around the sale of TV rights that has plagued South and North America and shattered the reputations of football officials worldwide, was unmasked in the federal court in Brooklyn yesterday. For the first time major broadcast networks Fox Sports (USA), and Televisa (Mexico) were dragged into the narrative alongside Brazil’s TV Globo, all of whom were accused of paying bribes for rights.
By Ian Griffiths
November 15 – Australia booked their place at next year’s World Cup finals as captain Mile Jedinak struck a second half hat-trick to help earn the Socceroos a richly deserved 3-1 intercontinental play-off win over Honduras at an emotional ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday.
November 15 – Last year at Euro 2016, there were smiling Irish fans wherever you looked while Iceland – who went on to defy their minnow status – joined Sweden as the only Scandinavian representatives at the tournament.
November 15 – Former FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon has testified at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to challenge his five-year ban for failing to cooperate with ethics investigators.
November 15 – The Thai owners of surprise 2016 English Premier League champions Leicester City have categorically denied allegations they owe over £300million to their government.
November 15 – South African football officials, plagued over the years by match-fixing scandals, insist they will speedily investigate the latest claims – this time in a regional game of the country’s premier women’s league, Sasol.
November 15 – With the international fixture window coming to a close, clubs will be counting the cost of returning injured players. New research, titled Sick Notes, from Bigfreebet.com, finds that Manchester United spent £52,514,709 on wages to injured players over the past three seasons.
November 14 – Manchester City, praised for their creative attacking, appear to have now solved their defensive leaks according to a new set of stats that ranks them top of clubs in the Big 5 European leagues in terms of least shots on their goal from inside the box.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 14 – Incredible, unthinkable, unimaginable. For the first time in 60 years, the World Cup finals will be without four-time champions Italy after they were eliminated in the playoffs by Sweden on Monday.
By Paul Nicholson
November 14 – With jury selection complete, the trial of three South American former football administrators began in earnest with opening statements on Monday in the Brooklyn Federal court.
By Samindra Kunti
November 14 – Russia and Argentina inaugurated Moscow’s refurbished Luzhniki Stadium with a friendly international, but crowd congestion after the match left organisers red faced. In June and July, the venue will host the opening match and the final of the 2018 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 14 – FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura will no doubt be delighted at her native Senegal qualifying for the World Cup finals next year.