Milletich takes over from Windtner at Austrian FA
October 18 – Gerhard Milletich, 65, has been elected the new president of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB). He replaces Leo Windtner, who had been in charge since 2009.
Panama and El Salvador sanctioned with closed stadia for fans’ homophobic chants against US
October 18 – FIFA has sanctioned both Panama and El Salvador for discriminatory chants by their fans during recent World Cup qualifiers. Both incidents incurred in games against the US.
Independent thought: Maldini and Lahm critical of Infantino/Wenger biennial plan
October 15 – When Arsene Wenger rolled out the bought and paid-for FIFA legends in Qatar to sycophantically support FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s unrelenting push for a biennial World Cup, he probably wasn’t expecting quite the backlash from football’s biggest stakeholders.
Haaland overtakes Mbappe as world’s most valuable player
October 15 – Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has overtaken PSG’s Kylian Mbappé as the most valuable player in the world with a market value of €144 million, according to new analysis by the KPMG Football Benchmark.
England’s Euro matches saw 92 arrests. UEFA set to impose fan ban
October 15 – With UEFA reportedly about to rule on whether to punish English football for the disgraceful scenes that marred last summer’s delayed Euro 2020 final when scores of ticketless fans rampaged through Wembley, new figures show that 92 football-related arrests were made at England’s home matches during the 2020-21 season – all but two them at the Euros.
Financial mess(i). Qatar owners put €171m into PSG to cover pandemic losses
October 15 – The Qatari owners of Paris Saint-Germain have injected another €171 million into the club to help ease the financial burden created by the global health crisis.
‘You started it’, regretful Albanian FA tells Poles
October 15 – The Albanian FA says it deplores the violent behaviour of its fans at this week’s World Cup qualifying defeat to Poland but in an attempt to gain the moral high ground blamed visiting Polish fans for provocation.
Conmebol push Uruguyans to lift stadium capacity for all-Brazil Copa Libertadores final
October 15 – Conmebol wants to stage the Copa Libertadores final in Montevideo’s Estadio Centenario in front of 45,000 fans, a quarter more than the stadium capacity anticipated by local authorities.
AFC names teams for U17 and U20 Women’s World Cups, Asian Cup 2022 on track
October 15 – With the global pandemic having decimated the global Women’s competition calendar in 2020 and seen the cancellation of both FIFA U17 and U20 age-group tournaments, the AFC Women’s Football Committee has rolled forward teams from its 2019 competitions to represent the confederation in the rearranged 2022 finals.
Fleeing the Taliban: Kabul flight evacuates more footballers to Doha
October 15 – Scores of female players, including members of the national team, were evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday on a flight to Doha in the latest move to escape Taliban rule.
Liga Portugal commits to integrity ratings system SIRVS and SIGA mission
October 15 – The Portuguese Professional Football League (Liga Portugal) has committed to going through SIGA’s Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS), as well as committing to become a member of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA), via a co-operation agreement.
FIFA’s 2026 World Cup host city bid inspectors back on the road in the US
October 14 – Next week, FIFA scrutineers will return to conduct World Cup 2026 bid city inspections, visiting all of Kansas City, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Monterrey, San Francisco and Seattle.
Denmark will be in Qatar for 2022 World Cup, rightly or wrongly
October 14 – Denmark, which qualified for the World Cup this week, will go to the finals even though it was the “wrong decision” to allow Qatar to be hosts according to Danish sports minister Ane Halsboe-Joergensen.
Monaco mine Russian base for Liga Stavok deal
October 15 – Russian owned Ligue 1 club AS Monaco has announced a partnership with Russian sports betting firmLiga Stavok, who will become a regional partner for the 2021-22 season.
LFP break ranks with Le Graet and French federation and says ‘no’ to biennial World Cup
October 14 – The French league has voted to oppose FIFA’s plans to stage the World Cup every two years, slamming the proposal as “irreparably negative for the domestic leagues”.