No return. CAS upholds former Brazilian and FIFA boss Teixeira’s life ban
September 15 – Ricardo Teixeira’s life ban from football has been upheld after the Court of Arbitration (CAS) dismissed his attempt to overturn it on appeal.
Ulsan Hyundai and Persepolis through to Asian Champions League quarter finals
September 15 – Defending 2020 Asian Champions League winners Ulsan Hyundai squeezed into the quarter-finals of the 2021 competition last night thanks to goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo who secured them a 3-2 penalty shoot-out win over Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale.
Everton sell out 500,000 fan tokens in four minutes of launch trading
September 15 – Everton sold out 500,000 fan tokens in their first offering on the Socios.com platform in just four minutes this morning.
Technical report celebrates Euro 2020’s ‘food for the soul’ and ‘diversity’
September 15 – UEFA experts labelled Euro 2020 “food for the soul of football” after a tournament bursting with goals, marauding wing-backs, dynamic number 10s and a distinct preference of coaches to field a back three.
CAF urges ‘open minded’ debate on biennial World Cup
September 15 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has declared itself open-minded over the proposal of a biennial World Cup, seeking to support the “best interests of football”.
Brand building or brand segmentation? LaLiga hives off ElClasico with its own visual id
September 15 – Brand identity gurus will tell you that ‘look and feel’ must be consistent and rigorously enforced across the whole property all the time. So LaLiga’s decision to create a special logo and brand identity for EIClasico is intriguing.
LaLiga’s Cadiz sign shirt sponsorship and Fan Token deal with Bitci
September 15 – Following in the footsteps of Valencia, Cadiz FC have become the second La Liga club to strike a crypto partnership as title sponsor, teaming up with Bitci for the current season.
LaLiga keeps up push into crypto-based fan engagement with Socios.com deal
September 15: Having launched their first major foray into blockchain and crypto last week with player card NFTs, in conjunction with fantasy game Sorare, LaLiga this week has followed up this week announcing a deal with Fan Token specialist Socios.com.
PSG get top pass mark, Celtic rank third, Man City fourth
September 15 – PSG has topped a ranking of teams according to the number of passes made per match during current season. The data is pulled 36 leagues worldwide – 32 in Europe and 4 in the Americas.
Chelsea open Champions League defence. Can Europe’s clubs compete with the English?
By Samindra Kunti
September 14 – Chelsea open their defence of the Champions League tonight at home to Zenit St Petersburg, kicking off the European club season in earnest. The question in Europe is whether Chelsea and their English counterparts will also be kickstarting an age of Premier League dominance in the European Cup?
South Africa volunteer to take over Club World Cup hosting from Japan
September 14 – South Africa has expressed interest in hosting the Club World Cup after Japan relinquished the hosting rights because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Concacaf says it is time for analysis, not ‘fearmongering’, over biennial WC proposal
September 24 – Concacaf has said that it “recognises the merits” of FIFA’s plan to create a new international match calendar – which would include a biennial World Cup – and that it will look at the proposals with an “open mind” and “positive engagement”.
CFU boss Harris believes biennial WC would help a Caribbean that is failing to compete
September 14 – Caribbean Football Union (CFU) President Randy Harris has backed FIFA’s plans for a biennial World Cup, arguing that it would offer more “high-quality playing opportunities” for his member associations.
AFC ‘welcomes’ international calendar discussion with emphasis on Asian inclusivity
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – The AFC has made a statement on the International Match Calendar consultations,”welcoming” discussion on the proposed calendar revamp and biennial World Cup, and emphasising that it’s focus in the talks will be on ensuring Asian voices are represented.
WCL group draw: Barca meet Arsenal, Lyon get Bayern, Chelsea face Juve, PSG draw Real Madrid
September 14 – European champions Barcelona were grouped with Arsenal, Hoffenheim and HB Køge from Denmark in the draw for the remodelled 16-team Women’s Champions League.