By David Owen
November 19 – Reports suggest that former Chelsea star Didier Drogba looks increasingly likely to make a bid for the presidency of the Ivorian football federation.
November 19 – Having hosted the World Cup in 2018, Russian FA attention is now focussed on delivering their part of Euro 2020, despite the allegations and controversies of the past returning to haunt the present news agenda. In the first of two articles Andrew Warshaw reports on the progress being made in St Petersburg.
November 19 – Thierry Henry is back in the game, taking the role of Montreal Impact head coach in the MLS. The Frenchman says he wants to confront and leave the disappointment of his short-lived Monaco tenure behind him.
November 19 – With the MLS having just completed its regular season, the eMLS has announced its competitive schedule for 2020 that will begin in January 2020, a couple of months before action on the pitch kicks off.
November 19 – A strike by women footballers in Spain’s top division has been called off after an agreement to reopen negotiations over the on-going pay dispute in the top tier of the women’s game.
November 19 – Former UEFA boss Michel Platini, back in the media spotlight as he plots his future now that his ban from football has expired, has taken a swipe at VAR, which he has always opposed.
November 19 – The leaders of the Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) normalisation committee have been in Kuala Lumpur meeting with AFC general secretary Dato’ Windsor John as they begin the process of preparing the federation of elections and setting a foundation of a sustainable national governing body.
November 19 – Manchester City, Ajax and Glasgow Rangers head a ranking of European clubs by possession in the latest report from the CIES Football Observatory.
November 19 – With the Premier League returning to action this weekend, so will its latest game changer, VAR. With Michel Platini being the latest to weigh in with expletives over the use of video refs, and the Premier League having met with the VAR bosses with a demand to sort the inconsistencies out, the pressure for a controversy free weekend is building.
November 19 – Four Australian under-23 players have been banned for “unprofessional conduct” during a night out at the end of the Asian Football Confederation U-23 championship qualifying tournament in Cambodia last March.
By Osasu Obayiuwana
November 18 – With just 72 hours to Thursday’s CAF executive committee (exco) meeting in Cairo, the first since the Africa Cup of Nations final in Egypt, a member of the executive committee has lashed out against CAF President Ahmad for “not respecting the rules of the organisation.”
By Andrew Warshaw
November 18 – The bitter war of words between the respective bosses of the Spanish FA (RFEF) and La Liga has plumbed new depths of acrimony amid claim and counter-claim following last week’s court ruling against the latest attempt to stage a league fixture in the United States.
By Samindra Kunti in Brasilia
November 18 – Brazil have won the U-17 World Cup on home soil, coming from behind to defeat Mexico 2-1 in dramatic style, a considerable feat as the Brazilians had initially failed to qualify for the tournament. Substitute Lazaro was Brazil’s hero again with a 93rd-minute winner.
November 18 – With debate over the format of the 2021 Club World Cup guaranteed to dominate headlines over the next two years, FIFA hosted the inauguration of a new club organisation in Zurich last week.
November 19 – The broadcast market may be disrupted by piracy and challenger broadcast platforms, but big money for premium product is still available if the £1.2 billion UK pay TV broadcaster BT Sport is paying for the next cycle of Europe’s Champions League is an indicator.