By Andrew Warshaw
October 24 – China will host the first edition of the expanded Club World Cup in 2021 with FIFA president Gianni Infantino hailing the landmark event as “historic” and describing it as “the first real and true [Club] World Cup”.
By David Owen
October 24 – Crystal Palace, off to a good start to the season under former England boss Roy Hodgson, appear to have made arrangements in effect to receive a £22.5 million instalment of the transfer fee for wing-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka earlier than scheduled.
October 24 – Almost 200 women players in Spain’s first division have voted to strike in a disagreement over pay and conditions.
October 24 – The introduction of so-called concussion substitutes has moved a step closer after the game’s rule-makers set up an expert group to begin looking into whether changes to the laws need to be made.
By Samindra Kunti in Rio de Janeiro
October 24 – Flamengo trashed Gremio 5-0 to reach the Copa Libertadores final. They will meet Argentina’s River Plate, who had previously eliminated Boca Juniors. The winner of South America’s premier club competition will represent the continent at the Club World Cup in Qatar.
By Samindra Kunti
October 24 – Club Brugge president Bart Verhaeghe (pictured) has reignited talk around the formation of a ‘BeNe League’, saying that Belgium and the Netherlands are in discussion on how they join forces to found an 18-team league that could begin play as early as 2021.
October 24 – Holland’s Eredivisie is gearing up for the start of the eDivisie’s fourth season on November 11 with a new partnership with DreamHack and an updated competition format.
October 24 – LaLiga is considering legal action after the season’s first El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid was rescheduled for December 18 by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
October 23 – UEFA are reported to be considering whether to join Tottenham Hotspur in launching an investigation into how more than 200 Red Star Belgrade fans “illegally” bought tickets for their side’s away Champions League fixture on Tuesday despite a blanket ban for racism.
October 23 – English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke wants concussion substitutes to be introduced “as quickly as possible” in the wake of a highly publicised report which found a higher incidence of neurodegenerative disease among former footballers than in the population as a whole.
October 23 – Three Chelsea fans are potentially facing lifetime bans for racial abuse – against one of their own.
October 23 – Real Madrid top a ranking of Big 5 league clubs who have the trained the most players active in professional football.
October 23 – The sports rights geo-political battle being waged in the middle east between Qatari broadcaster beIN Sport and Saudi Arabian-supported channels and broadcast rights interests, has taken a new twist.
October 23 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has moved the AFC Cup 2019 final from Pyongyang in North Korea to Shanghai.
By Richard Heller
October 11, 2019 will go down in football history. Andorra won its first match in the European Championships, ending a run of 56 consecutive defeats. Fewer than a thousand fans were at the Estadi Nacional to see Marc Vales head the hosts into a shock lead against Moldova in the 63rd minute. Then the Andorran defence stood tall to protect it, as befits their mountain nation (current population 77,000 or so) which has preserved its independence against powerful neighbours for centuries.