October 23 – Yet another incident of racism has plagued English football with Manchester United indefinitely banning a supporter who allegedly directed racist abuse at a Liverpool player in Sunday’s globally televised 1-1 draw between the two fierce rivals.
By Paul Nicholson
October 22 – FIFA President Gianni Infantino, on tour in Asia on his way to the FIFA Council meeting in China later this week, has caused controversy in Mongolia following a secret meeting with former Mongolian FA president Ganbold Buyannemekh who was banned by FIFA’s ethics committee for five years in 2014 for soliciting and accepting bribes.
October 22 – A landmark study into the links between football and brain disease has produced alarming results which suggest that professional players are more likely to suffer than others.
October 22 – Serbia have been ordered to play their next home game behind closed doors in the latest sanction imposed by UEFA for racism.
October 22 – An English FA Cup qualifier abandoned at the weekend because of racist abuse when the home players walked off is to be replayed rather than the tie be awarded to either team.
October 22 – South American football governing body Conmebol has confirmed that the 2020 Copa Libertadores final will still be staged in Santiago amid growing fears over the social unrest engulfing the Chilean capital.
October 22 – UEFA has signed three start-up businesses as part of its business innovation drive to develop new technologies and products that will significantly impact the commercial management and promotion of football and its assets.
October 22 – In September the Qataris launched the official emblem for the 2022 World Cup. Last week they launched a new official emblem for this year’s Club World Cup to be played in December.
By David Owen
October 21 – Women’s football is on a roll – and more power to its elbow for that. Nonetheless, the viewing figures for this summer’s Women’s World Cup, released at the end of last week to some fanfare, deserve to be treated with a certain amount of caution.
October 21 – Plans to stage a La Liga fixture in Miami have been resurrected, this time involving Villarreal’s home game against Atletico Madrid on December 6.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 21 – Everyone was appalled by the headline-making events in Sofia recently when England’s black players were verbally abused by a section of the Bulgarian fans.
October 21 – Racism has once more marred Italian football. This time Sampdoria and England U-21 midfielder Ronaldo Vieira was the target of monkey chants from AS Roma fans.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 21 – In another strategic move to preserve football’s geo-political status quo, UEFA have decided to keep apart Russia and Kosovo in European competition because of “security risks”.
October 21 – FIFA is expected to confirm China this week as host for its 24-team Club World Cup in 2021, overcoming opposition from Europe. The revamped tournament will provide the Zurich-based body with a new revenue stream.
By David Owen
October 21 – India’s Reliance Industries is mulling bidding for Indian streaming rights for the English Premier League and other top-notch sports competitions in future. Nita Ambani, a Reliance board member, told the Financial Times: “I would be very interested to get the digital rights of some of these games to be shown on digital in India.”