September 28 – Argentina have selected three English Premier League players for next month’s World Cup qualifiers despite the country remaining on the UK’s travel red list.
September 28 – Tickets for the FIFA Arab Cup, a dress rehearsal for the 2022 World Cup, went on sale again on Tuesday on a first-come, first-served basis with tickets still available for both the opening match and the final.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 24 – Europe’s leading clubs have issued a savage indictment of FIFA’s biennial World Cup proposals, accusing world football’s governing body of “railroading” everyone else to suit their own interests.
September 24 – Arsene Wenger, the former Arsenal manager now working as FIFA’s head of football development and the leading proponent of a biennial World Cup, has defended his stance by insisting the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
September 23 – While FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been walking the halls of the UN and the financial district of New York, meeting with heads of state and financiers, FIFA’s general secretary Fatma Samoura has been treading the path of women’s football in Africa.
September 22 – Hungary have been handed a two-match stadium ban, one of them deferred, and been fined CHF200,000 by FIFA after England players were subjected to racist abuse in a World Cup Qualifier earlier this month.
September 22 – The newly appointed head coach of the England women’s team, Sarina Wiegman, is the latest high-profile figure to publicly oppose plans to make the World Cup a biennial event.
September 21 – Swiss judicial authorities have reportedly declined to lift the immunity granted to former special prosecutor Stefan Keller, meaning he himself cannot be prosecuted for allegedly revealing confidential information about an investigation linked to FIFA.
September 20 – Europe’s umbrella coaches association AEFCA (Alliance of European Football Coaches’ Associations) has become the latest football stakeholder to condemn FIFA’s proposal to move the men’s World Cup to a biennial cycle.
September 20 – Despite FIFA insisting it has majority support for its controversial idea of a World Cup every two years, the German and Portuguese federations are the latest bodies to condemn the concept.
September 20 – FIFA has begun the next phase of its consultation around the international match calendar, inviting members associations, confederations and other stakeholders to discuss controversial plans for the introduction of a biennial World Cup.
September 17 – Following the results of a fan survey FIFA says a majority of supporters back the world federation’s much-criticised plans to introduce a biennial World Cup, but on closer scrutiny that majority is rather a thin claim to stake.
September 17 – The war of words between FIFA and UEFA over the growing possibility of staging the World Cup every two years has taken a significant twist with UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin demanding a face-to-face summit with his FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino.
September 16 – Belgium remain top of the FIFA world ranking with Brazil a close second and England a newcomer on the podium, moving into third, following matches played in September’s international window.
September 15 – Players’ union FIFPRO has again said that any change to the international match calendar – and principally the introduction of a biennial World Cup – must put players and their workload at the centre of any decision-making.