By Mark Baber
September 16 – Manchester United have announced a new initiative which will see the club partnering with the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) and supporting a Manchester United Soccer School in Azerbaijan.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 16 – Despite the sceptics assuming he will not stay the course, former FIFA deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne insists he will be standing against Sepp Blatter next year at the organisation’s presidential election.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 16 – Yet another Brazilian club has urged its fans to refrain from racist chanting as the country attempts to impose the legacy of the World Cup by stamping out discrimination.
September 16 – The Scottish Football Association is examining allegations of racism during a Scottish Premier League game last weekend.
September 16 – The owner of Spartak Moscow, Leonid Fedun, said that the newly opened Otkritie Arena cost RUB 14.5 billion (S378 million) to build. But that this is only the start of the project with hotels and an indoor arena to come next.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 15 – The Champions League proper kicks off this week but before a ball has even been kicked the debate over seedings has intensified.
September 15 – For the third consecutive year, several of Asia’s most promising coaches are attending a two-week course at the English FA’s state-of-the-art national football centre, St. George’s Park, until the end of this month as part of its international bursary scheme.
September 15 – Just because he is Sepp Blatter’s number two, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke doesn’t always have to agree with his president, the debate over video replays during matches being the latest case in point.
September 15 – With so few black coaches in European football, UEFA have launched a pioneering programme to bring more minorities into the game and develop equal opportunities.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 15 – As the world awaits the findings of FIFA ethics judge Joachim Eckert into possible corruption surrounding the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the organisation has become embroiled in an untimely episode – this time concerning gifts offered to senior officials in Brazil.
September 15 -Asian football chief Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa says there will be no rush to agree on an exact date for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
By Paul Nicholson in Los Angeles
September 15 – A piece of Central America came to Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night with the finals of the Central American Cup played out in front of a passionate and vocal Latino crowd approaching 50,000.
By David Owen
September 14 – Another small slice of football history was made on Friday night, as Corinne Diacre’s Clermont Foot beat Le Havre in the second division of the French championship.
By David Owen
September 12 – In a further positive step for women’s football, FIFA has announced that it is to double its development funding for this fast-growing arm of the sport over its next four-year cycle, culminating with the World Cup in Russia in 2018. The governing body has earmarked $21 million for this purpose in 2015-18, up from just under $10.3 million in 2011-14.
By Ben Nicholson
September 12 – Don Garber has signed a contract to continue on as MLS Commissioner for another five years. The deal will keep him as the head of US’s premier professional league until 2018, which would mark his twentieth year in the job.