By Andrew Warshaw
October 28 – Plans are afoot to create a ground-breaking all-island domestic league in Ireland that would completely change the landscape of the sport on both sides of the border.
October 28 – Despite being embroiled in an alleged case of threatening behaviour at home, DFB vice-president Rainer Koch (pictured) has been nominated by his federation to sit on the UEFA executive committee and FIFA council in succession to disgraced former DFB chief Reinhard Grindel.
October 28 – Bulgaria will learn their fate later today for the racist abuse England players suffered during the recent Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia.
By Osasu Obayiuwana
October 26 – Musa Hassan Bility, the former Liberia FA boss, who has taken FIFA and CAF to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), has been compelled to pay CHF 42,000 in additional arbitral costs, to ensure his case is heard.
October 25 – Conmebol have suspended the Futsal Copa America in Chile amid ongoing social unrest in the country, fueling speculation that the Copa Libertadores final could be shifted away from Santiago.
October 25 – Kenya is facing potentially serious sanctions from FIFA if there is any outside interference over the composition of the Kenyan FA’s (FKF) board mandated to oversee upcoming elections.
October 25 – Bayern Munich have made an official complaint to UEFA after a youth match against Olympiakos was abandoned because of crowd violence.
October 24 – Almost 200 women players in Spain’s first division have voted to strike in a disagreement over pay and conditions.
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 – 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.
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.
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.