USL unveils structure and teams for League One debut in US in 2019
November 2 – USL League One – a third tier professional league in the US – will make its entrance with 10 teams playing a March to October season in 2019.
World Football
Irish cross borders with joint bid for 2023 European U-21 finals
November 2 – The Irish FA and Football Association of Ireland have launched a ground-breaking joint bid to host the 2023 European Under-21 Championship finals.
Relevant and LaLiga launch fan petition to bring Girona vs Barca league match to Miami
November 1 – The much-publicised overseas La Liga game between Girona and Barcelona, which FIFA have insisted cannot go ahead in Miami in January, has taken another twist with US fans being asked to sign a petition in favour of the ground-breaking fixture.
Ghana’s Nyantakyi to appeal FIFA life ban at CAS
November 1 – Former Ghana Football Association president Kwesi Nyantakyi is to appeal against his life ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Bidders line up to host UEFA 2021 club competition finals
November 1 – UEFA has received declarations of interest from 11 member associations to host their club competition finals in 2021, with Munich and St Petersburg going head to head to stage the Champions League climax.
Former Juve and Italian World Cup star Iaquinta sentenced to 2 years for firearm offences
November 1 – An Italian court has sentenced former international World Cup star Vincenzo Iaquinta to two years in jail for firearm offences and his father, Giuseppe, to 19 years at the end of a trial of almost 150 people.
Conmebol lands Qatar Airways as its first airline sponsor for club competitions
November 1 – Qatar Airways has become the Official Global Airline Partner of South American confederation Conmebol’s club competitions with immediate effect. The deal will last 4.5 years, taking them through the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Police step in at Hibs-Hearts derby after missiles thrown and players and officials attacked
November 1 – Authorities in Scotland have intervened after Hibernian manager Neil Lennon was struck by a coin thrown from the crowd in the Edinburgh derby at high-flying Hearts on Wednesday.
FIFA bans disgraced Ghana FA chief Kwesi Nyantakyi for life
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – The man who was once the second most powerful official in African football has been banned for life by FIFA, the latest influential figure to dramatically fall from grace.
Catalan Subies arrested on suspicion of stealing money from Spanish FA
October 31 – Spanish FA vice president Andreu Subies has been arrested as part of the same police operation that also saw the federation’s former president and FIFA powerbroker Angel Maria Villar resign on corruption charges.
Namibian FA fires president Mbidi amid accusations of disloyalty and corruption
October 30 – The executive committee of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) has taken the unusual step of dismissing the federation’s president Frans Mbidi (pictured) with immediate effect saying the “drastic action” was necessitated by Mbidi’s failure to carry out his duties.
Reggae Girlz win hearts and minds with Nottingham carnival of football
October 29 – Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz attracted the biggest crowd for a women’s game in Europe at the weekend with 3,914 watching the World Cup qualifiers play Nottingham Forest Ladies at The City Ground.
James Dostoyevsky: Selling out to the Saudis? Splendid timing
October 25 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino is a simple man. He hails from a simple Alpine small town and has a simplistic outlook on the big wide world. For a decade he was fighting FIFA, the arch enemy. And fighting hard. Now he is its boss. A victory that probably surprised him more than many of those who had given him little chance of winning, as the stand-in for Michel Platini that he was.
Morocco jails 14 fans for protesting naval killing of student fleeing for Spain
October 25 – During their 2026 World Cup campaign, Moroccan officials were at pains to stress how human rights were not an issue – just as Turkey did for the 2024 Euros.
African women’s team set for AFCON 2018 in Ghana with sights set on France 2019
October 25 – Defending champions Nigeria were paired with South Africa, Zambia and Kenya in Group B as the eight participants in the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations learned their fate at the draw in Accra.