By Ben Nicholson
November 3 – The MLS has broken its season long attendance record, averaging 19,147 fans per game. Eleven teams saw an increase in attendance figures, whilst eight teams suffered drops in attendance.
By Andrew Warshaw. chief correspondent
October 31 – The head of Sierra Leone football has painted a grim picture of the devastating effect the Ebola crisis is having on the sport back home, with a fanatical football nation in lockdown domestically and forced to play internationals overseas.
By Paul Nicholson
October 31 – Education is taking lead position in the battle against match-fixing. With a number of confederations and national federations launching player education programmes – the Sportradar-led integrity tour in Wales being the latest – player union FIFPro has launched its own campaign with FIFA and Interpol.
October 31 – In an unprecedented ruling that has stunned Scottish football as well as his English parent club, Celtic’s Bulgarian international winger Aleksandar Tonev has been handed a seven-match ban for racial abuse.
By Mark Baber
October 31 – The day before the expiry of a FIFA deadline for his court case to be withdrawn, and following intervention from Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, Chris Giwa’s faction has withdrawn its case against Amaju Pinnick and his newly elected board, forestalling a possible FIFA ban for government interference.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – English football authorities have split public opinion by clamping down hard on former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and one of the country’s top referees, Mark Clattenburg, for two unrelated misdemeanours.
By David Owen
October 30 – The construction and renovation of the 10 football stadia to be used for Euro 2016 is generating a total of 20,000 jobs in the building and services sector, according to Patrick Kanner, the French Sports Minister.
October 30 – English second-tier club Bolton Wanderers are playing down rumours of a potential takeover by a Thai consortium which would represent the latest foreign incursion into English football.
October 30 – Real Madrid have struck another deal with affluent Gulf investors as they bid maintain their status as the world’s richest club.
By Mark Baber
October 30 – Santos have announced the signing of a major sponsorship deal with Chinese technology firm Huawei through to the end of 2014, with the option of an extension.
By Paul Nicholson
October 29 – When the Qatari national U19 team stepped off their plane to a red carpet and heroes’ welcome it marked a new level of football achievement for the Gulf state that is reinventing itself through sport. It also marked another step on the development path set by the Aspire Academy.
October 29 – UEFA has reduced on appeal CSKA Moscow’s stadium ban imposed for serious fan trouble at their Champions League match at Roma – but any further outbreaks over the next five years and UEFA will almost certainly come down even harder on the club.
By Mark Baber
October 28 – Secretary General of FIFA, Jerome Valcke, has written to Amaju Pinnick, one of the two men claiming to be head of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), to say that unless a court case seeking to annul the disputed September 30 NFF elections is withdrawn Nigeria will be suspended.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 29 – Preparations for the Club World Cup in Morocco in December are continuing “as planned” even though the country has asked to be replaced as host for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) the following month due to fears over the spread of the Ebola epidemic.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 29 – Poland’s I Liga, the second tier of the country’s professional football league, is pushing local clubs to upgrade their stadiums with the aim of securing a new broadcasting rights deal. Starting in the 2015/2016 season, the sides will be required to install lighting at their sports facilities to enable evening matches.