October 20 – Amid the euphoria of beating Olympiakos 3-1 on Tuesday despite playing a large chunk of the game with 10 men, Barcelona fans unveiled a massive banner reading ‘Dialogue, Respect and Sport’ before kick-off, calling for a resolution to the political crisis between Catalonia and the Spanish central government.
October 20 – The British government’s sports minister has stepped into the debacle over racial comments made to two England women internationals by urging the English FA to improve its handling of discrimination claims.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 19 – The reputation of English football bosses has plummeted to an all-time and potentially fatal low following a grovelling apology to former England women’s internationals Eniola Aluko (pictured) and Drew Spence for racial comments made to them by former manager Mark Sampson.
October 19 – Despite insisting it would abide by FIFA’s decision, South Africa has submitted documentation to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) supporting Burkino Faso’s appeal challenging FIFA’s decision to replay the South Africa-Senegal World Cup qualifier.
October 19 – Nasser Al-Khelaïfi (pictured) the under-fire Qatari boss of beIN Sport Media who is at the centre of corruption allegations over World Cup TV rights, has agreed to meet next week with Swiss prosecutors who brought the case.
October 19 – Denmark risk being thrown out of the women’s World Cup after refusing to play Sweden in a qualifier on Friday because of a festering pay dispute with the Danish Football Association (DBU).
October 18 – Renowned Spanish newspaper Marca has backtracked after publishing an article suggesting that Tottenham Hotspur are hated by rivals fans, not least those of Chelsea and West Ham, because of its “Jewish heritage”.
October 17 – Players and clubs are supporting UEFA’s #EqualGame message at 58 matches across Europe as part of the Football People action week campaign run by the anti-discrimination group, FARE.
October 17 – Members of the legal team looking into historic sexual abuse in English football have undertaken counselling such has been the harrowing nature of their inquiry, according to UK media reports.
October 17 – Hertha Berlin’s players and officials became the latest sports team to “take a knee” in support of anti-racism ahead of their 2-0 defeat by Schalke last weekend.
October 16 – Former Ivory Coast star Yaya Toure says next year’s World Cup in Russia could be a watershed in FIFA’s efforts to stamp out racism.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 13 – In a stunning twist to their anti-corruption football probe, Swiss federal prosecutors have opened a criminal case against the Qatari boss of Paris St Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, for suspected bribery linked to World Cup broadcasting rights.
October 13 – Chinese football authorities have named the “high-level” European and American referees for the four remaining weeks of the Chinese Super League season in a move to boost the standard of officiating.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 12 – He was the FIFA trouble-shooter who was eventually fired himself and fell spectacularly from grace. But now Jerome Valcke, for eight years Sepp Blatter’s right-hand man, has gone public with a vigorous defence of his reputation.
By Samindra Kunti
October 10 – The crisis in the Brazilian women’s game is deepening following an open letter from veteran players to the Brazilian FA (CBF) demanding gender equality and reform in the game.