September 28 – The Chinese Football Association (CFA) are looking to Belgium’s Chris Van Puyvelde to help rejuvenate their international ambitions. The technical director of the Belgian Football Association (KBVB) has signed a four-year deal with the CFA joining former players Zhao Junzhe (pictured), Yang Che and Shao Jiayi among others in a bid to professionalise operations.
September 28 – UEFA have taken the plunge and will introduce video assistant referees (VAR) in the Champions League from the 2019-20 season.
September 28 – Chicago’s Soldier Field will be the venue for the final of the 2019 Gold Cup on July 7. The tournament, the blue riband national team competition in the Concacaf region, will be played in 15 venues across 13 cities in the US.
By Andrew Warshaw in Nyon
September 27 – Germany won the right to stage the 2024 European Championship today as Turkey’s dreams of taking the tournament to new frontiers were once again rejected by UEFA’s executive committee.
September 27 – The fast forward march of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system has reached Asia with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announcing that it it will be introduced “at some stage” in the Asian Cup UAE 2019 which kicks off January 5.
September 27 – Paris St Germain, under scrutiny by UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) for its financial year to the end of the 2018 season, looks to have moved to attempt to protect its position from UEFA sanction by arranging a capital injection of €316 million from the club’s Qatar Sports Investment owners.
September 27 – The United Soccer League (USL), the fast growing organiser of the second and third tiers of US professional football, has unveiled a new organisational structure and corporate rebranding of its top three leagues. The rejig also brings its PDL development league more identifiably under the USL corporate imprint.
September 27 – Premium Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer has extended its three-year partnership as the official timekeeper of Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 for a further season.
September 27 – Premier League Arsenal have expanded their deal with video game maker Konami Digital Entertainment into a second year. Konami is the club’s Official Football Video Game Partner.
September 27 – The £600 million sale of England’s Wembley stadium, the home of the national team, hangs in the balance as the FA board meets today to vote on whether to take the proposal forward to the 127-member FA Council.
September 27 – Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov, one of four protesters who staged a pitch invasion during the World Cup final and who is believed to have been subsequently poisoned, has laid the blame squarely on Russia’s intelligence services.
By Paul Nicholson
September 26 – Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has confirmed that he will run for re-election at the 29th AFC Congress on 6 April 2019.
By Andrew Warshaw in Nyon
September 26 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin faces one of the most challenging decisions of his two-year tenure tomorrow when UEFA votes on who will stage Euro 2024.
September 26 – Manchester City are the most exciting team in Europe if goal mouth activity is the measure. City have had a shot on goal every 4’02” so far this season. They are followed by Ronaldo-rejuvenated Juventus who have a shot every 4’33”.
September 26 – Although the victim of aggressive piracy of live sports rights in Saudi Arabia, beIN Sports has not slowed its commitment to football with the announcement of a new four-season deal through to the end of the 2021/22 season with the English Football League’s (EFL) three divisions and Cup competition.