October 13 – Switzerland’s Esther Staubli is set to make history by becoming the first European female referee – and only the second ever – to officiate in a FIFA men’s tournament.
October 13 – Viewing figures for Premier League football in the UK are showing a rebound in interest from the start of the season, after summer data showed that viewing figures for Sky’s Premier League coverage had slumped to their lowest point in seven years last season.
October 13 – Having initially announced that 2 million tickets had been requested with two days to go before the close of the first 2018 World Cup ticket sales window, FIFA has now confirmed more than 3.4 million requests.
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.
October 13 – After yet another bitter Scottish disappointment, Gordon Strachan has stepped down as manager of the national team after their failure to qualify for the playoffs of the World Cup.
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 Andrew Warshaw
October 12 – Players from Colombia and Peru have denied they deliberately colluded to make sure both had a chance of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Russia.
October 12 – Portuguese legend Luis Figo, who ran for FIFA president two years ago before pulling out of the race with a stinging attack on the electoral process, has joined UEFA as a football advisor.
By Mark Baber
October 12 – Nike and the Portuguese Football Federation have extended their long-term partnership until 2024. No value was announced for the deal.
October 12 – The United States’ failure to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia marks a “sad and dark moment” for the game in the country says former star defender Alexi Lalas.
By Samindra Kunti, New Delhi, India
October 12 – Hosts India must beat Ghana in their final group A game to keep their World Cup dreams alive. Brazil, France and England, all undefeated, have emerged as early favourites.
October 12 – Sports agency IMG has won the international TV sales rights to Italy’s Serie A in a three-year deal reportedly worth €371 million per season. The price marks a doubling of the value of the Italian overseas rights as well as a switch in agency.
October 12 – You can tell that a country is getting serious about football when a beer company launches a special brew for the club’s fans.
October 11 – The pots for the first ever UEFA Nations League have been confirmed, with the Netherlands, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, being handed some consolation by snatching a top spot from Wales following the final round of World Cup qualifying.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 11 – Cometh the hour, cometh Lionel Messi. Just when the odds were stacked in favour of Argentina failing to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1970, the mercurial maestro struck a superb hat-trick away to Ecuador to haul his country back from the brink of elimination.
The 2014 runners up began the day sixth in their group and needing a top-four place to qualify automatically.