By Paul Nicholson
September 6 – He failed FIFA’s integrity test that prevented him running for the presidency of the world governing body, but Liberian FA president Musa Bility is considered to have high enough moral standing to lead FIFA’s Sierra Leone Task Force that has the job of preparing the way for new elections in the country’s football association.
By Mark Baber
September 6 – On an evening of high drama, World Cup qualifiers across seven time zones saw Saudi Arabia and South Korea qualify for the World Cup in Russia, whilst Australia and Syria will now face each other for a place in the AFC-CONCACAF play-off.
September 6 – Portuguese clubs Benfica and FC Porto top a ranking of clubs that have traded most profitably over the last year. Manchester City, PSG and Manchester United come bottom of the table.
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex, Manchester
September 6 – The election of two new club representatives as members of UEFA’s inner sanctum has not been lost on Europe’s major leagues who are now anticipating similar treatment.
September 6 – The new boss of Europe’s top clubs is expecting “no more soap operas” when it comes to Champions League allocation and has played down all talk of a breakaway super league under his leadership.
By Paul Nicholson
September 6 – Olympiacos president Evangelos Marinakis, speaking at the Athens conference ‘Reinforcing, Crossing, and Transcending Borders: Soccer in a Globalized World’ sent a message to the world’s leading clubs saying “it is vital that they now accept their social responsibility towards their communities, and the world, by means of promoting specific actions and initiatives that can change the lives of everyday people.”
September 6 – FIFA says it will review its ranking system after qualification for the 2018 World Cup is finished. The announcement comes in the wake of criticism of how countries can play the system to improve their tournament seedings.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 5 – European club football entered a new era today as Juventus president Andrea Agnelli (pictured) took over from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge as only the second ever head of the European Clubs Association, bringing to an end the German’s nine-year reign.
By Paul Nicholson at Soccerex, Manchester
September 5 – CONCACAF wants three automatic places at the 2026 World Cup if the US, Mexico and Canada bid wins the hosting rights, said general secretary Philippe Moggio (pictured right). He also said that the confederation’s blue riband Gold Cup may be expanded to 16 teams in future editions as well as potentially being hosted outside the US.
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex, Manchester
September 5 – The UEFA official in charge of anti-doping procedures has played down alarming figures provided by the notorious Fancy Bears hacking group by insisting professional footballers are clean.
September 5 – With Myanmar’s army and Buddhist extremists having allegedly stepped up a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Muslim-minority Rohinga, Kyrgyzstan has scrapped its home game against Myanmar in qualifying for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup over “security concerns.”
September 5 – Transfer fees paid by clubs across Europe’s big-5 leagues jumped by 41% in the 2017 period to €5.9 billion with the Premier League clubs leading the way spending about €1.55 billion in fixed transfer fees and €220 million in conditional payments – on average about €89 million per club.
September 5 – European club football may now have a voice at UEFA’s top table but that hasn’t prevented UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin warning that the gap between the haves and the have-nots remains the most challenging issue facing the sport.
September 5 – The Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) has postponed presidential elections originally scheduled for September 10th following a request from FIFA.
By Paul Nicholson at Soccerex, Manchester
September 5 – A meeting at the end of this year between the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the government will be the next stage to deciding whether standing areas will be allowed to return to top flight English football.