November 5 – Lionel Messi says he wants to return to Barcelona, perhaps as technical director, after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain ends and he retires from playing.
By Samindra Kunti
November 4 – In a historic first, Egyptian hosts Wadi Degla and Mali’s AS Mande will kick off the maiden African Women’s Champions League on Friday, but question marks remain over the competition’s prize money, sponsorship and media visibility.
November 4 – Cash-strapped Barcelona are the latest club to enter the scramble to create NFTs, announcing a deal with Cyprus-based Ownix, a premium Ethereum-based NFT marketplace.
November 4 – The Chinese Super League (CSL) lurched deeper into club crisis with Hebei FC, based in Langfang in the northern province of Hebei, looking set to become the second to fold following February’s collapse of Jiangsu Suning.
November 4 – An English fan who racially abused Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy has been sentenced to 10 weeks in jail.
November 4 – LaLiga has formally opened the bidding process for the domestic sale of domestic audiovisual rights, for the first time extending the license period from three to five seasons and increasing the number of packages of rights available.
November 4 – On a heated night at Anfield with the return of Luis Suarez and old foe Atletico Madrid, Liverpool stormed past the Spanish club 2-0 to join Juventus, Ajax and Bayern Munich into the last 16 of the Champions League.
November 4 – City Football Group has extended its global partnership with Nissan into a third term in a deal that coversManchester City, Melbourne City, New York City FC, Girona FC and Sichuan Jiuniu FC.
November 4 – FIFA has committed to new climate change targets at the COP26 climate conference, committing to reduce their carbon emissions and reach NetZero by 2040. Those pledges collide with FIFA’s plans for a biennial World Cup and the carbon footprint of the organisation’s own supremo Gianni Infantino.
November 4 – Online bookmaker Betway has signed a multi-year extension with Belgium’s Croky Cup, a sponsorship first signed in 2016.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 3 – After an investigation lasting almost six years, the former heads of FIFA and UEFA, Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, have been charged with fraud over the infamous “disloyal payment” that brought the careers of both powerbrokers crashing down.
November 3 – Five Eritrean footballers from the women’s Under-20 national team have gone missing during a regional tournament in Uganda, raising concerns that they may have defected.
November 3 – From the start in April, it has been a challenging competition to get played with multiple re-arrangements, but Friday (November 5) will see the final of the AFC Cup, the Asian confederation’s second tier club competition, played in Bahrain.
November 2 – City Football Group (CFG) have reportedly opened negotiations to acquire a 20% stake in Russian club Spartak Moscow.
November 3 – Inter Milan will launch their own esports platform this Friday (November 5) with the start of the Inter Esports Cup. The inauguration of the esports competition and platform comes during Italy’s biggest esports event, the Milan Games Week & Cartoomics.