Houston 2026 bid builds out legacy promise with Soccer Innovation Institute plan
October 19 – 2026 World Cup bid city Houston has launched plans for a Soccer Innovation Institute as part of its Spirit of Houston campaign and legacy programme.
FIFA summons men’s national team coaches to online meet to discuss biennial World Cup
October 18 – FIFA has increased the pace of its lobbying for a biennial World Cup announcing two online video conferences for men’s national team coaches this week to discuss the proposals for a potential new calendar that would start from 2024.
Poles go to FIFA accusing England of false racist accusations
October 18 – Poland and England have become embroiled in an unsavoury spat over racism allegations the Poles insist are totally unjustified.
Saudi debut in Newcastle falls flat as Spurs loss highlights the scale of their task
By Andrew Warshaw
October 18 – It was the start of a fresh era, the club’s new Saudi owners all smiles and decked out in black and white, an electric, expectant atmosphere and a tickertape welcome for the players.
IOC slams FIFA’s biennial plans as ‘undermining diversity’ and calls for wider consultation
By Paul Nicholson
October 18 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has formally noted the concerns of other sports and football’s own stakeholders and has called for a “wider consultation…which has obviously not taken place.”
Nordic nations say FIFA calendar plan would ‘cannibalise’ game and marginalise women
October 18 – With opposition to the biennial World Cup snowballing, the Nordic football associations confirmed they won’t support Zurich’s calendar revolution, arguing the proposal would “cannibalise” existing competitions.
FIFA vow to take EA Sports head-on in football e-gaming as licensing deal looks dead
By Paul Nicholson
October 18 – With EA Sports review of its FIFA license increasingly looking like bringing an end to its FIFA branded game at the end of the current rights cycle, FIFA has issued a statement saying that it will be widening its own gaming and eSports portfolio.
IFAB to discuss Conmebol proposal to expand halftime to 25 minutes
October 18 – The idea of increasing halftime breaks to 25 minutes to provide the kind of entertainment that exists in US sports will be discussed this month by the game’s lawmaking body, the International FA Board.
Milletich takes over from Windtner at Austrian FA
October 18 – Gerhard Milletich, 65, has been elected the new president of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB). He replaces Leo Windtner, who had been in charge since 2009.
Panama and El Salvador sanctioned with closed stadia for fans’ homophobic chants against US
October 18 – FIFA has sanctioned both Panama and El Salvador for discriminatory chants by their fans during recent World Cup qualifiers. Both incidents incurred in games against the US.
Independent thought: Maldini and Lahm critical of Infantino/Wenger biennial plan
October 15 – When Arsene Wenger rolled out the bought and paid-for FIFA legends in Qatar to sycophantically support FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s unrelenting push for a biennial World Cup, he probably wasn’t expecting quite the backlash from football’s biggest stakeholders.
Haaland overtakes Mbappe as world’s most valuable player
October 15 – Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has overtaken PSG’s Kylian Mbappé as the most valuable player in the world with a market value of €144 million, according to new analysis by the KPMG Football Benchmark.
England’s Euro matches saw 92 arrests. UEFA set to impose fan ban
October 15 – With UEFA reportedly about to rule on whether to punish English football for the disgraceful scenes that marred last summer’s delayed Euro 2020 final when scores of ticketless fans rampaged through Wembley, new figures show that 92 football-related arrests were made at England’s home matches during the 2020-21 season – all but two them at the Euros.
Financial mess(i). Qatar owners put €171m into PSG to cover pandemic losses
October 15 – The Qatari owners of Paris Saint-Germain have injected another €171 million into the club to help ease the financial burden created by the global health crisis.
‘You started it’, regretful Albanian FA tells Poles
October 15 – The Albanian FA says it deplores the violent behaviour of its fans at this week’s World Cup qualifying defeat to Poland but in an attempt to gain the moral high ground blamed visiting Polish fans for provocation.