October 7 – French international Paul Pogba, once the golden boy of his country’s midfield but whose career took a dramatic downward turn, says his “nightmare is over” after a four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
October 7 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have signed a four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) to combat match fixing in the Asian region.
October 7 – FIFA has announced it will propose expanding the women’s Olympic soccer tournament from 12 teams to 16, as well as the addition of futsal and beach soccer to the games in a mission to further elevate women’s football and diversify the sport’s Olympic offerings.
October 7 – The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has reported a significant financial boost, with its 2023/24 turnover rising by £2.4 million (6%) to reach a record £44.3 million.
October 7 – Rarely out of the news, French superstar Kylian Mbappe is facing criticism for skipping Les Bleus’ Nations League games against Israel and Belgium while still being available to play for Real Madrid.
October 6 – The Palestine Football Association (PFA), which has lost pretty much every political battle with its Israeli neighbours in the football politics arena, have nevertheless ‘welcomed’ the FIFA Council’s decision to refer their case to FIFA’s Ethics bodies.
October 7 – Reigning Serie A Champions Inter Milan have announced a new partnership with TIM, which will see the broadcast provider become the club’s Official Telco Partner.
October 7 – For nearly 20 years the fortunes of US Soccer from a commercial and marketing standpoint were tied with SUM (Soccer United Marketing), the MLS-owned agency. That deal officially ended on December 31, 2021, when the US Soccer Federation (USSF) moved their operations in-house, although they did not take full responsibility until the start of 2023.
October 7 – There are two jobs in English football that are simply the ‘impossible jobs’. One of course is to be the England National team manager, and the other…the hot seat at Manchester United.
October 7 – Concacaf’s two regional club cup competitions in Central America and the Caribbean have now reached the semi-final stages with the two-leg ties scheduled for the end of this month.
October 7 – Gary Lineker, former England striker, and face of football for the BBC for the last 25 years, is rumored to be on his way out of being an integral part of England’s media landscape.
October 4 – Just when it looked like FIFA might finally take a giant courageous leap by siding with the Palestinian cause in the Middle East, procrastination was again the name of the game.
October 4 – The Spanish Football Federation have punished Atletico Madrid with a partial stadium closure for three matches. They have also been handed a fine of $50,000 after crowd trouble halted Sunday’s La Liga game against city rivals, Real Madrid, for almost 20 minutes.
October 3 – A new set of updated player valuations, this time from Football Benchmark, has put Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé at the top of the most valuable player list at €233.3 million, almost €34 million higher than Erling Haaland.
October 4 – Argentinian club River Plate have announced plans to raise $20 million through a public offering in a financial vehicle that will invest the money in the club, potentially introducing a new investment approach for Argentinian football clubs.