I have in the past been critical of the financial impact of the Champions League on European club football, and its role in reinforcing formation of a super-elite based partly on whether clubs happen to be located in one of the most lucrative European national TV markets or not.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 4 – New ground is being broken in the world of Middle East footballing geo-politics with Saudi Arabia agreeing to play Palestine in the occupied territories in a World Cup qualifier on October 15.
October 4 – South Korea says it is still unsure whether its upcoming World Cup qualifier against North Korea will take place in Pyongyang or switched to a neutral ground.
October 4 – In a bid to end longstanding disputes and conflicts between club and country, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has released a 2020 domestic calendar which prevents domestic fixtures from clashing with FIFA dates. That provision will not apply to the 2020 Copa America.
October 5 – US broadcast giant ESPN are set to carry a record amount of coverage this weekend for the final round of the regular MLS season.
October 4 – Liverpool may have hoped the £1 million paid to Manchester City in 2013 over allegations that the club’s scouts had been spying on the activity of their Manchester counterparts had been brushed away. While the Premier League has shown no investigative interest in the ‘spygate’ row, the FA has asked to see Man City’s evidence surrounding the hacking.
October 4 – Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has slammed Borussia Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke over the motives of his departure from the Ruhr club, calling the German executive a “clown” on social media.
October 4 – FIFA’s drip-drip series of sanctions of former senior officials has snared another scalp with ex-Equatorial Guinea FA president Domingo Mituy Edjang banned for four years for having “misappropriated FIFA funds”.
October 4 – LaLiga, via its foundation, is to participate in the opening of 262 schools in El Salvador.
October 4 – A Europa League game between Luxembourg’s F91 Dudelange and FK Qarabag of Azerbaijan was temporarily halted on Thursday when a drone was flown over the ground.
October 3 – Three years after buying into Crystal Palace, US owners Joshua Harris and David Blitzer, look to have put their stake up for sale in a deal that would value the south London club at £210 million.
October 3 – Italian playing legend Fabio Cannavaro, now looking to build a similar reputation as a coach at China’s Guangzhou Evergrande, says his team are still in Asian Champions League contention despite a first leg semi-final loss to Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds. In the other semi Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal look favourites for the final after a 4-1 away win at Qatar’s Al Sadd.
October 3 – River Plate have taken a huge step towards the final of the Copa Libertadores after defeating Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors 2-0 in their semi-final first leg. In the all-Brazilian semi-final, Gremio and Flamengo shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
October 3 – Cardiff City have decided to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against FIFA’s ruling that they must pay the first instalment of €6 million to Nantes for €17 million striker Emiliano Sala who died in January when the light aircraft carrying him to Cardiff two days after he signed crashed into the sea before he could play a single game.
October 3 – Uruguayan Eugenio Figueredo, one of the so-called original ‘Zurich Seven’, is the latest former football official to be banned for life for bribery as FIFA continues to tidy up its paperwork around its corrupt officials indicted in the US Department of Justice investigation.