SIGA puts final touches to Middle East, Asia and Africa regional integrity summit
September 13 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) will hold its first high-level Inter-Regional Summit in the Middle East next week on September 16-17.
Premier League refereeing chief says VAR mistakes made but wants to keep games moving
September 13 – English football’s refereeing chief has admitted that four VAR mistakes have already been made in the opening four rounds of the Premier League season.
Sierra Leone fans run riot after Bangura misses penalty
September 13 – Sierra Leone football, for months embroiled in an internal power struggle, has been further rocked by two off-the-field incidents that have caused widespread embarrassment within the federation’s leadership.
Police across Europe swoop on Belgian agents in Mitrovic transfer fraud probe
By Samindra Kunti
September 12 – Player agent Christophe Henrotay (pictured) and his brother-in-law and business associate Christophe Cheniaux have been detained by police over alleged transfer fraud. Former Anderlecht manager Herman Van Holsbeek was also held in custody on Wednesday.
Relevent Sports accuse USSF and FIFA of conspiring to prevent LaLiga play in US
September 12 – Relevent Sports, the promoter of the International Champions Cup which is building a business on taking international clubs to play in the US, has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation (USSF).
Piracy: Danish court rules free streamer Rojadirecta must be blocked by web providers
September 11 – Pirate broadcaster Rojadirecta has been judged illegal in Denmark and will now be blocked by internet providers. The decision by a Danish court comes after a joint complaint by LaLiga and Danish copyright protection agency RettighedsAlliancen.
Watford goes bitcoin with sleeve logo and merchandise sales
September 12 – Premier League Watford’s shirt sponsor Sportsbet.io has given over the sleeve position on the club shirt to display the Bitcoin logo (₿) as part of a new educational campaign to boost awareness and applications of cryptocurrency.
WSL intensifies marketing with Spurs vs Arsenal spearheading November promo weekend
September 12 – After the popular success of the opening weekend of the Women’s Super League (WSL), the English FA wants to capitalise on the momentum by urging fans to attend its first Women’s Football Weekend on 16-17 November, during the men’s international break.
FIFA in India to inspect host cities for 2020 U-17 Women’s World Cup
September 12 – FIFA has sent an inspection team to the five prospective host cities for the 2020 U-17 Women’s World Cup. It is the second FIFA tournament that India will stage in quick succession having hosted the U-17 Men’s World Cup in 2017.
Why players need to stay in school to be better, winning, players
September 12 – A research report has found that athletes who study for a second career are more likely to have a more successful sports career.
‘United’ ECA fail to find agreement on Champions League reform
By Samindra Kunti
September 11 – The European Club Association (ECA) and its chairman Andrea Agnelli (pictured) have said that reform talks to restructure European club football might drag on another “18 months” or even have a 2022 deadline after failing to find enough of a consensus for the current proposal of a 32-team Champions League with a guaranteed entry for 24 clubs. They maintain however that the proposal isn’t dead in the water yet.
Agents cashed in with $529.3m in fees in Summer transfer window
By Paul Nicholson
September 11 – Intermediaries earned a massive $529.3 million in commissions in the last transfer window, according to data from FIFA TMS (transfer match system) covering the summer transfer window.
Not takeover, its reform: FIFA gets its teeth into CAF’s ‘reform’ process
September 11 – Originally sold as ‘help’ to run the organisation and conduct an audit of its financial affairs, to be led by FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura in an additional role as FIFA Delegate for Africa, the takeover has now morphed into what is being called a CAF-FIFA Reform Task Force.
For the love of the game: Iranian Sahar Khodayari dies after self-immolating
By Samindra Kunti
September 11 – Sahar Khodayari, an Iranian female football fan, who set herself on fire a week ago outside a courthouse, has died. She had been arrested trying to enter a football stadium.
World Cup 2022 qualifiers: Somalian heartbreak, Guinea-Bissau history makers
By Samindra Kunti
September 11 – Zimbabwe’s Khama Billiat broke Somalian hearts with a late strike on Tuesday to end East Africans dreams of progressing to the group phase of World Cup qualifying for the first time. At the end of the emotions, Guinea-Bissau created history, progressing for the first time with a 2-1 aggregate win over Sao Tome e Principe.