By Samindra Kuni in Cariacica, Brazil
October 28 – Hosts Brazil kicked off the U-17 World Cup with a comfortable 4-1 win over Canada. Nigeria, Angola and Senegal all won their games, but European champions Netherlands suffered a surprise 3-0 defeat by Japan.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 28 – Plans are afoot to create a ground-breaking all-island domestic league in Ireland that would completely change the landscape of the sport on both sides of the border.
October 28 – SIGA (Sports Integrity Global Alliance) has expanded its base in South America with the addition of Brazil’s Pacto pelo Esporte joining the integrity organisation’s growing membership and adding a corporate backbone to the sports integrity lobby.
October 28 – The AFC Cup 2019 Final between DPR Korea’s 4.25 SC and Al Ahed, from Lebanon, which was switched from North Korea to Shanghai, has been moved again. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will not host the final on November 4, two days later than the originally scheduled November 2 date.
By David Owen
If you were ransacking Manchester United’s illustrious history in search of clues to help the Premier League aristocrats out of their current trough of underperformance, the inter-war years are not the first place you would look. With only two trophies – the Championship and the FA Cup – to aim for, the Red Devils endured a major silverware drought between their second league title in 1911 and their second Cup 37 years later.
October 28 – Despite being embroiled in an alleged case of threatening behaviour at home, DFB vice-president Rainer Koch (pictured) has been nominated by his federation to sit on the UEFA executive committee and FIFA council in succession to disgraced former DFB chief Reinhard Grindel.
October 28 – Southampton have donated their wages from last Friday’s humiliating record 9-0 defeat to Leicester in the English Premier League to charity.
October 28 – Bulgaria will learn their fate later today for the racist abuse England players suffered during the recent Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia.
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley
FIFA’s decision to stage an expanded 24-team Club World Cup (CWC) in China, which will take place between June 17 and July 4 2021, has serious and grave implications for the future of Africa’s most prestigious tournament – the biennial Cup of Nations.
By Osasu Obayiuwana
October 26 – Musa Hassan Bility, the former Liberia FA boss, who has taken FIFA and CAF to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), has been compelled to pay CHF 42,000 in additional arbitral costs, to ensure his case is heard.
October 25 – Conmebol have suspended the Futsal Copa America in Chile amid ongoing social unrest in the country, fueling speculation that the Copa Libertadores final could be shifted away from Santiago.
By Samindra Kunti in Rio de Janeiro
October 25 – Brazil and Canada kick off the U-17 World Cup on Saturday. The hosts will be among the favourites to win the tournament that was relocated at short notice from Peru.
October 25 – English football has started planning for the mid-season 2022 World Cup with the prospect of its top two divisions playing right up until nine days before the start of the tournament in Qatar.
October 25 – Kenya is facing potentially serious sanctions from FIFA if there is any outside interference over the composition of the Kenyan FA’s (FKF) board mandated to oversee upcoming elections.
October 25 – Budweiser who activated a sponsorship of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the US with its post-World Cup #WontStopWatching campaign to boost attendances and profile of women’s pro clubs and players, has given the league another push forward by challenging other brands to become ‘future’ sponsors.