By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – The heads of the two bodies representing Europe’s clubs and league have renewed their war of words over qualification for the Champions League in the post-2024 cycle and how European competitions should be structured.
By Paul Nicholson
October 9 – Football only has itself to blame for the bombshell dropped by beIN Media Group CEO, Yousef Al-Obaidly yesterday at the Leaders in Sport conference in London, who outlined a future of dramatically reduced rights fees from broadcasters worldwide, even for premium leagues and events.
October 9 – England players are threatening to walk off the pitch all together if any of them receive racist abuse from the stands when they take on Bulgaria in Sofia in a World Cup qualifier next Monday.
October 9 – The European summer transfer window should close at the same time everywhere as used to be the case, according to the head of the European Leagues.
October 9 – Saudi Arabia will stage another high-profile friendly between Brazil and Argentina in November as part of the Riyadh Season, the country’s General Entertainment Authority, headed by Turki Al-Sheikh, announced.
By Samindra Kunti
October 9 – Anderlecht have defended Vincent Kompany’s role as player-coach at the Belgian FA, denying that Simon Davies was a ‘shadow’ coach in place only to give Kompany the qualifications back-up required in Belgium.
October 9 – Celtic have been charged by UEFA for fans setting off fireworks just over two weeks after being fined for the use of flares and throwing objects.
October 9 – They are fierce city rivals on the pitch yet they share a stadium, want to jointly build a new one, and now share a sponsor. Italian club giants AC Milan and Internazionale have jointly announced A2A Energia as their official energy partner.
By Paul Nicholson
October 8 – The warning signs have been there for a while, the reality may only just be starting to hit home to a football business that is “still sleep-walking to a financial cliff”. Broadcast and media rights revenues that underpinned football’s massive growth are about to burst, and spectacularly so.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 8 – Still protesting his innocence at the ban that crushed his hopes of landing the FIFA presidency he so coveted, former UEFA chief Michel Platini is free to work in football again and is vowing to make a comeback which could potentially mean trouble for those he believes conspired to end his career.
October 8 – FIFA has extended the term of the Normalisation Committee that oversees Ghanaian football.
October 8 – Former El Salvador FA boss Reynaldo Vasquez is the latest high-profile official to be banned for life by FIFA.
October 8 – The Welsh FA has announced BT as its exclusive lead partner in a deal that will run until 2024.
By David Owen
October 8 – Flummoxed by Brexit and with a general election looming, Britain’s opposition Labour party has turned to the people’s game to try to build some much-needed political capital.
By David Owen
October 8 – As we used to say in the TV era, “Do not adjust your set”: Italy really will be wearing green when they take on Greece in a European championship qualifier in Rome on Saturday night.