October 18 – FIFA has sanctioned both Panama and El Salvador for discriminatory chants by their fans during recent World Cup qualifiers. Both incidents incurred in games against the US.
October 15 – When Arsene Wenger rolled out the bought and paid-for FIFA legends in Qatar to sycophantically support FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s unrelenting push for a biennial World Cup, he probably wasn’t expecting quite the backlash from football’s biggest stakeholders.
October 14 – The French league has voted to oppose FIFA’s plans to stage the World Cup every two years, slamming the proposal as “irreparably negative for the domestic leagues”.
October 14 – Arsene Wenger, Zurich’s ultimate salesman in his role as FIFA’s development director, believes automated, electronic offside calls can be introduced by the time of the World Cup finals in Qatar.
By Paul Nicholson
October 13 – EA Sports has renewed its licensing deal with players’ union FIFPRO in what is described as a “long term commitment”, but at the same time raises further doubts over EA’s ‘commitment’ to FIFA and use of its brand name.
October 13 – Criticism of FIFA’s proposal to stage a biennial World Cup continues to mount up, this time from an unexpected source: one of its own main sponsors.
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
October 12 – The tense relationship between Palestinian football and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino reached fever pitch on Monday when a meeting between the two was cancelled by the Palestinian FA who in a statement today said they could not support a PR visit designed around the “support of evangelical Zionist groups that advocate the negation of Palestinian rights.”
October 11 – FIFA is reported to be running out of time to find a host for the much-maligned Club World Cup in December and may be forced to postpone until early next year – an unfortunate public relations blow to Gianni Infantino.
By Paul Nicholson
October 11 – Former FIFA Deputy Secretary-General, Zvonimir Boban (pictured), has hammered the idea of a biennial World Cup as an ‘absurdity’ that no ‘normal person’ in football would accept and that “we have to fight it”.
October 7 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini will go before a Swiss court to decide their case concerning the CHF2 million ‘disloyal payment’ made by FIFA to Platini in 2010.
October 7 – FIFA has launched the bid process for hosting the 2023 Beach Soccer World Cup with a deadline for declarations of interest of 29 October 2021.
By Samindra Kunti in Turin
October 7 – France captain Hugo Lloris (pictured centre) has voiced his opposition to FIFA’s plans to stage the World Cup every two years, arguing that the global finals should be protected as “something rare”.
October 6 – FIFA is scrambling to find new organisers of this year’s Club World Cup after South Africa announced they have withdrawn their interest to host the tournament in December.
October 5 – Leading bodies and figures from across the women’s game in Europe have joined forces to attack the concept of a biennial World Cup in the latest opposition to FIFA’s proposals to radically change the global status quo.
October 4 – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has taken the UK government to task over their change of heart in offering Premier League players exemptions if they are travelling to Covid red-list countries during this month’s international break.