Canada 2-0 El Salvador
June 24 – Fresh from emerging from a Concacaf-imposed timeout, Canadian head coach Jesse Marsch returned to the technical area at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, knowing any more misbehaviour would send him back to the naughty room. He needn’t have worried as their opponents El Salvador simply imploded in a red mist.
October 24 – Newly elected Liberia Football Association (LFA) president Mustapha Raji (pictured), who took over from the controversial Musa Bility, says the country badly needs to step up youth development – starting with schools.
October 24 – Authorities in Rome have launched an investigation after more than 20 people, mostly fans of CSKA Moscow, were injured when a crowded escalator suddenly speeded up and then collapsed.
October 24 – As wrong anthems go, few have been more sensitive. South Korea’s players were astonished when organisers of their youth match against Jordan played North Korea’s instead.
By David Owen
October 24 – La Liga President Javier Tebas has hit out at opponents of the Spanish league’s plans to play a top-flight match in the United States later this season, accusing them of “Puritanism”.
October 24 – The return of Somalia’s national stadium to football usage took a symbolic step forward this week with members of the government and the football federation leading a clean-up operation at the venue.
October 24 – It has taken 110 years and a new Chinese owner, but Italian and European giants Inter Milan have finally have pledged to start a women’s first team.
October 24 – Qatar 2022 World Cup infrastructure was given a flying inspection visit by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, en route to the FIFA Council meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, later this week.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 23 – The global outcry surrounding Saudi Arabia in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi will be the elephant in the room when Gianni Infantino’s plans to radically change the game’s global landscape is discussed by the FIFA Council later this week.
October 23 – Cristiano Ronaldo has broken his silence over the rape allegations against him saying his “lawyers are confident” and that the truth will come out.
October 23 – Italy has a new federation (FICG) president with Gabriele Gravina (pictured) elected on Monday almost a year after the departure of his predecessor.
October 23 – Four years after the death of Julio Grondona, once the second-most powerful man in world football, Argentina has temporarily regained a place at the top table of FIFA.
October 23 – Germany’s DFL will kick off its first esports league, the VBL Club Championship (Virtual Bundesliga), on the EA Sports FIFA 19 platform in January next year. Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 teams have until December 21 to register teams.
October 23 – The UK tax authorities are following the Spanish lead and focussing on payments to players for their image rights that have not been declared for tax. The payments are made separate to the player’s salary and are often taken outside the UK by companies holding the rights, rather than directly to the players or managers.
By David Owen
October 23 – Next month will bring the end of a football broadcasting era, with Francis Tellier set to step down as chief executive of Host Broadcast Services (HBS) after almost two decades.
October 22 – Bookmaker Betfred has agreed a one-year extension to its title sponsorship of the Scottish League Cup taking the company through to the end of the 2019/20 season.