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 2 – The Danish Football Association and the country’s players’ union have reached a new collective pay agreement which means the country will no longer have to call on part-timers for international fixtures.
October 2 – The Canadian Premier League (CPL), which is scheduled to kick off its inaugural season in 2019, has signed a long-term deal with Italian apparel company Macron.
October 2 – German Bundesliga gaints FC Bayern Munich has signed a new regional partner for China.
By Paul Nicholson
October 1 – Saudi Arabia has been hit with a two-pronged billion dollar offensive from broadcaster beIN and the Qatar state over the on-going copyright theft of pirate broadcaster beoutQ. A consortium of rights holders including FIFA and the Premier League are expected to follow suit in the coming days as the Saudis rapidly turn themselves into the pariahs of the sports rights business.
By Paul Nicholson
The three biggest football presidencies in global football come up for election in 2019 with FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and UEFA all voting on new presidential terms. At present the only election of the three that will be contested will be in Asia – current president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa announced his intention to run again last week.
October 1 – LaLiga and Unilever have reached a worldwide sponsorship agreement for Unilever’s Clear Men and Rexona brands in a deal that covers the remainder of this season and the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 1 – Danny Jordaan’s bid to take up one of Africa’s top positions at the heart FIFA suffered a crushing blow at the weekend when he was heavily beaten in the ballot for a place on the FIFA Council.
October 1 – No rival candidate has yet come forward to challenge Gianni Infantino when he bids for re-election next year but if anyone does, African football will stand firmly behind the present incumbent.
By Samindra Kunti
October 1 – Atletico de Kolkata were beaten 2-0 by Kerala Blasters in the opening match of the fifth season of the Indian Super League on Saturday. But while the league has started, doubts remain about the league’s commercial blueprint on what was a somewhat understated season kick-off compared to previous years.
October 1 – The decision on whether to give the green light to Cameroon to stage the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has been deferred yet again – this time until November.
October 1 – The British government says it would provide the necessary financial guarantees for a joint UK-Ireland 2030 FIFA World Cup bid.
October 1 – In what will be viewed in Israel as a major slight and by Palestinians as an endorsement of their cause, Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, whose arrest last year drew international condemnation, has been honoured by Real Madrid.
By Andrew Warshaw in Nyon
September 28 – By the time UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin proclaimed that Thursday’s vote for Euro 2024 was a “transparent, democratic decision” by his executive committee, Turkey’s vanquished bid team were already packing their bags en route to Geneva airport, stunned by the margin of defeat.
September 28 – The controversial proposed £600m sale of English football’s national Wembley Stadium has moved a step forward after being discussed by the Football Association’s board.
September 28 – Pools betting was once a staple of football club finance. The low stakes, parimutuel results prediction ‘bet’ even eight years ago still saw 600,000 people a week in the UK fill in a pools coupon on paper.