October 21 – South Korea’s Pohang Steelers will face Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the final of the Asian Champions League after beating current ACL holders Ulsan Hyundai on penalties.
October 21 – The blurring of ‘sporting’ boundaries and rights ownership that eSports throw up is brought sharply into focus again today with the EA Sports-sanctioned FIFA 22 Challenge.
October 21 – After two seasons in charge of his hometown club, Steve Bruce has exited Newcastle United after the club’s new owners confirmed his departure by mutual consent.
By Samindra Kunti
October 20 – Is the biennial World Cup dead and buried? After months of relentless PR and intense lobbying, a downbeat Gianni Infantino pivoted away from his brash crusade to railroad through his World Cup plans and overhaul the international match calendar following FIFA’s council meeting, held today at the world governing body’s headquarters in Zurich.
October 21 – Belgium are still top of the FIFA men’s national team world rankings, a position they have held since October 2018 when they supplanted France. The French, on the back of their Nations League win this month, have moved back into the top three and sit behind Brazil.
October 21 – Manchester City has extended its global partnership with consumer appliances producer Midea for a third season.
By Paul Nicholson
October 20 – UEFA has reacted furiously to FIFA’s announcement of the 21 names on their Technical Advisory Group, saying that the group is not a representative of the bodies that run women’s competitions.
October 20 – Danish head coach Kasper Hjulmand has criticised FIFA’s biennial World Cup consultation process with the world federation telling national team coaches from around the world that it will push ahead with plans that will dramatically overhaul the international match calendar and reduce the quadrennial cycle of the world’s leading sporting event.
October 20 – The final group qualifiers to fill the remaining 11 slots for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 will now be played as single round robin ties at centralised venues.
October 20 – UEFA has opened up a new cryptocurrency rights category, inviting bids for the licensing rights to the Champions League for the 2021-24 cycle.
October 20 – Brazilian broadcast giant TV Globo has lost exclusivity to the digital rights for the 2022 World Cup, with FIFA breaking out streaming rights and offering packages to Youtube, Facebook and TikTok.
October 20 – US finance and technology firm PEAK6 has bought a minority stake in Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers via Wolves holding company Fosun Sports.
October 20 – The Premier League has announced that 68% of players in the English top flight have been fully vaccinated, with 81% of players having received at least one dose, confirming a significant increase in uptake recently.
October 20 – Flamengo and Palmeiras fans will have to splash the cash to attend the 2021 Copa Libertadores final in Montevideo, Uruguay. South American governing body Conmebol has set ticket prices for November’s showpiece match between $200 to $650.
October 19 – It is hard to think that the FIFA statutes will not at some point come into play in the ongoing manoeuvrings over a two-yearly World Cup.