By David Owen
October 27 – A total of 168 urine samples provided to drug testers by footballers resulted in adverse analytical findings (AAFs) in 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has revealed.
October 26 – After being grilled for some eight hours by Swiss prosecutors, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the under-fire Qatari boss of beIN Sport Media who is at the centre of corruption allegations over World Cup TV rights, said he had nothing to hide and would willingly testify again.
By Paul Nicholson
October 26 – Former Guatemala Football Federation leader Hector Trujillo has been handed an eight month prison sentence and fined $415,000 by a Brooklyn federal court judge Pamela Chen. Trujillo is the first of the football officials in the FIFA corruption scandal to be sentenced in the US.
October 24 – Italian police and football authorities have opened an investigation into reports that Lazio fans left anti-Semitic stickers and graffiti, including images of famed Holocaust victim Anne Frank wearing a Roma shirt, during last weekend’s Serie A match against Cagliari.
October 23 – The issues surrounding the controversial payments made by the German FA (DFB) to FIFA as part of a so-called ‘slush find’ to buy votes for the 2006 World Cup just won’t go away.
October 20 – FIFA says it has struck a deal which it hopes will lead to world players’ union FIFPro withdrawing a legal complaint against the transfer system at the European Commission (EC).
October 20 – Danny Jordaan, the public face of the 2010 South Africa World Cup and head of his national association, has sensationally been accused of rape by a well-known singer and one-time parliamentarian.
By Paul Nicholson
October 20 – A Brooklyn federal judge has granted the request by prosecutors to keep juror names secret and for the jurors to be sequestered during the trial of Jose Maria Marin, Juan Angel Napout and Manuel Burga – the former bosses of Brazilian, Paraguayan and Peruvian football – whose trial begins on November 6.
October 20 – Amid the euphoria of beating Olympiakos 3-1 on Tuesday despite playing a large chunk of the game with 10 men, Barcelona fans unveiled a massive banner reading ‘Dialogue, Respect and Sport’ before kick-off, calling for a resolution to the political crisis between Catalonia and the Spanish central government.
October 20 – The British government’s sports minister has stepped into the debacle over racial comments made to two England women internationals by urging the English FA to improve its handling of discrimination claims.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 19 – The reputation of English football bosses has plummeted to an all-time and potentially fatal low following a grovelling apology to former England women’s internationals Eniola Aluko (pictured) and Drew Spence for racial comments made to them by former manager Mark Sampson.
October 19 – Despite insisting it would abide by FIFA’s decision, South Africa has submitted documentation to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) supporting Burkino Faso’s appeal challenging FIFA’s decision to replay the South Africa-Senegal World Cup qualifier.
October 19 – Nasser Al-Khelaïfi (pictured) the under-fire Qatari boss of beIN Sport Media who is at the centre of corruption allegations over World Cup TV rights, has agreed to meet next week with Swiss prosecutors who brought the case.
October 19 – Denmark risk being thrown out of the women’s World Cup after refusing to play Sweden in a qualifier on Friday because of a festering pay dispute with the Danish Football Association (DBU).
October 18 – Renowned Spanish newspaper Marca has backtracked after publishing an article suggesting that Tottenham Hotspur are hated by rivals fans, not least those of Chelsea and West Ham, because of its “Jewish heritage”.