UEFA announced it will increase Nations League payments for the current edition of the tournament, which started in September. There will be a 50% rise in solidarity fees given to all 55 national associations who are taking part. The group stage winners in Leagues A, B, C and D also all stand to benefit, with every country that finishes first in its pool receiving a 50% increase in bonus payments (UEFA).
Real Madrid reportedly "pressured Cristiano Ronaldo" to reach an agreement with his accuser Kathryn Mayorga. Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã "cited sources from Ronaldo's legal team." Real Madrid "was reportedly hoping to protect the image of its star signing" (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 10/10).
UEFA revealed it awarded Scottish Premiership side Rangers special permission "not to give visiting European teams their full allocation of tickets" due to safety concerns expressed by the police. UEFA rules "state visiting teams must receive" around 5% of the capacity of the stadium, which means Rangers "should give up approximately 2,500 tickets to visiting teams" (Scotland DAILY RECORD, 10/10).
England women's national team head coach Phil Neville said that he is "concerned the standard of refereeing" at next year's Women's World Cup could "negatively impact the game's growth." England was on the "wrong end of some contentious decisions in a 1-1 draw against Australia on Tuesday." The Lionesses were denied two penalties "and had a goal wrongly disallowed." Neville: "Having VAR at the World Cup does not worry me, the standard of refereeing does" (BBC, 10/10).
The FA was accused of sexism after posting a picture of the women’s national team before its game against Australia along with the caption, "Scrub up well, don’t they?" The caption "has drawn scorn from social media users," with some asking whether the FA was making a "kitchen joke" and others "questioning what the team’s appearance had to do with football" (RT, 10/10).
A New Zealand Football board member resigned in the wake of the release of the Independent Review into NZF -- "and it could be the first of several departures." Exec council member Jon Ormond reportedly informed the rest of the committee of his decision to resign late last week. In a statement, Ormond said that it came down to a "conscience vote," given the findings of the review (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 10/10).
