• Backlash greeted award of prize to US president

• Fifa committee to make recommendations this year

Donald Trump is likely to end up as the only political leader awarded the Fifa peace prize after Gianni Infantino was told at Thursday’s meeting of the Fifa council to make major changes or scrap the controversial award.

The Guardian has learned that several council members demanded the award be abolished and others called for the prize to be depoliticised, with Fifa’s football social responsibility committee to make a recommendation before the next council meeting in Doha on 16 December.

• Confederation president clarifies his intentions to staff

• Canadian was eyed as potential rival to Gianni Infantino

Victor Montagliani has told Concacaf staff he intends to stand for re-election as the confederation’s presidentnext year, which will rule him out of going up against Gianni Infantino for the top job at Fifa.

The Canadian businessman is understood to have relayed the message to most of the 41 members of Concacaf, the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation.

• Back end of 2027-28 season likely to be ‘challenging’

• Fixture contestion a growing area of concern

The Women’s Super League will face major disruption next season due to the Club World Cup, with Arsenal and Chelsea likely to be absent from domestic competition for up to a month.

The Guardian revealed last week that the inaugural Women’s Club World Cup is set to be awarded to the US, with transatlantic travel to cause additional problems for European sides, while the proposed dates of 5-30 January will clash directly with the WSL.

• Burnham should also declare City hospitality, party says

• PM said he would be concerned if owners forced to sell

Andy Burnham is facing calls from the Liberal Democrats to publish details of all his meetings with Manchester City’s owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), and declare all hospitality he has accepted at the Etihad Stadium.

The prime minister was widely criticised this week for saying he would be “really concerned” if ADUG were forced to sell City after being found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial regulations, which led to Downing Street issuing two clarifications of his position on Thursday.

• Council members also want Balogun affair included

• Fifa president says review letter been well received

Fifa council members will demand that Gianni Infantino include the abandoned World Cup sell-off plan and the Folarin Balogun affair in his proposed external review of Fifa’s governance.

In a letter sent to all 211 of Fifa’s member associations on Monday, Infantino said he would ask the council to commission a review of “Fifa’s current governance framework for major strategic initiatives” at its next meeting, in Zurich on 15 October, but he faces an internal battle over its terms of reference.

• Lions to play five fixtures in New Zealand in 2027

• Sky has held live rights for men’s Lions since 1997

The inaugural women’s British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand next year is expected to be broadcast live on Sky Sports in a significant boost for the women’s game. Sky has held live rights for men’s Lions fixtures since the 1997 tour of South Africa, and the broadcaster is understood to be in advanced discussions about adding the women’s series to its portfolio.

The first women’s Lions will play three Tests against the Black Ferns and two tour matches next September, with Sky expected to broadcast all five fixtures.

• Critics view Fernandes job as move to shore up position

• Fifa says change is designed to make sport ‘truly global’

Gianni Infantino has separated Fifa’s management of the Caribbean countries from the rest of Concacaf in a move widely regarded by his opponents as an attempt to split the alliance to remove him from office.

Concacaf covers North and Central America as well as the Caribbean and was previously managed as one bloc. But the Guardian has learned that the former Switzerland midfielder Gelson Fernandes, an Infantino loyalist, has been appointed as the director of member associations for the Caribbean, in addition to his position looking after Fifa’s African members.

• Raducanu’s 2021 win played big role in Sky interest

• Sky’s tennis audience in 2025 was 60% female

Sky Sports has agreed a new deal to extend its live coverage of the US Open.

The three-year contract extension, which is set to be announced when the singles from Flushing Meadows begin next week, will keep the US Open live on Sky until 2030.

• Leagues stopped rights packages in Russia in 2022

• They are considering legal action against Football TV

The English Football League and Scottish Professional Football League have launched investigations and are considering legal action after discovering that television coverage of their matches has been broadcast in Russia this season.

Football TV, a Russian subscription and streaming service, has broadcast numerous games from the opening two rounds of the EFL, as well as Scottish Premiership matches featuring Celtic, Rangers and Hearts.

• Gianni Infantino used opportunity to lobby for support

• Fifa president was asked to stay away from CFU meeting

Gianni Infantino has risked alienating numerous Concacaf nations, whose support he is seeking in his re-election campaign, by hijacking a meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to announce Fifa-funded development projects for the region with millions of dollars that had been delayed for months.

Multiple sources attending the CFU meeting in the Dominican Republic said many of the Concacaf members were infuriated by Infantino’s behaviour, particularly as he had been asked to stay away by their president, Victor Montagliani.

• Biennial tournament could launch as early as 2028

• Confederations are seeking to oust Gianni Infantino

Uefa and Concacaf have begun talks about setting up a combined Nations League tournament featuring all 96 European and North and Central American and Caribbean countries, in another direct challenge to Fifa.

The Guardian has learned that having come together to push for Gianni Infantino’s removal in the light of the World Cup sell-off controversy, the two confederations are now working on creating their own biennial tournament, which could launch as early as 2028 after the next European Championship.

• Move could be confirmed along with $100m US Open pot

• Slams have been in dispute with players for 18 months

Tennis’s grand slam tournaments have agreed to establish a formal player advisory council in a move aimed at defusing the row over prize money. The joint venture could be confirmed on Wednesday as part of the US Tennis Association’s (USTA) announcement of this year’s US Open prize money, which is expected to top $100m (£74m) for the first time.

The four slams have been in dispute for almost 18 months, with leading players – including Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka– demanding a greater share of tournament revenues as part of a wider overhaul of the sport’s finances and operations that would also lead to the major tournaments making contributions to player welfare and offer meaningful player representation.

• Audio to be used during live broadcasts for first time

• Move is part of an expansion of the RefCam system

The Premier League will permit audio of on-field conversations between players and referees during live broadcasts for the first time this season.

The use of audio by the Premier League’s domestic TV rights holders, Sky Sports and TNT Sports, is part of an expansion of the RefCam system, which became a permanent feature of top-flight coverage last season after a six-week trial at the start of the campaign. The head-mounted RefCams were used by broadcasters to ­provide near‑instant replays of match ­incidents from a new angle in an attempt to enhance the viewer experience, but under the terms of their agreement with clubs the audio captured by the cameras was not televised until several days later.

• Uefa, Concacaf and AFC working together on system

• Fifa has ignored calls for an independent review

Gianni Infantino’s opponents are working together to produce a new framework for running world football to replace what they regard as a system of patronage that Fifa has adopted since he replaced Sepp Blatter as president 10 years ago.

Repeated calls from Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation for an independent review of Fifa’s governance have been ignored by Infantino since his plan to sell off 21% of the World Cup was made public a fortnight ago, and the rebels are now understood to have taken matters into their own hands.

• European body to commission independent valuation

• Uefa unmoved by Infantino apology for ‘mistake’

Uefa is planning to commission an independent valuation of Fifa’s World Cup sale plans after concerns that Gianni Infantino agreed to sell the tournament’s future profits to a private equity firm at below the market rate.

The European governing body is unmoved by the written apology issued by Infantino to Fifa’s 211 member associations on Tuesday after crisis talks in Morocco. They will continue to push for his removal, with their tactics including further scrutiny of a proposal the president belatedly conceded was “a mistake.”

• First ODI of series will take place in Bready on Wednesday

• England refuse to face Afghanistan due to Taliban regime

Ireland’s decision to stage a full one‑day international series for their men’s team against Afghanistan this summer could cost them lucrative future fixtures against England.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is understood to be unhappy about the series, which starts on Wednesday, ­taking place as England refuse to play Afghanistan outside ­International Cricket ­Council global events because of what the ECB chair, ­Richard Thompson, has described as the “gender apartheid” of the Taliban regime.

• Confederation which represents Americas unhappy

• Pressure growing on the beleaguered Fifa president

A number of Concacaf countries are considering following Europe’s lead by formally removing their support for the Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

All 41 members of Concacaf, the confederation which represents North America, Central America and the Caribbean, are understood to have submitted letters of endorsement for Infantino’s re-election campaign before the World Cup, but many are now giving serious consideration to withdrawing them.

• Council wants to trigger emergency general meeting

• Members demand review of Balogun decision

Gianni Infantino is facing a rebellion from members of the Fifa council who are attempting to force an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that could develop into a full blown leadership challenge.

The Guardian has learned that moves to call an EGM were already under way before the emergence of Infantino’s abortive plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup, with council members demanding an independent review into the unprecedented decision to lift Folarin Balogun’s suspension during the World Cup, which involved multiple phone calls from Donald Trump.

• Fifa’s 25-page sales deck produced by JP Morgan

• Reference made to doubling global tournaments

Fifa’s sales pitch to persuade members to approve the sale of the World Cup’s commercial rights clearly states that its plans for financial growth will be achieved by staging more tournaments, having higher ticket prices and debt financing.

A 25-page sales deck titled “Fifa Forward Enterprise Member Materials”, that has been seen by the Guardian, makes the case for the creation of a new company to run Fifa’s commercial operations, 20% of which would be sold to Joshua Kushner, a US investor who is the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

• Donald Trump spoke to Fifa president before ban lifted

• Human rights body FairSquare sent complaint to IOC

Gianni Infantino is poised to escape without sanction after complaints he breached rules on political neutrality in his dealings with Donald Trump over the Folarin Balogun affair.

The International Olympic Committee this week received a formal complaint from the human rights organisation FairSquare regarding Infantino’s conduct after Trump revealed he had called the Fifa president asking him to review Balogun’s ban from the USA’s last-16 tie against Belgium. The ban was subsequently suspended for 12 months after an unprecedented ruling from Fifa’s disciplinary committee.