So we've had another big day of news out of Zurich. FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini have been suspended. FIFA's ethics committee has also suspended general secretary Jerome Valcke though that was sort of overkill as Blatter already relieved him of his duties. And Chung Mong Joon, the scion of the Hyundai empire and arguably the richest industrialist in soccer, was slapped with a six-year ban.

You know the next World Cup cannot be too far off when the big boys begin qualifying. Russia 2018 qualifying gets underway Thursday in South America. Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez and James Rodriguez are among the missing for the first two of 18 dates in the most competitive -- and surely most grueling -- of all regional competitions.

By Wednesday, Fenway Sports Group hopes to have wrapped up negotiations with Jurgen Klopp on a three-year contract making him Liverpool's new manager. Can he help turn around the Reds, who have never won the Premier League title since its launch in 1992-93?

If you watch "Premier League Match of the Day" on NBCSN, then you would have seen Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho's seven-minute long diatribe about the horrible state of his team, the fear of the Premier League's referees in awarding his confidence-sapped men penalties and other calls he feels they otherwise deserve, and his desperate-sounding PR pitch about why he is still the best man for this job.

Juventus beat Sevilla 2-0 in Turin on Wednesday during the second round of group-stage games in the UEFA Champions League. The home win put last year's runner-up alone atop Group D, with six points, but the Italian giant has struggled domestically, as the winner of the last four Serie A titles currently sits 15th in Italy with only five points after six league games.

Languishing much closer to the bottom of the Premier League than the top, defending champion Chelsea has been bludgeoned by poor results and bad publicity. Manager Jose Mourinho revels in confrontation and controversy, but recent events may be stretching thin the patience of owner Roman Abramovich.