Barca fire Zubizarreta, Puyol quits, as Spanish giant re-groups
January 6 – The off-the-field crisis at Barcelona has deepened with the news that the Catalan giants have sacked Andoni Zubizarreta (pictured) as director of football.
Europe
CSKA Sofia money man calls for player wage cut but bigger win bonuses
By Alexander Krassimirov
January 6 – One of the largest shareholders in Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia, Petar Mandjukov (pictured), has called for aggressive cuts in player wages, but the introduction of a bigger bonus system if the club qualifies for European competition.
Evans debate rages over his attempts to return to football after release from jail
January 5 – An English lower-league club is under pressure not to offer a convicted rapist a contract as debate over whether he should be given a chance to resume his footballing career after serving a jail sentence intensifies.
Britain releases Government files relating to 80s fight against football hooliganism
By David Owen
January 4 – Hundreds of pages of documents relating to the British Government’s handling of the football hooliganism problem before and after the Heysel Stadium disaster in Brussels in May 1985 have been released by the National Archives.
Sales tax levy set to hike Ligue 1 ticket prices
By Samindra Kunti
January 5 – French football fans will have to fork out more money in 2015 if they want to watch Ligue 1 action following an injunction by the European Commission, asking for the nationwide implementation of VAT for sports tickets.
FIFA15 tops UK 2015 video games chart with 2.6m+ sales
By Mark Baber
January 2 – Electronic Art’s FIFA15 has been unveiled by The Entertainment Retailer’s Association as the UK’s biggest video game of 2014 after selling 2,663,296 copies, ahead of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and only coming second in the chart of the 20 best-selling video games, movies and albums of 2014 to Disney’s movie Frozen.
Rangers powerplay sees shareholder backlash against Ashley influence
January 2 – The powerplay turmoil in the Rangers boardroom battle continued over New Year as the largest shareholder Laxey Partners sold their 16.32% stake to consortium of wealthy fans for £2.6 million.
Barca bitter as transfer ban appeal fails and integrity of La Masia ‘questioned’
By Andrew Warshaw
January 2 – Stung at having its FIFA-imposed transfer ban upheld by the highest judiciary body in sport, Barcelona have struck back by denouncing the verdict and refusing to accept what it has described as a “disproportionate” and “excessive” ruling.
Women’s BeNe League to close as Dutch and Belgians rethink strategy
By Samindra Kunti
January 2 – The KNVB and the KBVB, the Dutch and Belgian FA’s respectively, will redesign their professional women’s league after a joint-decision to end the BeNe League due to insufficient financial resources in the Netherlands.
Scotland’s Hibs open up club ownership to fans with share offer for 51%
By Paul Nicholson
December 30 – Scottish Championship club Hibernian is giving the opportunity to its fans to become 51% owners with a new share issue. The club also announced that as part of the restructuring it is now free of bank debt.
Levski fans’ Trust wins seat on board and now wants the CEO’s job
By Alexander Krassimirov
December 30 – The Supporters Trust of Bulgarian club Levski, ‘Blue Bulgaria’, has called for their representative on the club’s Board to be appointed as CEO. The demand has not been dismissed by Levski owner Todor Batkov but early indications are that he will not make a management change.
Platini gets clear run at 3rd UEFA term and puts ‘white’ cards on the agenda
By Andrew Warshaw
December 29 – The deadline for rival candidates may have passed with little fanfare because of the Christmas holiday period but it is now clear that UEFA president Michel Platini, as expected, will run unopposed for re-election when his term expires at the UEFA Congress in Vienna at the end of March.
Omani Sultan poised to take over Belgian top tier club
By Samindra Kunti
December 29 – The Sultanate of Oman is set to become a majority shareholder in Belgian Jupiler Pro League club Mouscron-Peruwelz. As a result, French club Lille OSC will end its partnership with the Belgian club.
Niersbach outlines 10-year plan for German football
By Mark Baber
December 23 – Nothing succeeds like success and German Football Association (DFB) president, Wolfgang Niersbach has channeled the sense of triumph following his countries World Cup triumph, laying out an “ambitious” 10-year plan to keep Germany at the centre of world football.
Czech Hradec Kralove earmarks €9m for stadium revamp
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 23 – FC Hradec Kralove has unveiled plans to spend CZK 246 million (€9m) on modernising its stadium. The Czech club aims to launch the upgrade of the sports facility in 2016.