By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 27 – Romanian prosecutors from the Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) have launched a probe into the two main shareholders of the Petrolul Ploiesti club, Daniel and Nicolae Capra, and Marius Bucuroiu, the side’s general manager. The three club officials were arrested together with four others on the suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering.
November 27 – In what has become an almost routine ritual in Russia, Torpedo Moscow have once again been sanctioned for racism by fans, with its stadium ordered to be partly closed for three games.
November 26 – Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney (pictured) has apologised after a video of him singing an Irish Republican song in a Dublin bar was broadcast on Youtube. Delaney was part of a group singing a song about Northern Irish man Joe McDonnell who was one of the IRA hunger strikers who died in 1981.
By Alexander Krassimirov
November 26 – Sports betting company Efbet has continued its sponosrship expansion into the top tier of Bulgarian football with the addition of Levski Sofia to its portfolio. Efbet now has a sponsorship lock on almost all the leading teams in the Bulgarian championship – CSKA Sofia, Lokomotiv Sofia, Slavia, Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Botev Plovdiv.
November 25 – Top-flight games in Greece will resume this weekend after the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) announced it was lifting the suspension imposed in the wake of a leading official being violently attacked.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 25 – The municipal council of Freiburg has approved the project to build a new stadium for SC Freiburg. The cost is estimated to be about €70 million.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 24 – The chief executive of Germany’s Bundesliga is the latest high-profile figure to enter the debate over Fifa’s handling of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup anti-corruption investigation, saying coordinated action was needed from Europe to reform world football’s governing body.
November 24 -Croatia’s so-called “Eternal derby” between Hajduk Split and arch-rivals Dinamo Zagreb was scrapped at the weekend after dozens of blacklisted Hadjuk fans were barred – and their players, remarkably, protested in sympathy.
November 24 – The president of French League 2 club Nimes has quit following allegations of matchfixing in the latest scandal to rock French football. Jean-Marc Conrad, who has led the ‘Crocodiles’ since April, is under formal investigation along with Caen chairman Jean-Francois Fortin and four others on suspicion of fixing the result of a fixture between their clubs.
By Mark Baber
November 21 – Following the election of Carlo Tavecchio, who came to power using racist rhetoric which has earned him a six-month UEFA ban, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has acted to implement his core election agenda item, passing new regulations limiting the number of foreign players in Italy, especially those from countries outside the EU.
By Alexander Krassimirov
November 21 – The president of the Bulgarian Football Union Borislav Mihaylov (pictured) has responded to criticism of a lack of money in Bulgarian football saying that sponsors have deserted the national team due to lack of success and that the government provides no funding to the federation.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 19 – Nicos Kyrzis, the chairman of Cypriot club Apollon Limassol on the Greek side of the partitioned island, has unveiled plans to build a new stadium with a capacity of 12,000. Under the scheme, the cost of the build will be up to €17 million.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 21 – Czech businessman Miroslav Pelta has said he plans to hand over control of top tier club FK Baumit Jablonec, in which he holds a 80% stake, to a new investor. The sale could also solve a potential conflict of interest for the Pelta, who is also the president of the Czech football association FACR.
November 20 – England fans have been criticised, and the FA has apologised on their behalf, following provocative chanting during this week’s prestige friendly with Scotland.
November 20 – Real Madrid looks set to announce a naming rights deal for stadium after Florentino Perez was caught on camera saying the Bernabeu could soon be called the IPIC Bernabeu or Cepsa Bernabeu.