By Andrew Warshaw
April 23 – The row between France and FIFA over the issue of headscarves shows little sign of diminishing. France’s new sports minister is defending the right of his country to uphold its policy of banning headscarves for footballers – in defiance of the game’s lawmakers.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 23 – There was yet more chaos in Bulgarian top tier football after the shocking scenes of violence that caused the abandonment of the Plovdiv derby at the weekend. This time it was the extreme Ultras of Levski Sofia who took action into their own hands amid fears that the top level of the game is getting out of control in the country.
April 23 – Sportlobster, a social network for sports fans, has raised £2.2 million for a minority stake in the business from MBM Capital Partners and Wychwood Capital. The new money into the year old company will be used to update the website and app.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 21 – Ferocious scenes terminated Bulgarian derby between Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Botev Plovdiv. The match, which in Bulgaria has become known as the Battle of Plovdiv, was stopped in the 41st minute after the home crowd started to throw missiles, stones and flares towards the ground in protest against club owner Konstantin Dinev.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 17 – Pogon Szczecin is planning to either modernise its stadium or build a new facility, according to Jaroslaw Mroczek, the chief executive of the Polish club.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 17 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia has repaid debts in excess of 1 million leva (€500,000) in order to meet club license requirements. The debts were accumulated under the former ownership of Titan AS.
By Mark Baber
April 16- The fourth edition of the “ReportCalcio” has been unveiled by the FIGC in Rome revealing a continuing downward trend in stadium income whilst television revenues increase.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 16- Sepp Blatter says referees too often go over the top in the way they caution and send off players, sometimes inflaming incidents in the process.
April 16 – Russian Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko, speaking at a meeting of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, outlined the progress of the stadium build for the FIFA World Cup 2018.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 16 – Bulgarian football legend Krassimir Balakov is preparing a football academy project inn his name in Sofia. Balakov already has submitted documents in Sofia Municipality with a request for an appropriate site for the Academy.
By Richard van Poortvliet
April 16 – The ‘Fisht’ Stadium in Sochi has been a bit of a lonely place following the conclusion of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. However this should change soon after the news that Sochi Zhemchuzhina are going to get another lease of life.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 15 – The UEFA body probing whether Europe’s clubs are complying with financial fair play are meeting today and tomorrow – with those who continue to spend beyond their means likely to be named early next month.
By Tom Parsons
April 15 – Sunday saw a first in football history as Atlético Madrid assistant coach German Burgos used Google Glass to help his team keep their La Liga hopes on the right track with a 2-0 win over Getafe.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 15 – The Romanian Football Federation (FRF) has signed a contract with Russia-based InStat Football for the provision of analytical tools for technical and tactical evaluations of footballers’ performance.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 15 – Austria’s match-fixing scandal has escalated still further with the news that former players Dominque Taboga (pictured) and Sanel Kuljic and several other unidentified people have now been charged.