Real sign £20m sponsorship with Abu Dhabi petrol giant
October 30 – Real Madrid have struck another deal with affluent Gulf investors as they bid maintain their status as the world’s richest club.
Europe
UEFA cuts CSKA fan ban but warns it is still watching
October 29 – UEFA has reduced on appeal CSKA Moscow’s stadium ban imposed for serious fan trouble at their Champions League match at Roma – but any further outbreaks over the next five years and UEFA will almost certainly come down even harder on the club.
Poland’s I Liga pushes for stadium upgrades to secure new TV rights deal
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 29 – Poland’s I Liga, the second tier of the country’s professional football league, is pushing local clubs to upgrade their stadiums with the aim of securing a new broadcasting rights deal. Starting in the 2015/2016 season, the sides will be required to install lighting at their sports facilities to enable evening matches.
Blatter says Russia 2018 is well advanced and boycott would be pointless
By Andrew Warshaw
October 29 – Sepp Blatter has re-iterated his view that boycotting the 2018 World Cup in Russia will serve no legimitate purpose but has revealed for the first time that if they qualify Ukraine will not be placed in the same group as the hosts unless relationships between the two neighbours improve.
Rumours mount of AC Milan links to Hong Kong billionaire
By Mark Baber
October 28 – The presence of Hong Kong-based businessman Richard Lee with Silvio and Barbara Berlusconi (pictured) at AC Milan’s 1-1 draw with Fiorentina on Sunday has sparked media speculation of a China link for the Rossoneri.
Real appeal Zidane ban, saying he has the right coaching badges
October 28 – Real Madrid are to appeal against a three-month suspension slapped on former World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane for not having the right coaching qualifications.
Barca top youth player rankings but ‘home-grown’ numbers drop again
October 28 – Barcelona, who fell foul of FIFA’s regulations on the transfer of youth players and were forced to clean up their act, have proof that their system does in fact work following figures from the CIES Football Observatory that show the club leads the way in Europe’s big-5 leagues in numbers of youth players making it through to their first team, as well as providing more players from their system to other big-5 league clubs.
UEFA to contribute €20 million more to Euro 2016 host-cities
By David Owen
October 28 – UEFA has agreed to chip in an extra €20 million for the 10 Euro 2016 host cities. The financial package will be released in two instalments, the first at once and the second after the competition finishes. The tournament, to be played in France, will be the 15th European Championship and the first to be contested by 24 teams.
Leeds lunacy continues with latest manager sacked
By Andrew Warshaw
October 27 – Here today, gone virtually tomorrow. In less than seven months since taking over the club, Italian entrepreneur Massimo Cellino has turned Leeds United – not so long ago the proudest and most successful club in English football – into a laughing stock by sacking yet another manager almost as soon as he has walked through the door.
Suarez chews over crime and punishment but accepts blame in new book
By Andrew Warshaw
Ocotber 27 – His ban for biting may be over and last weekend’s Barcelona debut may have been incident-free but the infamy Luis Suarez brought on himself at the World Cup continues to generate widespread fascination.
Platini gets personal as he keeps up his assault on FIFA and Blatter
October 27 – Michel Platini has re-ignited his well-publicised falling-out with FIFA president Sepp Blatter by accusing the veteran Swiss of having stopped serving the cause of football.
Violence erupts at Sofia derby, as snowball flattens coach
October 27 – Bulgaria’s biggest club rivalry was marred by a serious outbreak of crowd trouble at the weekend but of a somewhat unusual nature when CSKA Sofia coach Stoycho Mladenov was knocked unconscious by a snowball thrown from rival Levski Sofia supporters.
Dyke bashes Blatter again, but says he expects him to win vote for fifth term
October 27 – English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke is back on the offensive over FIFA’s reform process, saying senior officials, including the president, should be restricted to two terms of office.
Broadcast: Ekstraklasa launches free live app, Liverpool go HD
October 24 – Poland’s Ekstraklasa has launched a free app that will broadcast coverage of the matches as well as latest news and personalised updates from the league. The app is available on IOS and Android devices.
Romania’s Craiova unveils €55m stadium design for Universitatea
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 24 – Romanian government authorities have unveiled the design of a planned stadium for top tier football club CS Universitatea Craiova.