By Mark Ledsom
November 20 – The head of BT TV insisted on Tuesday that the company´s audacious £897 million purchase of the UEFA Champions League broadcast rights earlier this month had been “worth every penny”, and also suggested that BT was ready to mount a similarly aggressive bid during the next round of bidding for the English Premier League TV rights.
By Paul Nicholson
November 19 – One of Europe’s most iconic clubs is undergoing a revolution, Viennese style. SK Rapid, better known to most European fans as Rapid Vienna, has a new president, plans for a new stadium and is targeting a new era as one of Europe’s top clubs in the world’s best city to live in according to Mercer’s latest Quality of Living ranking.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 18 – CSKA Moscow owner Yevgeni Giner (pictured) is reportedly in talks with Ales Rebicek, owner of Slavia Prague, to buy the Czech football club.
By Paul Nicholson
November 15 – It was a mixed bag of emotions amongst Europe’s elite clubs this week as both Bayern Munich and Manchester United announced club record financial results.
By Alexander Krassimirov
November 15 – Not all Bulgarian football stories are about owners at war, death threats to referees and violent fans forcing coaches to quit. The love of football by one Bulgarian fan has touched the hearts of the nation and his favourite club CSKA Sofia.
November 15 – English Championship club Derby County are to rename Pride Park the iPro Stadium in a 10-year sponsorship deal worth £7 million. A deal that the club maintain is the highest ‘independent’ deal (ie not involving ‘soft’ ownership sponsorship) outside the Premier League.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 14 – Poland’s Widzew Lodz has signed a sponsorship deal with local pharmaceutical company Aflofarm Farmacja. The logo of one of the drugs manufactured by the company, Braveran, will appear on its squad shirts.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 14 – Austria is the latest European country to be hit by the global match-fixing scourge with a former international reportedly detained after apparently attempting to blackmail SV Grodig defender Dominique Taboga into manipulating one of the country’s top-flight games.
By Paul Nicholson
November 14 – German data giant SAP has increased its foothold in football and signalled an intention to grow its business in the sports area with an expansion of its relationship with the German Bundesliga football club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and the addition of German national team manager Oliver Bierhoff as a brand ambassador.
By Paul Nicholson
November 13 – The foundation stone for the €250 million Grande Stade de Lyon was laid yesterday. The new Lyon stadium. also known as the Stade des Lumières, will be one of France’s 10 UEFA Euro 2016 venues and the race is now on to make sure the stadium is finished in time for the championships.
November 13 – Barcelona have agreed a two-year extension to its partnership with the United Nations Children’s fund, Unicef.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – Carson Yeung, the Hong Kong businessman who owns English club Birmingham City, has lost a second appeal to have his money laundering trial thrown out. A district court judge said Yeung wasn’t prejudiced by new evidence submitted by the prosecution during the trial which has been going for almost two months.
By Alexander Krassimirov
November 13 – Non-profit organisation CSKA Forever is raising funds via premium short text messages to be used in several ways. The bulk of the money raised will go towards the construction of several small football grounds which will be used by the club’s Academy. Currently young CSKA players train and play matches at different stadiums in Sofia and the surrounding area.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 12- German legend and Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness will not resign despite his upcoming trial for alleged tax evasion.
November 12- Lionel Messi has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a torn hamstring muscle, with Barcelona’s world player of the year missing at least seven games for club and country.