By Mark Baber and Andrew Warshaw
April 11 – The Russian Duma has passed a new bill banning violent and abusive fans from stadiums with 226 votes for and just one abstention. The bill will now go to the Federation Council, before being signed off by President Vladimir Putin.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Manchester
April 11 – Russian football may have been blighted by hooliganism, racism and other misdemeanours on and off the field, but the whole image of the country will have changed by the time the World Cup takes place, said Alexander Djordjadze, deputy CEO of Russia’s World Cup organising committee, speaking at the Soccerex conference in Manchester today.
By Mark Baber
April 11 – Libya’s minister for Youths and Sports, Abdussalam Guaila has confirmed that Libya is planning to build a 60,000 capacity stadium in Tajoura, Tripoli and a 23,000 seater in Misrata for the 2017 African Cup of Nations.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 11 – After years of pain, heartache and broken dreams, the biggest fan ownership in the history of English football has finally been rubber-stamped after administrators of Portsmouth football club struck a last-minute deal for the sale of the club’s ground hours before the High Court hearing was to rule on its value.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Manchester
April 10 – In arguably the biggest crackdown to date to tackle racism in football, UEFA will ban players and officials for a minimum 10 games if they are found guilty of abuse – and are also hitting fans hard by ordering teams to play behind closed doors.
By Mark Baber
April 10 – A proposal by two politically right-wing-leaning football figures for a minute’s silence before this weekend’s Premier League fixtures, in tribute to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, has been met with an almost unanimously hostile reaction from English football fans and writers, who have been remembering her approach to football.
By Paul Nicholson
April 10 – Brazil’s hosting of the Confederations Cup this June is receiving positive boosts form all sides with the opening of the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador being hailed as a major success and the news that 546,000 tickets have already been booked by fans.
By Mark Baber
April 10 – A new three-year deal for seven exclusive commentary packages, starting with the 2013/14 season, ensures UK radio stations will continue to broadcast the same premier league football matches as under the current arrangement.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 10 – The High Court hearing into the future of ailing English club Portsmouth was finally due to get under way today in what supporters hope will result in the biggest fan ownership scheme in English football.
By David Owen
April 10 – FIFA’s recently-announced positive annual result of $89m for 2012 was achieved despite a striking 350% increase in the world governing body’s annual tax charge.
By Krzysztof Baranowski
April 10 – Poland’s top professional league, the T-Mobile Ekstraklasa, has radically reformed its structure for the 2013/14 season that is scheduled to kick off July 13 and play through to May 2014. The changes have been prompted by a requirement to make the league more attractive for media partners and sponsors.
By Gareth Messenger
April 9 – A total 70 players from sides residing in the Primera and Segunda divisions met in Madrid yesterday at a meeting organised by the Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) to discuss a range of topics from legal uncertainty to economic control of football clubs.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Dubai
April 9 – If Yousuf Al Serkal wins the race to become the new boss of Asian football at next month’s election, expect him to throw his powerful voice behind the growing calls to switch the 2022 Qatar World Cup to the winter.
By Mark Baber
April 9 – As the English Premier League and its clubs enjoy massive TV revenue and chunky sponsorship deals, even for training kits, the next levels down are struggling to find sponsors.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – FIFA have been quick to dispel any suggestion that Sepp Blatter has eased his hardline stance against racism.