News Archives - Page 9 of 40 - Inside World Football

Turkish FA floored by referee betting scandal with 371 match officials found to hold bookmaker accounts

October 27 – Turkish football has been rocked by news that out of a total of 571 active referees in the professional leagues, 371 have accounts with one or more of six different betting companies, with 152 of the referees having bet directly on football matches.

The announcement was made earlier today at a Turkish Football Federation (TFF) press conference at the TFF Riva Hasan Doğan National Teams Camp and Training Facilities.

Europe

RefCam debuts in Poland’s Ekstraklasa

October 27 – Poland’s top flight, the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa, has become one of Europe’s first leagues to introduce RefCam technology, debuting the system during the draw between Korona Kielce and Górnik Zabrze over the weekend.

Europe

Bellingham stars, Mbappé scores, and Vini has a strop

October 27 – Real Madrid defeated FC Barcelona 2-1 in Sunday’s El Clasico, with first-half goals from Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham to go five points clear at the top of La Liga.

Europe

Bulgaria’s Pirin Blagoevgrad on verge of bankruptcy after owners say they will cease funding at year-end

October 26 – Bulgarian second-tier club Pirin Blagoevgrad is on the brink of bankruptcy after majority owners – Georgi Spasov and Milen Stefanov – announced they will cease financing the club at the end of the calendar year.

Europe

Report finds growing racism on Israel’s terraces with Maccabi Tel Aviv fans leading the way

October 24 – Racist chants have been on the rise in Israeli football with Maccabi Tel Aviv the worst offenders, research by Kick It Out Israel has found, prompting NGO FairSquare to argue that the Israeli FA (IFA) is breaching UEFA statutes.

Released in June 2025 by Kick It Out (KIO) Israel, an initiative funded by Givat Haviva, a civil society organisation dedicated to fostering “a shared society for Jews and Arabs”, the report finds a sharp rise in racist behaviour among Israeli supporters and argues that IFA has taken little meaningful action to curb its alarming spread.

Europe

LaLiga to take Spanish players union to court over their alleged 15 second ‘strike’

October 24 – In a stunning escalation, football in Spain looks like it is on set for outright civil war after La Liga announced plans to take the Spanish players union (AFE) to court, claiming last weekend’s coordinated player protests amounted to an “illegal strike”.

Europe

UEFA joins ACE in battle to protect TV rights from pirate streamers

October 22 – UEFA has become the first sports rights-holder to join the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) – the world’s largest coalition dedicated to tackling digital piracy.

Europe

Maccabi Tel Aviv say they would reject any ticket allocation for Aston Villa game

October 21 – The UK government has expressed disappointment over Maccabi Tel Aviv’s decision not to take up any tickets offered for their away game in the Europa League against Aston Villa saying “it is completely unacceptable that this game has been weaponized to stoke violence and fear”.

Europe

Spartak Varna appeals to government and BFU for more to pay their tax debt

October 22 – Bulgaria’s Spartak Varna have appealed to the country’s minister of finance, Temenuzhka Petkova, and the leader of the GERB political party, Boyko Borissov, president of the Bulgarian FA (BFU), for help in an attempt to save their professional license.

Europe

LaLiga comes to a stand still as players protest against Barca-Villareal’s Miami move

October 20 – For the second consecutive matchday, Spain’s La Liga players made their feelings crystal clear about moving domestic fixtures abroad, even if television overlords seemed determined that fans wouldn’t witness the protests.

Europe

Tel Aviv derby called off after violent clashes between Maccabi and Hapoel fans

October 20 – The Tel Aviv derby between local rivals Hapoel and Maccabi was called off on Sunday after violent clashes between supporters. It follows the ban of Maccabi fans from November’s Europa League fixture against Aston Villa in Birmingham.

Local police posted on X that five fans had been arrested near Bloomfield Stadium on suspicion of disturbing the peace and rioting. Bottles were thrown and police officers reportedly assaulted.

Europe

Pitch invaders try to plant ‘Neville is a traitor’ flag on Salford turf

October 20 – Salford City’s League Two fixture with Oldham Athletic was interrupted after two men ran on to the pitch at the Peninsula Stadium and attempted to plant a St George’s flag in protest against former Manchester United defender, Gary Neville.

Europe

Cypriot club president shot dead outside his home

October 17 – The President of Cypriot second-division football club Karmiotissa, Stavros Demosthenous (pictured), was shot dead in Limassol on Friday morning, local police announced.

Europe

Madrid’s win-win situation as NFL comes to town

October 17 – Atlético de Madrid has announced that its home ground, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium, will serve as the official training base for the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins, from November 12–15, ahead of the 2025 NFL International Game in Madrid.

Europe

Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium to host Brazil-Senegal friendly next month

October 17 – Brazil will play in London next month as Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium hosts the first of the Seleção’s two November friendlies in Europe against Senegal, ahead of their clash with Tunisia in Lille on 18 November.