By James Dostoyevsky
UEFA is in a quagmire of its own making and one that is much welcomed by Gianni Infantino, the ‘little child’, who ascended to the FIFA Emperor’s Throne, only to stumble from blunder to blunder, with no end in sight.
May 23 – As the half way stage of the group matches at the Toulon Tournament nears, the European nations are dominating, the Czech Republic and France looking almost certain to qualify for the final four.
May 23 – Big money transfer spending does not necessarily bring success, as Louis van Gaal found out to his personal cost at Manchester United this season. The CIES Football Observatory has ranked clubs in the Big 5 Leagues according to the average transfer cost per player fielded.
By Samindra Kunti in Paris
May 23 – Paris Saint-Germain and a departing Zlatan Ibrahimovic won a 10th French Cup against Marseille at the Stade de France in a final that descended into ugly scenes after the final whistle as Marseilles fans stormed the pitch and set fires in the stands.
May 23 – Scottish football authorities have launched an urgent inquiry into Saturday’s mass pitch invasion that marred Hibernian’s first Scottish cup triumph for 114 years.
May 23 – UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Liverpool and Sevilla for “crowd disturbances” at last week’s Europa League final.
May 20 – With league seasons over in Europe and Cup finals being played, attention is rapidly switching to the big international tournaments of the 2016 Euros, Copa America Centenario and the Olympic Games in Rio. One tournament that kicked off in Euros host nation France this week was the 2016 Toulon Tournament.
May 20 – The biggest shake-up in the English professional football pyramid since the Premier League was set up in 1992 has been proposed, with a new fifth division of 20 clubs from 2019-20.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 19 – Dutch football chief Michael van Praag says he is running for UEFA president to put the organisation back on an even keel before handing over to someone younger.
By Samindra Kunti
May 19 – The Dutch FA, the KNVB, has relegated FC Twente from the domestic top flight, the Eredivisie, as punishment for breaching financial regulations. Twente will, however, maintain their professional license.
May 19 – UEFA are to set up a special task force to determine how to accommodate Kosovo in their various competitions. Kosovo were accepted as a full member of FIFA last Friday, a week after being admitted to UEFA despite fierce opposition from Serbia.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 19 – UEFA have defended the choice of Basel’s St Jacob stadium for Wednesday’s Europa League final between Liverpool and Sevilla.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 18 – Michel Platini’s successor as UEFA president will be elected on September 14, with veteran Dutch FA chief Michael van Praag already in the frame.
By Paul Nicholson
May 18 – Angel Villar Llona (pictured), Spain’s controversial FIFA vice-president and the man currently in charge at UEFA following the sanctioning of Michel Platini, is facing legal action at home from rival candidate for the Spainish federation presidency Miguel Angel Galan.
By Samindra Kunti
May 17 – Club Brugge have been crowned Belgian champions for the first time since 2005 after hammering arch-rivals Anderlecht 4-0 with two match days to spare.