By Mark Baber
November 19 – In a throwback to the Bernard Tapie scandals of the 1990s, French police swooped in on the leading lights of Olympique Marseille (OM) on Tuesday morning, arresting club president Vincent Labrun and general manager Philip Perez at their homes in Saint-Remy de Provence and Marseille and questioning them over potential corruption and kick backs involving multi-million Euro transfer deals.
By Paul Nicholson
November 19 – According to Russian news agency Tass, scientists at Russia’s Siberian university have started building Russia’s first robot team.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 19 – Scotland’s former World Cup referee Hugh Dallas (pictured) has stepped down as head of referees in Greece just days after matches were suspended indefinitely following an attack on one of his colleagues.
November 18 – Croatian football authorities, seemingly at the end of their patience over the hooligan reputation of their fans, have called on the country’s entire society to help eradicate the problem following last weekend’s flare-throwing incident that caused a Euro 2016 qualifier in Italy to be briefly suspended.
November 17 – UEFA seem certain to take action after the latest incident of crowd trouble to mar a major game on the European stage. Riot police fought with fans at the high-profile Euro 2016 qualifier between Italy and Croatia that ended 1-1 as a flood of flares were hurled down the from stands, enveloping the pitch at the San Siro in thick smoke.
By Mark Baber
November 13 – The issue of a Roma football club based in Decin in the Czech Republic, whom five league opponents have refused to play, has highlighted the racism and discrimination faced by the Roma communities in Eastern Europe and illustrates the obstacles football administrators need to overcome to ensure equal access and opportunities for all.
November 13 – A Swiss top-flight team have initiated legal proceedings after one of its players suffered a serious injury following a horror tackle by an opponent last weekend.
November 12 – AC Milan have built on their popularity in Japan signing a sponsorhsip with leading retail store chain Lawson. The deal was announced at a Sponsor Day at the club by CEO and VP Barbara Berlusconi.
By Mark Baber
November 12 – Movistar, which has been the main sponsor of the Spanish national team since the Euro 2012 championship in Poland and Ukraine, has extended its sponsorship to cover the period up to and including the Euro 2016 Championship in France.
November 12 – Amid persistent crowd disturbances and allegations of corruption that do little to enhance the country’s staging of the 2018 World Cup, the Russian Football Premier League is the latest partner to be signed up by the Qatar-based International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) to protect the country’s top division from emerging threats to safety, security and integrity.
November 11 – FIFA have moved quickly to dispel a report that claimed Sepp Blatter believes Qatar will be stripped of hosting the 2022 World Cup.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 11 – Ajax Amsterdam has inked a sponsorship deal with local cable and media firm Ziggo. Starting in January 2015, Ziggo will replace insurance and pension firm Aegon as the club’s main sponsor under a deal worth at least €8 million per year, the side said in a statement.
By Paul Nicholson
November 11 – There has been a subtle shift in the balance of expatriate players in the big-5 leagues in Europe with a marked increase in the numbers of Europeans moving to leagues outside their home country, with the balance moving away from the exporting South American markets. The overall percentage of ‘foreign’ players in the big-5 leagues continues to rise, hitting a record 45.9%, according to figures from the CIES Football Observatory.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 7 – Rinat Akhmetov, the owner of Shakhtar Donetsk, is considering buying Arena Lviv, where the Ukrainian club is currently hosting its home matches, according to local authority representatives.
November 7 – The Ukrainian Premier League (UPL) has signed a data partnership deal with Sportradar taking them to the end of the 2017/18 season.