By Mark Baber
April 9 – The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has hit back at those using football to spread their message of racial hatred with an order that Croatia’s upcoming game against Italy must be played behind closed doors.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 9 – The failure of Hungarian financial services group Quaestor has pushed top division club Gyori ETO FC out of their stadium, into bankruptcy and almost out of the league.
April 9 – UEFA have awarded Russia a 3-0 walkover win over Montenegro following the abandonment of their Euro 2016 qualifier that saw Russian keeper Igor Akinfeev felled soon after kickoff when struck on the head by a flare.
April 8 – The so-called ‘Watch-gate’ saga is back in the news again with FIFA announcing no action is being taken against English FA chairman Greg Dyke.
April 8 – English football fans are normally pretty restrained when it comes to protesting about the actions of those who run their clubs.
April 8 – New data from the CIES Football Observatory shows the dependence of Europe’s clubs from the Big 5 leagues of England, Germany, France, Spain and Italy on clubs outside their leagues to develop players.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 8 – Dubbed Russia’s most aggressive club, Torpedo Moscow have been found guilty of racism yet again, this time for displaying a Nazi symbol during Sunday’s 3-1 win at Arsenal Tula.
April 8 – Roma have been ordered to close part of their stadium at their next home game after fans displayed banners mocking the mother of a Napoli fan who died following clashes between rival supporters last year.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 7 – Romanian billionaire Ioan Niculae (pictured), who owns top flight club Astra Giurgiu, has been sentenced to two years and six months in jail for his participation in the illegal financing of the presidential campaign of Mircea Geoana who ran for Romania’s top office in 2009. Niculae cannot appeal the decision.
April 7 – Turkey’s top division and domestic cup matches have been suspended for one week following a chilling and unprovoked gun attack on the Fenerbahce team bus at the weekend which left the driver seriously injured but the players unharmed.
August 6 – It has been a mixed Easter holiday for Scottish giants Rangers. The Championship side are battling a long period of boardroom instability and shareholder infighting, while at the same time being embroiled in a dogfight for a return to the Scottish Premier League – and what would be their third promotion in three seasons.
By David Owen
April 5 – UEFA, the European football body, generated revenue of €1.73 billion in its latest financial year to the end of June. The figure was marginally up on the prior year’s total of €1.7 billion.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 2 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia has thanked fans for their donations which helped the club clear its debts and cover the requirements for a European license. The club have urged fans to continue with their financial help.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 2 – FIFA’s radical reform of the status of agents, brought into effect on April 1, has caused an immediate backlash. The deregulation move whereby agents are now the responsibility of national associations rather than world football’s governing body is designed to weed out rogue parties and make for a more transparent process.
By Mark Baber
April 1 – PUMA and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) have renewed their partnership, whilst FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio, central to the racism scandals plaguing Italian football, focuses on the need for Juventus to drop their €443 million civil suit.