By Mark Baber
April 29 – Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, second and third in the Spanish League and last year’s Champions League finalists, are due to be punished by FIFA for breaches of the FIFA regulations on transfers of minors which were designed to prevent child trafficking, according to reports in the Spanish media.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 29 – A former striker for Atletico Madrid and former Bulgarian coach Lyuboslav Penev (pictured) has taken on the job of head coach at one of the country’s biggest clubs, CSKA Sofia – unpaid. Penev will work without salary for the remaining five games of the season when his contract will expire.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 28 – Steaua Bucharest’s controversial owner Gigi Becali has announced he will not seek to win the forthcoming auction of the club’s badge which is owned by the Romanian Armed Forces. Instead the businessman, who is currently serving a prison sentence for corruption, kidnapping and match-fixing, says that he wants to focus the club’s efforts on securing new transfers for the 2015/16 season and potential UEFA Champions League qualification.
By Mark Baber
April 28 – The Spanish Football League (LFP) has continued its journey into China to sign sponsorship partners with the announcement of a deal with Snow Beer, China’s biggest beer brand, which will allow the Chinese brand to incorporate LFP branding and player images in its advertising in Asia.
By Matt Scott
April 28 – Widespread match-fixing allegations in Greek football hardened yesterday as Evangelos Marinakis (pictured), the Olympiacos owner and president, was charged by prosecutors with a series of alleged offences.
April 28 – A makeshift bomb that injured nine people at Sunday’s Turin derby may have been the work of fans of hosts Torino and not visitors Juventus as originally believed.
April 28 – As it makes strides on the field to develop its fledging footballing status, Gibraltar is in danger of becoming the latest haven for match-fixing.
April 27 – He is perhaps Aston Villa’s most influential self-proclaimed supporter. But at the height of an election campaign, he suddenly forgot where his allegiance lay.
April 27 – It’s known as the ‘eternal derby’ featuring one of the most notorious rivalries in European football. And once again it has been marred by crowd trouble.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 27 – The disciplinary committee of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) has punished CSKA Sofia with a fine of BGN 37,500 (€18,750) for a swastika flag which was flown by the fans during the match against Lokomotiv Sofia last weekend.
April 24 – The World Cup is coming to Northern Ireland – the trophy, not the competition.
By Mark Baber
April 24 – In the wake of UEFA sanctioning Croatia for the racist behaviour of same of their fans, the Croatian Football Federation turned on the Head of the Football against Racism in Europe (FARE) organiser in Croatia, falsely blaming him for the team having to play Italy behind closed doors. FARE have responded with an article on their website, which explores the issue in depth.
April 24 – The war on match-fixing continued this week with a series of workshops delivered in Gibraltar, the home of Europe’s off-shore internet gaming industry.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 24 – Ajax Amsterdam aims to acquire a majority stake in the company operating the Amsterdam ArenA where the side plays its home matches. The Dutch club currently has 13% of the shares in the sports facility, while the municipal authorities of Amsterdam hold a 48% stake.
April 24 – The president and secretary general of the international players’ union FIFPro have met with the EU’s commissioner for Sport to re-iterate their opposition to the current transfer system.