By Samindra Kunti
January 13 – The Belgian FA, the KBVB, has presented a roadmap to stimulate the growth of its women’s football. The KBVB wants 35,000 active members by 2016 and qualification for EURO2017.
Last week a group led by British politicians announced a one-day forum to be hosted at the European Parliament in Brussels, titled ‘A New FIFA Now’, and promising uncompromising talk of effecting change. In a guest column, Howard Wells, a former national federation CEO and former FIFA insider, argues the meeting is a political vanity project that clouds the debate rather than contributes to it. In the real politik of international football the talk-shop falls at the very first hurdle of failing to understand the basic structure of how football is governed worldwide.
January 12 – Lionel Messi has hit back at reports that he is unhappy at Barcelona and that he disagrees with coach Luis Enrique’s methods.
By Paul Nicholson
January 12 – Rangers have turned down a revised bid of £20 million for a majority stake in the Scottish club from American Robert Sarver. The announcement was made to the London Stock Exchange this morning. Sarver had also offered the club an emergency £6.5 million loan as part of the deal.
January 9 – Campaigners pressing for greater reform at FIFA, including at least one of the candidates for FIFA president, are to converge on Brussels later this month to discuss how to bring about significant change. The meeting will take place at the European Parliament.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 9 – Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has announced that various investors have expressed interest in the much-awaited privatisation of two of the country’s top football clubs, Red Star and Partizan Belgrade.
January 9 – English third-tier club Oldham Athletic have pulled out of a deal to sign a convicted rapist in a case that has split public opinion over whether he should be allowed a second chance.
January 8 – Barcelona have been quick to dispel reports that Lionel Messi is unhappy with the way the club is being run and could be on his way out of the Nou Camp.
January 8 – Despite fierce opposition from fans and the general public and a number of sponsors threatening to pull out in protest, an English lower-league club appears on the verge of offering a contract to a convicted rapist who has served a jail sentence.
By Alexander Krassimirov
January 8 – Grisha Ganchev (pictured), a member of the Bulgarian Football Union executive committee and owner of Bulgaria’s Litex Lovech is facing court charges, one of which names him as the leader of an organised crime syndicate.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 7 – Carlo Tavecchio, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), has continued to promote his plans for a reformed Italian league structure that would see both Serie A and B decrease from 20 to 18 teams.
January 7 – The tickets were quickly snapped up but the game never took place. When tiny Accrington Stanley, dubbed in England as the club that would never die after being saved from extinction, had a chance to play mighty Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup, tickets sold out in 36 hours.
January 7 – Scottish giants Rangers, striving to edge slowly back to the top flight of domestic football after being totally revamped and starting again in the lower leagues because of soaring debts, have assured the authorities and their followers that they are not heading back into the abyss despite ongoing financial troubles.
January 7 – In a move that will re-ignite the club versus country debate and be monitored with interest across Europe, Turkish football authorities have radically reduced limits on overseas imports and will soon allow teams to play with entirely foreign line-ups.
January 6 – With the January transfer window starting to warm-up the player market, the CIES Football Observatory has released its latest ranking of the 120 big-5 league players with the highest transfer values.