December 12 – UEFA has appointed Dutch legend Clarence Seedorf as the UEFA Global Ambassador for Diversity and Change. Michel Platini introduced Seedorf at a ceremony in Amsterdam at the Olympic Stadium.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 12 – The coaches of two of Poland’s leading football sides have called on the Polish Football Federation (PZPN) to reform the Ekstraklasa, the country’s top tier, by expanding it by a further two teams to 18 squads, similarly to the German Bundesliga.
December 12 – Canadian Sonia Denoncourt has been appointed CONCACAF’s Director of Refereeing. Denoncourt’s role will be to head all aspects of referreing and the development of referees across the region, including directing the Heads of Refereeing in the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) and the Caribbean Football Union (CFU).
December 12 – Two Paris St Germain fans are recovering after being stabbed following Wednesday night’s Champions League match against Barcelona at the Nou Camp, heaping even more pressure on Spanish to crack down on violence.
December 12 – Twenty-four days after Hereford United, famous for causing one of the great upsets in English football history, were thrown out of the game following a long and painful battle for survival, the club has been handed a reprieve.
December 12 – Last week UEFA announced it was banning clubs in the annexed Crimea region of Ukraine playing in any Russian-organised football competitions. This week the Russians have announced a 4.5 billion ruble ($83 million) aid package to rebuild Crimean sports infrastructure.
By Alexander Krassimirov
December 12 – The President of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) Borislav Mihaylov (pictured) has said he has received threatening text messages, possibly from criminal groups linked to match-fixing gangs.
By Samindra Kunti
December 12 – The KNVB, the Dutch FA, has approved a structural reform of its domestic club football. From the 2016/17 season onwards professional and amateur football in the Netherlands will be integrated through a mandatory system of promotion and relegation.
December 11 – Far away from the riches of the Champions League, 42 years after achieving one of the great iconic upsets in English football history, Hereford United have been suspended “from all football activity” by the Football Association.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – While most of the big guns of Europe as expected qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League, the draw for which is Monday, Liverpool were left to rue the price of failure.
By Alexander Krassimirov
December 11 – In a co-ordinated strike Bulgarian police have moved in on players, coaches and referees over the past two days, arresting nine players and detaining them for 24 hours for questioning, according to the country’s Ministry of the Interior. The unprecedented scale of the action was conducted in conjunction with the Bulgarian Football Union who were working closely with UEFA.
December 10 – Spanish football’s crackdown on misbehaving fans has been criticised by Europe’s main supporters group for being far too strict and indiscriminate.
By Florian Pertsch
December 10 – After four heart operations and 16 months of recovery for most athletes sport would be a thing of the past. Not so for third division Stuttgart Kickers forward Daniel Engelbrecht.
December 10 – Italian Serie A strugglers Parma have been handed a one-point deduction for financial irregularities last season.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 10 – A jury composed of members of the Hungarian architects’ association Magyar Epiteszek Hazabanhas have picked the winning design for the planned new stadium for Budapest-based side MTK. The project is estimated to cost about HUF 6.5 billion (€21.3 million).