By Alexander Krassimirov
September 30 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia can expect another serious sanction after further crowd disturbances by their supporters. The Ultras of the Bulgarian club again unveiled pro-racism banners during their derby against the champion Ludogorets at Georgi Asparuhov stadium last weekend.
September 30 – FIFA has agreed to a reduction in capacity for two of the stadiums scheduled to host the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 30 – Spare a thought for Shakhtar Donetsk who play their first ‘home’ Champions League game of the season tonight – 600 miles away.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 30 – Russian football authorities, still getting to grips with how to deal with racism, have taken the extraordinary step of banning Dynamo Moscow defender Christopher Samba for the way he retaliated to being verbally abused in a recent top-flight league game.
September 30 – Italy’s Serie A has reacted to prevent recurrence of the match-fixing the league has experienced with the launch of an educational programme that will roll out to all 20 top tier clubs and cover 1,400 players.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – Despite being introduced at the World Cup to mark out freekicks and subsequently employed by UEFA, vanishing spray, considered one of the game’s most successful innovations, is facing its first major crisis after being deemed illegal under European law.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – FIFA’s decision to reject Gibraltar’s application for membership has thrown the British overseas territory’s international status into confusion given that it has just started playing official games as the 54th member of UEFA.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 29 – Polish businessman Maciej Wandzel has acquired a 20% stake in Legia Warsaw from Dariusz Mioduski, the majority shareholder in the club, who now holds 60% of the shares.
September 26 – Leading Russian club Torpedo Moscow have been ordered to close a section of their stadium for one match following racist abuse aimed at rival Dynamo Moscow’s English defender Christopher Samba.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 26 – Cypriot football has taken another symbolic step towards re-unification after a Greek-Cypriot player signed for a club in the Turkish-controlled north of the divided island.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 26 – Four of Europe’s major clubs – Liverpool, Monaco, Inter Milan and Roma – are among a fresh list issued by UEFA as being under investigation for possible breaches of financial fair play.
September 26 – Frequently denounced by FIFA and UEFA but still dangerously prevalant, match-fixing has struck at the heart of top-ranked Spanish football with the state prosecutor to question players over allegations of possible rigging in a 2011 league game between Levante and Real Zaragoza.
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 26 – The construction of the Hristo Botev stadium in Plovdiv has restarted with the backing of the local city government. In July, construction work at the stadium was frozen after club owner Tsvetan Vasilev’s Corporate Commercial Bank was closed.
By Mark Baber
September 25 – The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has said that eight referees have been arrested in connection with fixing the number of yellow and red cards in matches. The investigation is focused on commercial bribery offences which carry a 4-6 year prison sentence.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 25 – Diosgyori VTK is to launch construction of a new 15,000-seat stadium on its current site following the end of the 2014/2015 season. The Hungarian club from the city of Miskolc aims to open the new sports facility in 2016.