July 4 – The Football Union of Russia (FUR) is to increase the tax on clubs that employ foreign coaches. The FUR already levies a tax on foreign coaches but a commission of coaching excellence that met yesterday is examining how much should actually be paid.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
July 4 – The Serbian Football Association (FSS) is looking to boost its Jelen SuperLiga and increase the marketing opportunities for the Serbian championship, according to Zoran Lakovic, the secretary general of the FSS. New measures include a restructured top tier and a relaxation of foreign player rules.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – Barcelona have seemingly upped the stakes in their bid to sign shamed Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez with Barca’s sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta (pictuded) praising Suarez for his public apology for his bite on Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup,
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 2 – Financially challenged Bulgarian club Levski Sofia has moved again to fill the gaps in its finances by looking to get help from its fans, Owner Todor Batkov is to transfer 15% of ownership of the club to the supporters’ trust Blue Bulgaria.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
July 1 – The Czech football association (FACR) is to launch a series of measures to increase safety at stadiums, curb violence and improve communication with fans, said Dusan Svoboda, head of the country’s Football League Association (LFA).
July 2 – Greece’s 2014 World Cup team have written to their Prime Minister asking for their tournament bonus money to go towards securing their national team a training facility.
By Ben Nicholson
July 1 – The CIES Football Observatory has developed what it believes is a “groundbreaking player transfer value calculator” for those based in the big-5 league clubs. They say that their algorithm improves economic transparency – enabling clubs, players and fans alike to compare how much is paid for a player to how much ought to have been.
By Mark Baber
July 1 – FC Barcelona has secured a four-year sponsorship with global home appliance group Arcelik, who will become the club’s worldwide sponsorship partner for the next four years. The deal will see the new logo of the group’s Beko brand featured on the sleeve of the new team jersey and training kit.
Mark Baber
July 1 – Evonik and Borussia Dortmund (BVB) have made a joint-announcement that their partnership will be broadened and extended to 2025, with chemicals manufacturer making a cash injection of €26.7 million for a 9.06% stake in the club and extending its sponsorship agreement from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2025.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 27 – American businessman Paul Bragiel is looking at acquiring a stake in Poland’s Slask Wroclaw. The troubled football club is looking for new partners to fill the financial gap left by its previous majority shareholder, the city of Wroclaw.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 27 – The construction of top Bulgarian club Botev Plovdiv’s new stadium has been halted after financial issues surrounding problems with Corporate Commercial Bank AD (CCB Plc). The club announced that the construction has only been stopped temporarily.
June 27 – The complex match-fixing scandal that rocked Turkish football is set to be reopened after an Istanbul court ordered the retrial of several convicted individuals, including Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildirim.
By Paul Nicholson
June 26 – UEFA have published figures for revenue distribution to its clubs that competed in the 2013-14 Champions and Europa Leagues. In total more than €1.1 billion in participation and performance related revenue was paid out, with the lion’s share of €904 million going to clubs in the Champions League.
June 26 – The first woman manage of a senior male professional team, Helena Costa, has resigned before she had the chance to see Clermont Foot kick a ball under her management. Costa’s appointment caused a media frenzy when announced last month and she was set to be a progressive trailblazer – a woman appointed to manage a professional men’s team in the French second division. But the Portuguese found her position untenable due to a poor working environment.
June 25 – David Taylor, one of Europe’s leading and most respected football administrators has passed away, aged 60. A passionate Scotsman and Scottish football supporter, Taylor joined UEFA in 2007 and variously held the positions of UEFA General Secretary and CEO of UEFA Events SA, and latterly UEFA corporate business advisor.