By Mark Baber
June 26 – After the Jerusalem District Court last week approved the transfer of Beitar Jerusalem to Eli Tabib from Arcadi Gaydamak, the take-over of the club now awaits a ruling from the Israeli Football Association (IFA) and its Budget Control Authority before being finalised.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
June 26 – UEFA has admitted for the first time that the Euro 2020 finals may not be the last to be taken to multiple venues because of the unpredictable economic climate and the massive spend involved – and says FIFA should also consider ditching single-nation tournaments.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 26 – Fenerbahce, one of European football’s most fanatically followed clubs, have been left reeling after being handed a two-year ban by UEFA which has delivered on its pledge to clamp down hard on match-fixing.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 25 – Italian football, already marred by a damaging match-fixing scandal, has been plunged into even graver off-the-field crisis when police revealed that 18 of the 20 top-flight clubs had been raided as part of a tax and money laundering investigation over the buying and selling of players.
By Krzysztof Baranowski
June 25 – Polish telecommuncations company INEA have snapped up the naming rights to UEFA Euro 2012 stadium – Stadion Miejski in Poznan, Poland.
By Mark Baber
June 24 – Gus Poyet was sacked from his position as manager of Championship club Brighton and Hove Albion yesterday and, in a PR disaster for the club, apparently only heard of the sacking whilst in the BBC studios where he was acting as a pundit for the Confederations Cup coverage.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 24 – Former Scottish Rugby Union chief executive Gordon McKie is emerging as a possible saviour for Heart of Midlothian, the stricken Scottish Premier League club that has been plunged into administration with debts of £25m. McKie, who was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to take over Rangers last summer, has met with Hearts administrators with a view to a consortium of five or six investors buying the Edinburgh club.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 24 – Bulgaria’s most successful club, CSKA Sofia, has declared itself bankrupt and will try to merge with another club to carry on competing in a different guise next season – or end up in the amateur ranks. The 31-time national champions have been struggling financially in recent years, along with many Bulgarian clubs, and were barred from the Champions League in 2008-09 after failing to meet UEFA’s licensing criteria.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – Lionel Messi, the world’s finest footballer and one of the richest and most iconic sportsmen on the planet, has been sensationally summoned to appear in court on September 17 over tax fraud allegations.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – In the same month that Scottish football agreed on a ground-breaking strategy to preserve the future of lower-league clubs, one of its most iconic, Heart of Midlothian, has ironically been forced to go into administration and has been docked 15 points for the start of the season.
By Mark Baber
June 20 – Beşiktaş has signed a preliminary agreement with Vodafone Türkiye for shirt sponsorship and naming rights to the team’s new stadium. The final agreement, which is expected to be signed shortly, is expected to be worth €20 million annually.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – A relieved Michel Platini has heaped praise on Israel following the European Under-21 championships that ended with Spain beating Italy 4-2 to retain the title.
By Monica Villar
June 20 – The depth of the Spanish club football crisis become clearer this week with the LFP confirming a drop in attendances across the La Liga last season. Lower down the league Salamanca was liquidated and finally went out of business.
By David Owen
June 20 – The majority owner of CFR Cluj-Napoca, the Romanian champions, is looking for a financial partner to help consolidate the club’s place among the European elite.
By Tom Parsons
June 19 – Dusko Krtalica, an amateur goalkeeper from Bosnia, was shot in the head by a stray bullet during a match — only to finish the contest by brushing off the pain as a routine knock he’d taken!