By Paul Nicholson
January 31 – A new app using crowdsourced insights into betting patterns has been launched for iPads. BETFUZE, a London-based technology driven business, has developed the app as a tool for sports betting.
January 31 – The management-led buyout of English Chamoionship club Leeds United has fallen apart with the incoming consortium Sport Capital, headed by Leeds managing director David Haigh, failing to conclude a deal to buy 75% of the club from Bahrain-based investment bank GFH Capital.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
January 31 – Former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has been forced to relinquish all his roles within the European Club Association following his decision to quit the Catalan giants. Rosell, who played a key role in promoting the interests of more than 200 clubs, is no longer taking part in any decision making at the ECA and has left a huge gap in ongoing club-versus-country negotiations with FIFA and UEFA.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 31 – In one of the starkest examples of the financial crisis enveloping Spanish football below elite level, the Copa del Rey quarterfinal between Racing Santander and Real Sociedad was abandoned when the Santander players went on strike because of unpaid wages.
By Paul Nicholson
January 31 – The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) have appointed hosts and made the draw for the 2014 CFU Club Championship Cup. 13 teams will compete for the championship, with the top three teams qualifying for the 2014/2015 CONCACAF Champions League.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 30 – In a bid to increase the club’s following in various parts of Poland, Legia Warsaw has launched a countrywide advertising campaign employing billboards, press and the internet. But the campaign may have backfired after fans of other clubs took insult at the ads appearing in the their cities.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 30 – The Italian football federation has kicked third division club Nocerina out of the division as punishment for their players faking injury.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 30 – South African football has been given a major boost to its damaged reputation on and off the pitch by signing a wide-ranging, five-year sponsorship deal with Nike.
By Alexander Krassimirov
January 30 – Seven Fenerbahce fans were detained following their teams’ Spor Toto Super League game against Konyaspor on 27 January. More than a dozen fans were taken to the police office in the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium after the game. After interviews, police detained seven of the fans, taking them to a nearby police station.
January 29 – Third party ownership of footballers’ economic rights is a hot issue that raises questions of integrity, money being siphoned out the game, and unbalancing of the football market. The big European nations generally hate it, the South Americans, in particular, embrace it. Lawyer Pāvels Tjusevs examines the business and draws some uncomfortable conclusions for football.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
January 29 – Just over a week after announcing he was running for FIFA president, Jerome Champagne has given the strongest hint yet that he will withdraw rather than stand against Sepp Blatter – and that he would readily accept a new position under his former boss if he fails to land the top job.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 29 – The English Premier League maybe the most watched televised league globally but German football is still the best attended and continues to set an example when it comes to economic stability and collective responsibility.
By Paul Nicholson
January 29 – The President of the Polish Football Association, Zbigniew Boniek, has joined the Supervisory board of Poland’s Ekstraklasa, the country’s top league.
By Paul Nicholson
January 29 – The first diversity training sessions have been held in St Lucia as part of the CONCACAF grassroots development programme. The confederation plan is to include similar sessions in future grassroots and similar development courses.
January 28 – UEFA boss Michel Platini has taken another opportunity to promote his preferred system of additional assistant referees (AARs) to help with contentious calls.