By Paul Nicholson
February 12 – Italian league leader Juventus created a social media first last weekend when the winner of a competition run via its Facebook site had his design turned into a crowd ‘choreography’ as the teams for the Juventus vs Inter match walked out on to the pitch.
By Alexander Krassimirov
February 12 – Bulgaria’s PFC Litex Lovech has signed a new sponsorship contract with Mtel, the largest telecommunications company in the country. No figure has been announced for the deal but the fee will rise depending on the success of the club.
February 12 – German insurer Allianz, after which Bayern Munich’s stadium is named, have taken an 8.33% stake in the European champions for €110 million, becoming the third strategic partner of the club along with Adidas and Audi.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – Steps by Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organisers to put in place improved conditions for migrant workers have been welcomed by FIFA but criticised by trade union officials despite being drawn up in conjunction with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
February 12 – Manchester City’s chief executive has pledged the big-spending club will break even this season and has rejected the suggestion that they will breach UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – The European Club Association, comprising more than 200 clubs across the Continent, will hold its annual general assembly next month without any replacement for former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell, one of the organisation’s most influential figures.
By Paul Nicholson
February 12 – UEFA closed its most successful Futsal EUROs to date on Sunday night with Italy beating Russia in the final in front of a near-capacity 12,000 spectators in Antwerp’s Sportpaleis. The match ended Spain’s recent dominance of the Championship that has now been held nine times and move on to Serbia in 2016. Football’s small sided game is finding its place on a bigger stage.
“Riches, one may say, are like sea-water; the more you drink, the thirstier you become.” Arthur Schopenhauer, Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit
It was in 1851 that the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote his Wisdom of Life. At the time European empires bestrode the globe and an upper class of landowners and industrialists dominated the social landscape within nations. A militaristic thirst for still more riches brought about the conflict of the Great War,
By Alexander Krassimirov
February 11 – CSKA Sofia’s former lawyer Radostin Vasilev (pictured), has criticised the club management and ownership saying it is almost certain that the Bulgarian club will not get a license for next football season.
February 11 – Police in Kenya are hunting a murder suspect after a Liverpool supporter was stabbed to death by a rival Arsenal fan following last weekend’s 5-1 Premier League win by the Merseyside club.
February 11 – Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff has condemned the latest violent protests against hikes in public transport fares as a news cameraman injured whilst covering last weekend’s demonstrations was declared brain dead after falling into a coma.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 11 – English Premier League club West Ham United, who are moving to the main Olympic stadium used for the 2012 London Games, have agreed to sell their east London ground to local property developers .
February 11 – Casey Stoney, the England women’s captain, says FIFA should not have awarded the men’s World Cups to Russia and Qatar because of their anti-gay legislation.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 11 – Twenty-four hours before a FIFA-imposed deadline to explain what steps are being taken for improving human rights, Qatar’s World Cup authorities have issued detailed and unprecedented guidelines which they hope will answer international condemnation of their treatment of migrant workers.
By Paul Nicholson
February 11 – Details of the proposed new TV rights distribution law that will govern Spain’s top 20 clubs in La Liga are emerging. The legislation, designed to reduce the big gaps in broadcast revenue between the top two clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, and the rest will mean that the top earning club will not be able to receive more than four times as much broadcast income as the bottom earning club.