February 17 – The controversial “triple punishment” of penalty, sending-off and suspension for offences that prevent a goalscoring opportunity could be eased if referees used more intuition and sensitivity, according to FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
February 17 – A Moldovan sports official has been banned for life for trying to bribe the coach of the country’s women’s under-17 team to fix an international match.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 14 – After being hit by several heavy fines for its fans’ behaviour at home and away matches last year, Legia Warsaw has announced plans to organise the first legal fireworks display at its stadium. Legia’s management aims to overcome the fireworks ban which has led to sanctions and subsequent financial losses for numerous Polish football clubs.
By Paul Nicholson
February 14 – “Barrow’s Holker Street ground is no more. It is now the Furness Building Society Stadium, Wilkie Road. But on emerging through the turnstiles on to the terraces, it is difficult to see what substantive changes the Furness Building Society have actually made, beyond financing a new mundane rectangular administrative block at one end of the ground, from which the teams later came out,” writes Steve Leach,
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 14 – The eagerly awaited report into whether any of the contenders for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were involved in corruption and broke bidding rules is expected to be released later this year according to a senior FIFA official.
February 14 – Jibril Rajoub, chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, has said they will seek the expulsion of Israel from FIFA at the next FIFA Congress, and that he has the support of other Arab and North African nations.
February 14 – FIFA and local officials have dismissed reports that contingency plans are being made to move World Cup matches away from Curitiba if authorities there fail to meet a February 18 deadline for completing the stadium.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 14 – The bitter row over Monaco’s special tax status in French football has intensified after seven other top-flight teams, including arch-rivals Paris St. Germain, threatened to take legal action, leaving the principality club “astounded”.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 13 – One of FIFA’s most influential administrators today stepped up the pressure on Qatar to comply with international employment standards as the 2022 World Cup hosts came under fierce scrutiny at the European Parliament.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – FIFA has backed the case of former Morocco defender Abdeslam Ouaddou, the latest foreign footballer to claim he did not receive his salary whilst playing in Qatar and was not allowed to leave the country under its notorious kefala employment system.
By Paul Nicholson
February 13 – Manchester United announced another quarter of record financial revenue with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward confident that the club would still be able to sustain financial momentum even if it failed to qualify for the Champions League 2014/15 competition. He also indicated the club would be spending substantially in the summer looking to a long-term future as the first team is re-built.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – Tottenham Hotspur are the latest top-flight English club to launch a major push into the Asian market by announcing a five-year multi-million pound shirt sponsorship deal with Hong Kong-based insurance giants AIA. The deal drives the club deeper into the Asian markets having recently launched a Chinese language add-on to its website as well as securing new TV deals in the region.
By Paul Nicholson
February 13 – Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHH), the parent company of Birmingham City Football Club, is to sell 12% of its shares to Chinese advertising firm Beijing Triumph International Media Advertising Co for HK$45 million (£3.5 million).
February 13 – Olympiacos FC has made a €500,000 donation to the aid fund to support the residents of Greek island Kefalonia to recover from the devastating earthquake which hit the island two weeks ago causing substantial damage and leaving hundreds homeless.
February 13 – India and the Netherlands government officials have signed a memorandum of understanding for co-operation on sports and sports infrastructure. The first fruit of the partnership is a Amsterdam ArenaA announcing Tenon Property Services Limited and Ecofirst Services Limited, a Tata company, as their local Indian partners.