By Mark Baber
November 11- In the wake of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) bombshell revelations about doping in Russian athletics, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has suggested that many opponents, both past and present, might have used performance- enhancing drugs, adding to worries about whether football might be drawn into the ongoing scandal.
November 11- Real Madrid’s French international striker Karim Benzema, placed under formal investigation in connection with an alleged sex tape blackmail plot, is to take legal action after a French radio station published extracts of phone taps that could incriminate him, according to his lawyer.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 11- Police have raided the offices of the Malta Football Association in connection with allegations that Germany secured the rights to host the 2006 World Cup after paying financial inducements to several Fifa members including then MFA boss Joseph Mifsud.
By Paul Nicholson
November 11 – English Premier League clubs pay more than any other clubs in Europe on staff wages to retain their top league status – on average 40% higher than clubs in Italy’s Serie A and thumping five times more than clubs in Spain’s la Liga. The average wage bill of the English team one place above relegation between 2011/12 and 2013/14 seasons was €72.6 million, and it getting higher.
By Mark Baber
November 10 – The November issue of the CIES Football Observatory monthly report suggests that youth training in Europe is in crisis based on an analysis of the presence of club-trained players in 460 teams of 31 top division leagues in UEFA member associations. The report shows that the percentage of home-grown footballers in squads has decreased for the sixth consecutive season to reach a new record low of 19.7%.
By David Owen
November 10 – FIFA faces the prospect of having to ship anti-doping samples outside the host-country for analysis for a second World Cup running in 2018, as part of the possible fallout from this week’s devastating report into alleged doping practices in Russia.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – Wolfgang Niersbach, one of the leading voices in European football administration and touted by many as a future president of UEFA, succumbed to what had become almost insurmountable pressure by resigning today as head of the German FA (DFB) over the 2006 World Cup slush fund scandal.
November 8 – One of Europe’s most famous derbies was played out in front of thousands of empty seats on Sunday as fans of both Roma and Lazio boycotted the game in protest over increased security measures at the Olympic Stadium.
By David Owen
November 8 – The President of three-times European Cup winners Internazionale has been elected chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 8 – Secret documentation obtained by Insideworldfootball appears to contradict the assertion of a senior German 2006 World Cup official that no financial inducements were paid to land the tournament.
November 6 – Real Madrid’s French international striker Karim Benzema has been placed under formal investigation in connection with a sex tape blackmail plot according to French reports – but his club are standing by him.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 5 – Hungary’s MTK has signed a deal with a construction to build the club’s new stadium under a HUF 6.3 billion (€20 million) project. The Nándor Hidegkuti stadium is to be completed by the end of August 2016, two months later than initially planned.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 5 – The Italian owner of English fourth-tier club Leyton Orient faces extradition to Albania for alleged fraud and money laundering.
November 5 – France’s Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been questioned by police in a blackmail case surrounding a sex tape, according to French reports.
November 5 – After one of the most unusual and extraordinary cases of misconduct, Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu (pictured), chairman of top-flight Turkish club Trabzonspor, and several of his board members have been given lengthy bans for locking a referee in the dressing room until the early hours of the morning.