Crippling €197m debt forces Parma into bankruptcy and uncertain future
March 20 – Italian crisis club Parma have hit rock bottom after being declared bankrupt by a court in Italy but should be allowed to see out the current season.
Europe
UEFA bans: Ibra’s bad tackle is less of a sin than Aurier’s bad mouth
March 20 – UEFA has slapped a mandatory one-match ban on PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic following his sending off in the Champions league victory over Chelsea. But his team mate Serge Aurier was less fortunate, receiving a three-match suspension for his abusive tweets.
Nimes sanctioned with relegation after bosses found guilty of match-fixing
March 19 – French Ligue 2 side Nimes will be relegated at the end of the season after the club’s former president Jean-Marc Conrad was found guilty of attempted match fixing, the French League (LFP) announced.
Russia cuts budgets but not stadium build, Luzhniki ahead of schedule
March 19 – Russia’s cabinet passed a 10% cut in the federal budget but was quick to emphasise that the cuts would not effect the build programme of the 2018 World Cup Stadia.
Panathinaikos president warns of Greek Super League break-up
By Matt Scott
March 18 – Greek football is at risk of being broken up unless widespread hooliganism and corruption is tackled by the state authorities, the Panathanaikos president has warned.
€278m a season buys a top 3 finish in Europe’s Big-5 leagues
By Paul Nicholson
March 18 – New data from the CIES Football Observatory shows that the average cost of a squad has risen by 24.5% between 2009/10 and the current season. The CIES research looks at transfer spend in the Big-5 leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Levski take to the road with fund raising share sale
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 17 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia have begun a national roadshow to sell the ‘Levski is yours’ fundraising campaign. Jointly organised by the supporters trust Blue Bulgaria and the National supporters club of Levski, the tour will include 18 two-day events around the country as the club bids to broaden its ownership base.
‘I’m no despot’. Platini starts charm offensive ahead of UEFA Congress
By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – A week before he is due to be re-elected unopposed as UEFA president, Michel Platini has sought to play down any suggestion that power is beginning to go to his head after two terms of office.
Telecom Italia dial in for more Serie A sponsorship through to 2018
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 16 – Serie A has extended its long-running sponsorship with Telecom Italia. The Italian top tier will partner with the company, through its mobile phone brand TIM, until 2018.
Spanish tax police close in on Barca over Neymar tax scam
March 16 – Barcelona may be holding on to their lead in La Liga but off the field the club have become ever more deeply embroiled in the Neymar tax fraud case.
Parma punished on and off the pitch with a 5-point losing weekend
March 16 – Italian crisis club Parma, thumped again 4-1 at the weekend, have had two more points deducted by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for failing to pay their players’ salaries.
UEFA complain lawmaker’s ‘triple’ bypass takes heart out the game
March 13 – UEFA have re-ignited their attack on football’s lawmakers for making what they say is entirely the wrong call over how to solve the triple punishment rule.
Belarusian crisis pushes Dinamo Brest players to plead for government help
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 13 – Desperate players at Belarus’ FC Dinamo Brest have taken the unusual step of writing to state authorities pleading for them to pay their unpaid wages. Belarus’ top clubs are struggling to stay afloat financially and for the Dinamo Brest player, the crisis has reached breaking point.
Germans at war: Niersbach victory as he is cleared of Zwanziger complaint
March 13 – Theo Zwanziger’s imminent departure from the high echelons of FIFA is getting messier still. The former head of German football, who is stepping down from FIFA’s executive committee in May, has been using every opportunity to denounce the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar as well as having a go at Wolfgang Niersbach, his successor at the German FA and soon at FIFA too.
Belgian plan to cut pro club numbers sparks fury from lower leagues
March 13 – The Belgian Pro League, the country’s second tier, has approved a structural reform of its domestic club football. In the future there must be a strict division between professional and amateur football, according to the Pro League, with the number of professional teams being cut.