By Mark Baber
Februaty 12 – The £260 million redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabéu has been brought to a halt by the High Court of Madrid. The plans had included new hotel facilities, a shopping centre and a redesign of the exterior which had met a mixed response when architects images were revealed at the end of January.
February 12 – While English top-flight football basks in the affluence of its new record-breaking television deal, in Spain, another of the so-called ‘big five’ European leagues, the situation could not be more different with clubs desperate to adopt a similar collective bargaining deal – and prepared to stop playing to make it happen.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 11 – 1. FC Köln and Germany’s postal operator Deutsche Post have signed a new sponsorship contract that will run through to 2017, with plans to collaborate on jointly introducing a suite of innovative new communications technology products.
By Matt Scott
February 11 – As the champagne corks were being swept from the floors of Premier League club boardrooms this morning, Sky shareholders were scrambling for the exit.
By Samindra Kunti
February 10 – Steven Martens has resigned as CEO of the Belgian FA after a reign of four years. His position had become untenable after allegations of financial mismanagement.
February 10 – Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has said that he will be submitting a bill on quotas of foreign players this week. The draft law will outline eligibility criteria for players which will include age, proof of standard of the player and terms of their employment and length of stay in Russia.
By Paul Nicholson
February 10 – Russian clubs hoping to get a break in the financial fair play rules because the ruble has effectively halved in value over the past five months have been told by UEFA there will be no concessions in the regulations.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 9 – Petrolul Ploiesti has filed for insolvency as the Romanian club’s financial base has become unstable following the arrest of its owners and management. The side is representative of a wider trend plaguing Romania’s football, with five other major clubs filing for insolvency earlier.
By Mark Baber
February 6 – The desperate financial situation of the Russian Football Union (RFU), which has been unable to pay national team manager Fabio Capello’s salary, looks set to be resolved in the next two days as billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov (pictured) has pledged to grant a loan to the federation to cover the arrears.
By Samindra Kunti
February 6 – Francois De Keersmacker presides over an upwardly mobile Belgian football federation with a national team that will be a Euro2016 challenger. He talked exclusively to Insideworldfootball about his home front challenges, why he backed Michael van Praag, why FIFA are not “a bunch of swindlers” but need to change, and the “stomach-churning” 2018 World up bid.
February 6 – Spain and Portugal have reportedly filed a complaint to the European Commission challenging FIFA’s ban on third party ownership.
By David Owen
February 4 – A further 80 English grass-roots football facilities are to get much-needed investment from a recently-established fund that draws on money from the Premier League, the UK Government and the Football Association (FA).
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 4 – The Belarusian government has said it has earmarked funds to provide Dinamo Minsk with a new stadium by the end of 2019. The new arena will have a capacity of 25,000.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 4 – The war of words between Europe’s clubs and the players’ union FIFPro over reforming the transfer system has been stepped up with another hard-hitting exchange of views.
By David Owen
February 3 – Premier League clubs continued to outspend their main European rivals during what was a far from record-breaking January transfer window. The £130 million that members of English football’s top flight shelled out was around double the total spent by clubs in the next highest-spending league – Italy’s Serie A, according to analysis by Deloitte, the professional services firm.