Athletic Bilbao opens €173m ‘cathedral’ with a win
By Mark Baber
September 18 – Athletic Bilbao celebrated their first game in their new San Mamés stadium with a 3-2 win over Celta Vigo in the driving rain on Monday night.
15 March 2025 GMT: 19:47
Europe
CSKA coach warns of ‘time-bomb’ after assistant is attacked in car park
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 18 – The head coach of Bulgarian CSKA Sofia Stoycho Mladenov (pictured) said he is expecting a murder at the Bulgarska armia stadium. Mladenov was speaking after CSKA’s 6-2 win over FC Haskovo in the Bulgarian Cup.
Olympiakos ditch OPAP sponsor cash over AEK row
By Panos Bletsos
Septeber 17 – Greece’s biggest club, Olympiakos Pirea, has pulled out of its sponsorship deal with OPAP SA. The club made the decision soon after OPAP, the exclusive operator of lottery and sports betting in Greece, changed ownership.
Solidarity of the real kind
September 17 – Football is not always highlighted for humanitarian gestures between professionals, hence the interest generated by the relevation from Monaco captain Eric Abidal that his former Barcelona teammate Dani Alves offered to donate part of his liver when the French international needed a transplant last year.
Inter are third Italian club sanctioned after racist chanting
September 18 – Inter Milan have been ordered to close the north end of the San Siro for their next home game against Fiorentina.
Gandini says it is time to stop legal challenges causing UEFA chaos
By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – As the Champions League group stage got into full flow this week, one of Europe’s most prominent football administrators says something has to be done to stop the tournament being thrown into chaos by last-minute disruptive appeal decisions.
Bookie backs rainbow laces campaign tackling homophobia in sport
By Mark Baber
September 17 – An imaginative new campaign to tackle homophobia in football, devised by bookmaker PaddyPower in association with gay rights charity Stonewall, kicked off on Monday . The campaign includes the distribution of rainbow football laces to every professional player in the UK, who have been asked to wear them for the upcoming weekend fixtures (September 21 and 22).
Villar wins praise as Spanish federation passes on state subsidy
By Mark Baber
September 17 – The Spanish football federation (RFEF) is to forego a state subsidy for the third year in a row in 2014, according to the Spanish Sports Council.
Genoa spy denied by HQ as a lone ranger as mission rumbled
By Andrew Warshaw
September 17 – One of football’s more bizarre episodes is still gripping the Italian public and media after a coach from Genoa was caught “spying” on local rivals Sampdoria dressed in Rambo-style camouflage ahead of their derby clash last Sunday.
Platini takes more time to think over challenge for FIFA presidency
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
September 17 – UEFA president Michel Platini says it would be “heartbreaking” to leave the organisation and has put off any decision to run for the FIFA presidency until next year’s World Cup in Brazil at the earliest.
Euro leagues have a good month on Facebook
By Paul Nicholson
September 16 – A report by Socialbakers for August shows the Premier League as the world’s fastest growing sports Facebook site over the month, with 1.2 million new fans. Second is the UEFA Champions League with the UEFA Europa League coming in third with just over 500,000 new fans.
Ooredoo connects with PSG for youth-driven promo
By Mark Baber
September 16 – PSG have further strengthened ties with Qatar, signing a sponsorship with the Qatar-based communications company Ooredoo who will sponsor Paris Saint-Germain in a deal focused on football coaching for youth. The deal will run through to 2018.
Hillsborough investigation could bring manslaughter charges
By Andrew Warshaw
September 13 – The new criminal investigation into the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, in which 96 fans died, could lead to manslaughter charges, according to the head of the inquiry.
CSKA reject €40m ISF cash offer to build new stadium
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 13 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia has turned down a €40 million investment offer for a new stadium from German company ISF, CSKA rejected the deal after failing to agree to conditions that included handing over the stadium to ISF to maintain and operate, shared use of the stadium with another club and the Bulgarian national team.
Czech and Slovak players arrested in swoop on match-fixers
By Andrew Warshaw
September 13 – The scourge of match-fixing throughout European football has now hit the Czech Republic and neighbouring Slovakia with 19 current and former players charged, and 20 others summoned for questioning over links to illegal betting dens in Asia.