By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 5 – International qualifiers, both for the European Championship and the World Cup, will be played across six days between Thursdays and Tuesdays from 2014 to maximise television coverage and broadcast income, as well as stopping other sports taking precedence, UEFA announced today.
By David Gold
October 3 – FC Sion has dropped an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that they had lodged against the Swiss Football League after the six players who they bought whilst under a FIFA transfer ban were made eligible to play in league matches.
By David Gold
October 3 – Plans have been handed to Newport Council for a new multi-million pound National Football Centre in Wales after the Newport International Sports Village was named as the chosen site of the proposed new venue.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – UEFA President Michel Platini has urged all European countries to outlaw match fixing as a criminal offence warning it brings fears to the entire continent.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – FC Sion have claimed again that they will soon be reinstated to the Europa League in their legal battle with UEFA.
By David Gold
September 26 – Barcelona’s $230 million (£168 million/€194 million) shirt sponsorship deal with Qatar Foundation, the European champions’ first of its kind, has been ratified by the club’s members.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 26 – Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez (pictured) wants to change the statutes of the members-based ownership of the club in order to prevent the kind of foreign takeovers that have affected the English Premier League, the French league and other European countries.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – UEFA President Michel Platini (pictured right) wants the European Union to protect his organisation against civil court cases brought by clubs in the wake of the FC Sion affair.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 24 – UEFA President Michel Platini has been summoned to appear in court to answer claims that FC Sion were uinfairly expelled from the Europa League, according to the Swiss club.
By David Gold
September 23 – The general manager of La Liga outfit Sevilla, Jose Maria Cruz, has warned that unless a new centralised television rights deal is agreed in Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona could end up winning the European Champions League every year.
By David Gold
September 23 – The Spanish Government has agreed a new law which will prevent the countries’ clubs from using administration to avoid paying players’ wages.
By David Gold
September 21 – Real Madrid has set a new world record after generating €480 million (£419 million/$655 million) in turnover for the year ending June 30, 2011, beating the previous figure set by rivals Barcelona earlier this week.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 20 – The entire 53-nation membership of UEFA are meeting in Cyprus today and tomorrow for a rare brainstorming summit called by the organisation’s President Michel Platini to try to find solutions to a range of issues souring the game.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 17 – The court injunction won by FC Sion against UEFA should invalidate Atletico Madrid’s 2-0 win over Celtic, as well Udinese’s 2-1 victory over Rennes, in Thursday night’s opening Europa League group games, according to the Swiss club.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 15 – FC Sion are demanding millions of Euros in compensation from UEFA over the refusal by European football’s governing body to allow them back into the Europa League.