By Andrew Warshaw
August 10 – The head of Turkey’s bid for the 2024 European Championship, Servet Yardimci, believes the recent racism row involving Mezut Ozil could work in Turkey’s favour when they take on the might of Germany next month in a two-horse race to land the tournament.
August 9 – There are just six weeks to go before the Betting on Sports Week conference and exhibition at London’s Olympia. More than 250 speakers are lined up for the four-day event taking place September 18-21.
August 2 – Pierluigi Collina, appointed UEFA’s first ever chief refereeing officer following his retirement as one of the world’s top officials in 2005, has relinquished the post and been placed by Roberto Rosetti.
July 31 – It’s regarded as the bastion of commercial fair play in an increasingly money-driven world. But Bayern Munich Chief Executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says the time has come to scrap Germany’s so-called 50-plus-one structure which effectively bars wealthy overseas investors, many with no previous football experience, from seizing control of clubs.
July 27 – Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken publicly for the first time since returning from hospital following emergency surgery for a brain haemorrhage in May.
July 26 – Marseille face a one-year suspension from European competitions unless the behaviour of their fans improve, UEFA have warned.
July 23 – Roma’s American billionaire owner James Pallotta has been handed a three-month suspension by UEFA for comments after their Champions League semi-final defeat by Liverpool.
July 20 – Hannover 96 failed in its bid to get an exemption from Germany’s 50+1 ruling to allow the Bundlesliga club’s president Martin Kind (pictured) to take control, but has said it will appeal against the German Football League (DFL) ruling.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 17 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has warned against expanding the World Cup to 48 teams in 2022 for fear of disrupting the mid-season European calendar.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 16 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has issued a veiled swipe at FIFA for not sufficiently scrutinising how their development grants are being used by member federations.
July 5 – Claims that embattled former Barcelona chief Sandro Rosell illegally bought a liver for French international defender Eric Abidal have been vehemently denied by the club and roundly condemned.
June 27 – UEFA is lifting its alcohol ban during Champions League and Europa League matches “within the limits permitted under national and local law”.
June 22 – Germany’s Bundesliga has again reported attendance figures that make it the most highly attended league in world football. The numbers for the 2017/18 season are the second highest in the league’s history.
June 19 – Germany could have done with the inspirational but now-retired Philipp Lahm when they kicked off their World Cup campaign against Mexico.
By Paul Nicholson
June 11 – UEFA and FIFA’s failure to get any kind of control or governance over Greek football is reaching unprecedented levels even by their own woeful standards. The integrity of the game in Greece was hammered again with news that champion club AEK’s owner Dimitris Melissanidis is under investigation for accounting fraud.