Video ref on the spot in Bundesliga and Serie A
August 21 – The champions of the Bundesliga and Serie A saw a couple of key decisions of the new season overturned by the video assistant referee at the weekend.
Europe
Video ref failures draw growing number of critics across Europe’s test leagues
August 16 – The new season roll-out of the video assistant referee (VAR) system has been met with criticism in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium after a series of errors. But FIFA is determined to push through the referral system in time for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Still no Neymar. Buffon, Messi and Ronaldo make up final three Player of the Year nominees
August 16 – Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) are the final three nominees for the 2016/17 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Awards.
SPFL attendances show Scottish football is more than just Celtic and Rangers
August 26 – The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has announced a record attendance figure for the league after the first two rounds of fixtures with 230,204 fans attending matches across the league’s four divisions.
Rummenigge to step down at ECA. Gazidis, Lawwell or Woodward to step up?
By Andrew Warshaw
August 11 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, one of the most influential figures in European football, has announced he is stepping down as head of the European Club Association.
England to re-enter big event bidding with pitch for 2021 Women’s Euros
August 11 – England are to bid to host the 2021 European Women’s Championship following the success of this summer’s event in the Netherlands which generated a peak audience of 4 million TV viewers in the UK as the finals were expanded to 16 teams.
Lyon’s Aulas says PSG’s ‘bubble’ spend on Neymar is unbalancing football stability
August 10 – Neymar’s €222 million record-breaking move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain has upset the balance of French football according to Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas.
Aberdeen fans furious at ‘mispresentation’ saying UEFA are taking the p**s – literally!
August 9 – Aberdeen fans are crying foul following UEFA’s decision to open disciplinary proceedings against them because of crowd trouble at the recent Europa League tie against Apollon Limassol in Cyprus.
Aberdeen face UEFA sanction after team and fans lose the plot
August 8 – UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Aberdeen and Apollon Limassol following crowd trouble at their recent Europa Cup tie.
Dutch deliver a golden tournament of record numbers for Women’s Euros
By Samindra Kunti
August 7 – Hosts the Netherlands provided their perfect ending to Euro 2017 defeating Denmark 4-2 in the final on Sunday to be crowned European champions for the first time. Star striker Vivianne Miedema scored twice.
Match abandoned as Burnley vs Hannover friendly turns nasty
August 7 – A police officer was forced to go to hospital with a head injury and a steward suffered a dislocated shoulder as a weekend pre-season fixture between an English and a German club was abandoned.
Holland and Denmark progress to Women’s Euros final in Enschede
August 4 – Hosts the Netherlands sent England crashing out of Euro 2017 in the semi-finals with a 3-0 victory. In the final they face Denmark, who eliminated Austria after a penalty shoot out.
The ugly face of Polish football. Israeli team staff attacked in anti-semitic incident
August 4 – Masked hooligans attacked staff members travelling with an Israeli team following a friendly match in Poland on Wednesday in what the Israeli Embassy in Warsaw described as an “anti-Semitic incident.”
Rope-a-dope: Man Utd, Jones and Blind all fined over Europa League final drug testing row
August 1 – Manchester United have been charged with breaching anti-doping regulations following the Europa League final against Ajax in May with two of the club’s international players also punished.