By Mark Baber
February 9 – The German Football Federation (DFB) has confirmed that it has launched legal proceedings against the 2006 World Cup Organizing Committee, which includes Franz Beckenbauer and former DFB presidents Theo Zwanziger and Wolfgang Niersbach, as well as Horst R. Schmidt and Fedor Radmann in order to protect itself from potential damages of up to €25 million.
February 8 – The Jonjo Shelvey transfer showed €14.9 million of value to Newcastle, but they overpaid by €7 million for Andros Townsend, according to the latest report from the CIES Football Observatory.
By Mark Baber
February 5 – Racist chants by Lazio supporters, which led to the referee halting their Wednesday game against Napoli temporarily, have resulted in Lazio being fined €50,000 (£38,250) and being forced to close three sections of their Stadio Olimpico ground for their next two Serie A home games.
By Paul Nicholson
February 5 – Glasgow Rangers, the fallen giants that had to start life again in the fourth tier of Scottish football, have taken a step closer to cleaning up their financial position with hostile shareholder and business partner Mike Ashley by confirming they have repaid a £5 million from Ashley while at the same time serving notice on the retail deal with Ashley’s Sports Direct.
By Mark Baber
February 4 – France’s highest administrative court – the Conseil d’Etat – has ruled against the French Football League’s legal bid to reduce the number of teams relegated from the top flight from three to two.
February 4 – Proposed reforms to clean up football’s scandal-plagued world governing body will not in any way benefit the players, according to their union FIFPro.
By Mark Baber
February 3 – A German court has ruled former president of the German soccer federation Theo Zwanziger was exercising his right to free speech in referring to Qatar as a “cancerous growth of world football” just as Germany’s most successful club, Bayern Munich, signed a partnership with Qatar’s Hamad International Airport.
February 3 – Dynamo Kiev will no longer have to face Manchester City in the Champions League behind closed doors after UEFA’s appeals committee controversially reduced a sanction imposed for racist behaviour and crowd disturbances.
By Samindra Kunti
February 2 – Brussels’s EURO2020 stadium may face delays in construction after an environmental report cast doubt over the viability of the venue. The projected public funding of €432 million is also raising eyebrows.
January 2 – Under-fire Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini has been given a one-game ban for his antics during Sunday’s derby defeat.
By David Owen
February 2 – Next season’s new surge of broadcast income for Premier League clubs appeared to exert a heavy influence on another lacklustre January transfer window, with clubs in the relegation or promotion scraps in the top two tiers of English football accounting for a high proportion of expenditure.
February 2 – Latest CIES Football Observatory figures show that in the Premier League Manchester United, Newcastle and Bournemouth have each used 28 players so far this season, while Arsenal have used just 21. Across Europe’s other Big 5 leagues Nice in France’s Ligue 1 have used more players that any other club with 33.
February 1 – The spectre of racism, largely eliminated in English football, raised its ugly head again at the weekend as police revealed they are investigating reports of abusive chanting during an FA Cup tie in the north-western city of Carlisle.
February 1 – Footballers in Greece have staged a sit-down protest as a tribute to hundreds of migrants who have lost their lives trying to reach the Aegean islands.
January 29 – FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne had a public spat with the head of the French federation over who to back at the election next month, according to local reports.