By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – Michel Platini has re-iterated his innocence in the light of being suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee as his top brass at UEFA closed ranks and said they were firmly behind their beleaguered president.
October 9 – The world’s best-known and most talented footballer faces a possible jail sentence after a Spanish court ruled that Argentine and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and his father should stand trial on tax fraud charges, rejecting a request by prosecutors to drop the charges against the mercurial superstar.
By Samindra Kunti
September 8 – AC Milan’s director of academy performance Domenico Gualtieri has indicated that the holistic training approach at the club in the past may have been a mistake, but has stressed that such approaches are flexible of conception.
By Mark Baber
Ocotber 7 – Speaking to the Italian parliament, FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio argued it would be better for clubs to fix up their existing stadiums rather than build new ones, whilst declaring TV revenue was not a reliable source of income and football’s main problem was employees getting rich at the expense of entrepreneurs.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 7 – Bundlesliga club SV Darmstadt 98 is planning a €33 million modernisation of its stadium with the renovation targeted to be completedby the end of 2018.
October 7 – It has been a busy week for Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and the latest analysis by the CIES Football Observatory will not have helped his mood.
October 7 – An invitation to FIFA presidential candidates to present their respective cases for taking over from Sepp Blatter has not got off to the best of starts with Michel Platini reportedly saying he cannot attend the forum in Strasbourg scheduled for 48 hours after the deadline for nominations.
October 7 – Turkish prosecutors have called for match-fixing charges against Fenerbahce President Aziz Yildirim to be dropped. In a seven-page document submitted to the Istanbul’s High Criminal Court prosecutor Abdullah Mirza Coskun said the charges should be withdrawn on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
By Mark Baber
October 6 – Thursday’s crucial European Championship qualifier between Romania and Finland will be played in front of spectators after UEFA lifted a stadium ban on the Romanians imposed after fans were accused of racism and throwing missiles during a match against Greece in Bucharest.
By Samindra Kunti
October 5 – Belgium’s proposed new Brussels-based stadium for the EURO2020 finals might be in danger after leading club RSC Anderlecht have pulled out of the project.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 2 – As a result of increased interest in the home matches played by Estonia’s national team, the country’s government is planning to spend about €5 million with the aim of increasing the capacity of A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn to about 15,000 seats.
By Paul Nicholson
October 2 – Amsterdam ArenA, the home of Dutch giants Ajax and which will host four matches at the 2020 European Championships, has unveiled a major €50 million renovation project that will radically alter the look of the stadium and upgrade spectator facilities.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 1 – England’s Football Association says it will continue to back Michel Platini’s bid to become FIFA president despite the Frenchman being drawn into the FIFA corruption scandal with last week’s revelation that he received SFr 2million for carrying out work on behalf of Sepp Blatter at the time he was his special adviser.
September 30 – Barcelona’s Argentine international Javier Mascherano has been charged with two counts of tax evasion in the latest fraud case to hit Spanish-based players.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 30 – English FA officials meeting today are expected to discuss whether to stick by their decision to support embattled UEFA boss Michel Platini in next February’s FIFA presidential election.