Europe Archives - Page 322 of 498 - Inside World Football

Romania’s richest jailbird stays locked up leaving his Liga1 club strapped for cash

Ioan Niculae

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 29 – The financial woes of Romanian top tier club Astra Giurgiu are set to continue as an application for an early release filed by its jailed owner, Romanian businessman Ioan Niculae (pictured), was recently rejected by a local court. Niculae is currently serving a sentence of 914 days, and, under Romanian law, to be granted an early release, he must serve at least 304 days.

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VW crisis will not pollute Wolfsburg, says Allofs

Klaus Allofs

September 29 – The Volkswagen emissions scandal will not affect the status of Wolfsburg, the Bundesliga club owned by the embattled car manufacturer, according to sporting director Klaus Allofs.

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Barca’s Neymar has $47m of assets frozen in Brazilian tax case

Neymar 10

By Paul Nicholson
September 28 – The struggle that Barcelona’s star players have with paying their taxes has continued with Neymar being the latest to fall foul of the authorities with a Brazilian judge freezing 188.8m reais ($47.6 million) of his assets in a tax evasion case.

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Will VW’s emissions scandal pollute Germany’s football sponsorship balance?

Volkswagen arena

By Mark Baber
September 25 – The extent of the fall-out for football from the Volkswagen emissions scandal has been the subject of speculation with analysis focusing on the extent of VW’s involvement in football, the depth of the crisis facing the company, the identities of the company’s top management and the role of football sponsorship in VW’s marketing mix.

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Belgian coach plots course to return Saudi to Asian elite

Jan Van Winckel

By Samindra Kunti
September 25 – Deep into the second half of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup qualifier away to Malaysia in September, the Ultras Malaya, a group of hot-headed home supporters, threw flares and fireworks on to the pitch of the Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor, a province on Malaysia’s east coast. Smoke rapidly began to fill the ground and left referee Liu Kwak Man from Hong Kong with little choice but to abandon the game.

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Lewandowski rips up record books with high fives all round

Robert Lewandowski scores 5

September 24 – Social media sites are still buzzing with the sheer incredulity of it all. Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski was already regarded as one of Europe’s most dangerous strikers but even he could not have anticipated what would happen when he stepped off the bench at half-time against Wolfsburg on Tuesday.

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Unrepentant Barca look for FIFA loophole to allow them to play Arda Turan

Arda Turan

By Mark Baber
September 23 – Barcelona, have asked the Spanish football federation and FIFA to allow them to play their summer acquisition Arda Turan, a player who was signed during their transfer ban, on the understanding he would not play until January, as soon as possible.

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Big leagues and clubs keep their cash in the family, and Monaco get richer

casino cash

By Paul Nicholson
September 23 – A breakdown of where the money went from the last transfer window finds that the overwhelming bulk of it – 70% – stayed within the Big 5 European leagues of England, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. And keeping it in the family proved particularly good for AS Monaco who took in €202 million in transfer fees and topped the list of clubs who profited from the summer trading window with a €121 million positive balance.

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Former Romanian mayor investigated for illegally funding Politehnica Timisoara

Gheorghe Ciuhandu

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 22 – Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) has launched an investigation to determine whether Gheorghe Ciuhandu, the former mayor of Timisoara, and two other local officials illegally funded local football club Politehnica Timisoara, which was privately-owned, between 2008 and 2011.

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Testosterone-filled UEFA says there is no problem with doping

Doping

By Andrew Warshaw
September 21 – UEFA has been quick to play down reports in Germany and England that it has unearthed a potentially serious doping issue in its competitions.

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FIFpro file EC legal complaint saying transfer rules promote ‘slavery’

Philippe Piat2

By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – Citing what it described as the “shocking imbalance” between the respective rights of clubs and players, the international players’ union FIFpro has lodged an official legal complaint with the European Commission in a move that could overhaul the entire transfer system.

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FIFA slams transfer ban and fine on Belgian TPO rule-buster

FC Seraing

By Andrew Warshaw and Samindra Kunti
September 18 – FIFA have sanctioned Belgian second-tier club FC Seraing with a two-year transfer ban and a fine of $155,000 after it was revealed that investment fund group Doyen had added €300,000 to the club’s budget in exchange for 30% of some players’ rights.

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UEFA disappointed over Valcke suspension but say new chiefs are coming

Gianni Infantino4

By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – UEFA expressed its disappointment and sadness today at the “very serious” latest allegations to strike at the heart of an increasingly discredited FIFA, saying the shock suspension of FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke continued to tarnish the organisation’s image.

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Turkey Super League club debts balloon over $1.6bn forcing radical rethink

Husnu Gureli

By Mark Baber
September 19 – Turkish Football Federation (TTF) Vice President Hüsnü Güreli (pictured) has said that the country’s 18 Super League clubs have managed to amass a debt of TL 3.5 billion ($1.66 billion) whilst money owed to them only amounted to TL 478 million ($160 million).

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Poland’s Ekstraklasa clamps down on anti-refugee incidents at league matches

Polish refugee protest

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 17 – Poland’s top tier Ekstraklasa has launched an investigation into racist incidents which targeted refugees at several matches played in September at Polish stadiums, and decided to punish several clubs.