By Alexander Krassimirov
August 3 – There were more scenes of players being attacked by fans in Bulgaria at the weekend at a pre-season friendly between CSKA Sofia and Ironi Ashdod FC from Israel. Enraged CSKA Sofia Ultras stormed on to the pitch in Sofia on Sunday evening and charged at the Israeli players. The fans were angered by a series of hard fouls against CSKA players.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 3 – Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, chairman of the 2018 World Cup Organising Committee and a FIFA executive committee member, looks set to cement his power base even further by becoming head of his country’s football federation after his only rival for the position, Igor Lebedev, withdrew from next month’s election.
July 31 – A Europa league qualifier between FK Kukesi of Albania and Legia Warsaw was abandoned Thursday when a Legia player was struck by a stone thrown from the crowd.
By Mark Baber
July 31 – A Council of Appeals ruled Thursday that 85 out of a possible 158 original defendants should go on trial for a variety of offences related to the match-fixing scandal of 2010-11, including membership of a criminal organisation, bribery, manipulation of results and illegal betting.
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 31 – Russian champion Zenit St. Petersburg has recorded colossal losses for the season ending 2014 according to the annual report of SPARK – Interfax. Despite winning the title in Russia, Zenit’s loss amounted to 5.2 billion rubles ($86 million). In 2013 Zenit’s losses were only 320 million rubles ($5.3 million).
July 31 – An 18-year-old asylum seeker from Gambia is the talk of German football after scoring four times in his first match as a second-half substitute for Werder Bremen.
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 30 – Bulgarian champions Ludogorets are building for the future and have launched a new stage in the modernisation of their training facilities, just a few months after the club from Razgrad opened a new grandstand at its stadium.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
July 30 – Serbian Members of Parliament (MPs) have been discussing measures to combat match-fixing which has plagued the top tier of the country’s league. Some of the proposals put forward by local politicians include the much-awaited privatisation of state-owned clubs, introducing stricter regulations, as well as suspending the league.
July 28 – As Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid continue to woo Chinese fans on their pre-season tour, off the field the club has signed a deal with AliBaba’s Tmall Global to use the platform to sell Ronaldo (and Real Madrid) merchandise direct to the Chinese public.
July 29 – Spain’s anti-violence commission has fined Barcelona €66,000 after the Catalan club’s fans booed the national anthem before the Copa del Rey final in May.
By Mark Baber
July 28 – Parma Calcio 1913, a new club backed by pasta maker Guido Barilla with ex-coach Nevio Scala (pictured) as president, has been given the go-ahead by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to compete in Italy’s Serie D following the bankruptcy of the old club.
By Paul Nicholson
July 28 – English Premier League clubs on average generate almost twice as much revenue per seat than clubs in Spain. While Chelsea top the list of clubs making the most per seat from their fans at €78, compare this with Italian giants Inter Milan who make more than seven times less at €7 per seat.
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 28 – Bulgaria’s richest man, Vasil Bozhkov (pictured), has registered a new company called ‘CSKA Sofia’, in the Bulgarian Commercial Register. Chairman of the company is Tsvetomir Naydenov, who owns bookmaker Efbet. Bozhkov and his son Anton are members of the Board.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 27 – UEFA and FIFA are celebrating a landmark victory in their joint fight to outlaw Third Party Ownership (TPO) after a Brussels court threw out a legal case against them launched to try and overturn the worldwide ban on the practise.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
July 27 – Two years after the side secured a promotion to Romania’s top tier Liga I, FC Botosani unveiled the design of its new stadium which is estimated to cost about €18 million. Under the plan, the stadium will be fitted with a seating capacity of at least 11,000.