By Samindra Kunti
June 17 – The Belgian National Study Commission has approved a new league format that will be introduced in the 2016/17 season. Only 24 clubs will continue to play professional football with 16 clubs in the top-flight and eight clubs in the second division.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 17 – One of Bulgaria’s leading clubs looks set to disappear from the country’s football map if ownership negotiations over the franchise and its name are completed. Litex Lovech owner Grisha Ganchev is currently in discussions to rename the club ‘CSKA’.
By Paul Nicholson
June 17 – You can’t win the Champions League unless you lash out at least €200 million in wages, according to the first set of figures and analysis released from the new Football Benchmark database launched by accountancy giants KPMG’s sports team.
June 17 – South Korea-based Hankook, one of the world’s biggest tyre production companies, has renewed its sponsorship of the UEFA Europa League for a further three years it was announced on Tuesday.
June 17 – Updated figures for the CIES Football Observatory show the numbers of home grown players at clubs and getting first team playing time is at an all-time low, with Italy and England having the lowest amounts of local talent in their teams.
By Mark Baber
June 16 – A new stadium for AS Roma has moved a significant step closer with a media briefing to mark the submission of the master plan for the development of the Tor di Valle-Stadio della Roma construction project to the Rome municipality.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 16 – Clubs from Bulgaria’s elite A group recorded cumulative financial losses amounting to BGN60 million (€30 million) over the past two seasons. The figures were calculated from documents provided by the clubs to the Bulgarian Football Union’s club licensing committee.
By Mark Baber
June 15 – In an ironic twist to the FIFA corruption scandal, given the grandstanding by FA Chairman Greg Dyke and vice-Chairman David Gill, British newspapers were full of reports at the weekend of how the FBI had the FA “in its sights.”
By Mark Baber
June 15 – Croatia faces severe sanctions from UEFA, possibly including disqualification from Euro 2016, after their televised qualifier against Italy, played behind closed doors in Split due to earlier incidents of racism by Croatian supporters, went ahead with a swastika marked out on the pitch.
By Mark Baber
June 12 – A week into the eight week negotiating period for Mr Bee Taechaubol (known as “Mr Bee” in the Italian media) to take a 48% stake in AC Milan, what the deal will mean for one of Europe’s most illustrious clubs is unclear, with Mr Bee denouncing Italian press speculation as to his meddling in team affairs whilst the end for manager end of Filippo Inzaghi seems certain.
By Mark Baber
June 11- The latest study by market research company Repucom has again ranked Cristiano Ronaldo top of the list of European as well as the world’s most marketable football players.
By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Swiss authorities have raided the offices of Switzerland-based sports rights agency Kentaro, investigating the relationship between a 2010 Brazil vs Argentina friendly and the 2018-2022 World Cup bid contests. Kentaro were, until recently, the agency responsible for marketing the Brazilian national team’s friendly fixtures.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Bulgaria has started the reconstruction of its national stadium, Vasil Levski. The renovation will pass through three stages, said Bulgarian sports minister Krassen Kralev, who spoke yesterday after an inspection of the stadium.
By Paul Nicholson
June 9 – The CIES Football Observatory has released its top 100 ranking of the highest transfer values for big-5 league footballers. Not surprisingly Lionel Messi heads the table with an estimated value of between €255 and €281 million – more than it would cost to buy half the teams in the English Premier League, Aston Villa is reckoned to be on sale for £100 million.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Embattled Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia, which has so far been refused a license to play next season, was struck another blow when former player Youness Bengelloun was awarded €407,296 (BGN 803 000) in compensation for unpaid salary. The decision was taken by a FIFA tribunal with judges from England, Croatia, Argentina, South Africa and Brazil.