By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 7 – Romanian billionaire Ioan Niculae (pictured), who owns top flight club Astra Giurgiu, has been sentenced to two years and six months in jail for his participation in the illegal financing of the presidential campaign of Mircea Geoana who ran for Romania’s top office in 2009. Niculae cannot appeal the decision.
April 7 – Turkey’s top division and domestic cup matches have been suspended for one week following a chilling and unprovoked gun attack on the Fenerbahce team bus at the weekend which left the driver seriously injured but the players unharmed.
August 6 – It has been a mixed Easter holiday for Scottish giants Rangers. The Championship side are battling a long period of boardroom instability and shareholder infighting, while at the same time being embroiled in a dogfight for a return to the Scottish Premier League – and what would be their third promotion in three seasons.
By David Owen
April 5 – UEFA, the European football body, generated revenue of €1.73 billion in its latest financial year to the end of June. The figure was marginally up on the prior year’s total of €1.7 billion.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 2 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia has thanked fans for their donations which helped the club clear its debts and cover the requirements for a European license. The club have urged fans to continue with their financial help.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 2 – FIFA’s radical reform of the status of agents, brought into effect on April 1, has caused an immediate backlash. The deregulation move whereby agents are now the responsibility of national associations rather than world football’s governing body is designed to weed out rogue parties and make for a more transparent process.
By Mark Baber
April 1 – PUMA and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) have renewed their partnership, whilst FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio, central to the racism scandals plaguing Italian football, focuses on the need for Juventus to drop their €443 million civil suit.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 1 – Bulgaria’s two most successful clubs, CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia, just managed to beat the deadline to file their paperwork to obtain a license for European club tournaments. CSKA and Levski are plagued by deep financial problems which have threatened their eligibility for a license.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 1 – UEFA and the international players’ union FIFPro have joined forces to try and re-inforce Fifa’s forthcoming worldwide ban on third party ownership. The two bodies are filing an official complaint with the European Commission about the practise in order to strengthen stopping outside investors partially owning transfer rights.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 1 – The municipal authorities of Poland’s Chorzow have unveiled plans to launch construction works on a new stadium for local club Ruch Chorzow in early 2017. In the first phase of the project, the facility will be fitted with a capacity of at least 4,500 seats.
April 1 – European club representatives will join the top table of UEFA in a major breakthrough in terms of the way European football is governed. Two European Club Association officials will sit on UEFA’s executive committee meeting as “co-opted” members with full voting rights to follow, to be implemented at next year’s UEFA Congress.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 30 – Historic efforts to use football as a tool for change on the politically divided island of Cyprus have triggered an immediate backlash, with local politicians stepping in to try and block any deal.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 31 – The Greek government has unveiled a draft bill designed to curb the growing trend of in-stadium fan violence at football matches.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 30 – After months of often painstaking negotiations that several times almost collapsed, more than half a century of division is on the verge of being wiped out in Cypriot football.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 30 – Palestine has formally submitted a resolution to the FIFA Congress in May demanding the suspension of Israel, a blow to FIFA president Sepp Blatter in his efforts over two years to forge a lasting mediation between the two sides.