By Andrew Warshaw
May 7 – Spanish football has burst into outright warfare over plans to introduce the sale of centralized tv rights from 2016. The Spanish football federation has indefinitely suspended competition from May 16 in a dispute with the government over a new law on collective bargaining, effectively halting the final two rounds of La Liga and the rest of domestic football.
May 7 – Newly promoted club Union Saint-Gilloise has written an open letter to UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino asking the support of Europe’s football governing body in protest against the structural reform of Belgian domestic football from the 2016/17 season onwards.
By Paul Nicholson
May 6 – Spain’s Malaga are in talks to sell up to 95% of the club to a consortium of Chinese investors, according to media reports from China. Chinese money has also been linked with takeovers of Aston Villa in the English Premier League and AC Milan in Italy’s Serie A.
By Mark Baber
May 6 – The Football League on Tuesday announced the signing of broadcasting agreements with Channel 5 and ITN Productions which will see Football League highlights package being broadcast in the Saturday evening prime time slot, and ITN Productions replacing IMG as the League’s production partner.
May 6 – With corporate social responsibility playing an increasingly powerful role in football to highlight humanitarian issues, UEFA has set up a new body designed to use the sport as a tool for social change.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
May 5 – Widzew Lodz, former Polish champions who were relegated to the country’s second-tier following the 2013/2014 season and are now struggling to stay in that division, have put the club badge up for a sale in desperate bid to raise cash.
By Andrew Warshaw at the Dead Sea in Jordan
May 5 – The new centralised collective tv deal entering Spanish football in 2016 will ease the financial burden on smaller clubs and make Real Madrid and Barcelona work harder to maintain their dominance, according to the Spanish League’s marketing expert.
May 5 – New Balance are wasting no time getting their new club sponsorships to work. At the end of last week the appareil brand unveiled the new kit design for English Premier League club Stoke City. Yesterday it was the turn of Scottish Premier League champions Celtic.
By Andrew Warshaw in Bahrain
May 1 – UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino has reiterated that his organisation will not hesitate to carry out its threat to suspend Greece from its competitions if there are no concrete moves, by the end of next week, to stop government interference in football.
May 1 – The UEFA Champions League generates nearly £170 million for the European transport and tourism industry, according to research by travel website GoEuro.co.uk and app onefootball.com.
By Mark Baber
May 1 – Following reports in the Spanish media, suggesting Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid will face FIFA sanctions for breaching the regulations on the signing of foreign minors, both clubs have issued statements dismissing the reports and denying any wrongdoing. FIFA say their investigations are ongoing.
By Matt Scott
May 1 – Knuckledusters, clubs, grenades and bombs have been the weapons of choice as a match-fixing cartel terrorises Greek football. That is the shocking finding of an Insideworldfootball special investigation into the deepening corruption crisis in the Hellenic Football Federation [HFF] and several of the Super League clubs under its jurisdiction.
By Samindra Kunti
May 1 – Anderlecht chairman Roger Vanden Stock (pictured) is the new president of the Pro League, the Belgian association of top-flight clubs. The Pro League’s general assembly elected Pierre Francois as managing director.
By Mark Baber
April 30 – As Crimea becomes increasingly integrated into the Russian Federation, with its status within Russia apparently immutable and the large majority of Crimean residents becoming Russian citizens, the hold of the Ukrainian Football Federation over the fate of Crimean football appears increasingly iniquitous.
By Matt Scott
April 30 – Greek football has been in the grip of a match-fixing and corruption culture for 20 years, a special Insideworldfootball investigation has found. But, as the stakes have risen with the increasing riches available in football, in recent seasons the system of match manipulation has reached breaking point.