By Mark Baber
February 2 – Across most of Europe today is transfer deadline day with the window shutting at 17:00 GMT in Germany, 22:00 GMT in Italy, Greece, 23:00 GMT in England, France, Austria, the Netherlands and 00:00 GMT in Scotland. Below is a summary of activity and targets for English Premier League clubs.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 2 – Bjorn Vassallo, the chief executive of the Malta Football Association (MFA), has called on the country’s authorities to update the laws that deal with sports corruption following its decision earlier this year to set up an experts’ task force to coordinate against match-fixing and organised crime in Maltese football.
By Paul Nicholson
February 2 – The Old Firm matches returned to Scotland for the first time in three years this weekend with Celtic hosting Rangers at Hampden Park in front of a packed house 50,000 crowd in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. But for the majority of Rangers’ shareholders and fans the most important battle currently is not against bitter cross-town rivals Celtic, but against investor Mike Ashley and his financial incursion from the South.
By Mark Baber
January 30 – Relations between the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Spanish Government Sports Council (CSD) and their respective leaders have taken an dramatic turn for the worse as the Federation requested the head of the CSD be removed from all positions in football and on Thursday warned it was prepared to halt football in the country over “government interference”.
By Alexander Krassimirov
January 30 – The chief executive officer of Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia, Alexander Todorov (pictured), has revealed that the costs of running the club in 2014 year were almost BGN 15 million (€7.5 million), a high amount by Bulgarian standards.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 30 – The Greek Super League hardened its position on clubs in financial difficulty, dropping Niki Volou from the country’s top league. Rival side OFI Crete has been deducted four matches, and had its upcoming match against Athromitos FC later this week postponed until the club pays off debts owed to two of its former players.
January 29 – The Russian Football Union’s (RFU) cash crisis continues with news that Moscow travel agency Akademservice has filed a lawsuit demanding compensation of 23 million rubles ($339,000). The RFU is already struggling to cope with the wage bill of its national team coach Fabio Capello and general manager Oreste Cinquini, who have been unpaid for more than 7 months, and are owed $9.2 million.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 29 – FIFA presidential candidate Michael van Praag has spelled out precisely why he is challenging Sepp Blatter and has named the federations who are backing his nomination.
By Mark Baber
January 28 – Barcelona president Jorep Maria Bartomeu has told Catalan media that the club is considering alternatives to their kit deal with the Qatar Foundation over the worsening “social and political situation” in the Gulf state.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 28 – The international players’ union FIFPro is holding a crisis session of its members in Greece today and tomorrow after negotiations to overhaul the transfer system broke down.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 28 – Legia Warsaw has collected €2 million from a group of investors with the aim of financing new transfers in the current window. The Polish club aims to repay its investors with the profits which are to be generated once the footballers are transferred to other clubs, according to Dariusz Mioduski (pictured), the majority shareholder of Legia Warsaw.
By Mark Baber
January 27 – The news that FIFA is in the process of gathering information and documentation regarding the signing of 51 underage players at Real Madrid has led to speculation that the club may face a transfer ban, similar to that imposed on Barcelona, as FIFA continues its effort to ensure the regulations regarding transfers of minors are firmly adhered to.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 27 – The rapid rise of England’s David Gill up the political footballing ladder has been given a further boost after the Englishman emerged as odds-on favourite to become the latest FIFA vice-president.
By Paul Nicholson
January 27 – With Rangers close to running out of cash and being unable to pay wages at the end of the month, the Scottish club has agreed terms for a £10 million loan from companies owned by Mike Ashley, the shareholder a majority of fans are desperate and aggressively campaigning to keep out of the club.
January 27 – UEFA have refused to confirm reports that they are brokering a separate deal for clubs playing in the controversial annexed region of Crimea.