June 18 – The CIES Football Observatory has published an analysis of club and national contributions to 2014 World Cup players’ development. The ranking system illuminates which clubs have done the most in creating the talent on show in Brazil.
By Paul Nicholson
June 16 – Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer, a world cup legend having won the trophy as a player, a manager and then, as bid leader, winning the hosting rights for his country for the 2006 tournament, has said that he will now answer the questions of FIFA investigators.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 16 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia players have refused to train in the past three days in protest against broken promises by the club’s owners that April’s wages would be settled.
June 13 – Roman Abramovich is reportedly situating himself to take a 55% controlling stake in RCD Mallorca. Mallorca currently plays in the Spanish Segunda División, narrowly avoiding relegation at the end of the 2013/2014 season. The club had dropped for the top division the year before.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 12 – Otelul Galati has announced plans to find a new investor who can put the Romanian club’s finances into order. But with its owner Dan Adamescu, who is said to be the second-richest Romanian, recently arrested over charges of bribery, the club could have difficulties in finding a suitable partner.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 13 – UEFA have been forced to backtrack over their home-grown player demands following pressure from the international players’ union, FIFpro.
By Andrew Warshaw in Sao Paulo
June 13 – UEFA chief Michel Platini may not yet have made up his mind whether to take on Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency next year but even if he doesn’t, he will certainly not support the 78-year-old Swiss. Blatter made it clear at this week’s FIFA congress that he intends to stand for a fifth term but if he goes ahead, he won’t be able to count on Platini’s backing.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 11 – Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon is poised to file a legal claim against Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia for the amount of €31 million. The dispute centres around the Portuguese claim that Levski have illegally signed Bulgarian striker Valeri Bojinov.
June 11 – The European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) website has launched a live transfer-window countdown for all of its member leagues. Each league has its own countdown bar, detailing the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the window ceremoniously slams shut.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 10 – The Czech football association (FACR) is considering a plan to transfer oversight of the top tier to a new entity, according to Miroslav Pelta, chief executive of FACR.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Turkey’s Sivasspor and Eskisehirspor have been added to UEFA’s banned list for next season, both being denied entry to the Europa League for involvement in a domestic match-fixing scandal.
By Mark Baber
June 9 – The Russian Football Union (RFU) has bowed to FIFA and UEFA requests, voting to put off a decision on allowing the Crimean clubs to play in the Russian football leagues. The decision means the Crimean clubs will be unable to start the beginning of next season.
By David Owen
June 6 – One solitary Championship club managed to make an operating profit in the 2012-13 season, as the second tier of English football faces crunch-time in its efforts to improve the state of club finances. Lancashire seaside team Blackpool were the odd ones out, as its 23 rivals contributed to aggregate operating losses of £241 million.
June 7 – UEFA’s pledge to crack down on clubs who fail to meet financial fair play regulations has snared its latest victim with Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade banned from next season’s Champions League for failing to pay their debts.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 6 – In a move that seems bound to be viewed as highly provocative by FIFA and UEFA, Ukraine’s Crimean-based clubs have changed their names in a bid to join the Russian league following the annexation of the peninsula by Russian authorities.