By Mark Baber
October 12 – The FA has announced a new refinancing arrangement which will save at least £12 million a year and which marks a landmark for the FA as the new Wembley turns into an asset rather than a drag on the finances of the FA Group.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 12 – It’s shaping up as the Euro 2016 of the minnows. When Michel Platini decided to expand the European Championship finals from 16 to 24 teams, reaction was mixed with many predicting the quality of competition would be reduced.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 12 – Just like the man he is endeavouring to succeed, UEFA president Michel Platini is appealing against his provisional 90-day suspension imposed by FIFA’s ethics committee while they further investigate his receipt of that infamous SFr2 million payment.
October 12 – Barcelona are standing behind their mercurial superstar Lionel Messi in his fight against being punished for alleged tax fraud.
By Ben Nicholson
October 10 – The one-off CONCACAF Cup game between Mexico and the US, which Mexico won to decide who will be the region’s representative at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, was well and Trumply politicised. A record 93,000 crowd packed the Rose Bowl and viewing figures are also expected to have broken records for a national team game.
By Mark Baber
October 9 – Serbia’s team coach was attacked by stones, smashing one of the windows, ahead of Thursday’s Euro2016 qualifier in the central Albanian town of Elbasan. Violence was predictable following the abandonment of the earlier fixture in which a drone with a Greater Albania flag was flown over the stadium in the Serbian capital causing crowd trouble and the Albanian team to refuse to continue the match.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – Michel Platini has re-iterated his innocence in the light of being suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee as his top brass at UEFA closed ranks and said they were firmly behind their beleaguered president.
October 9 – The world’s best-known and most talented footballer faces a possible jail sentence after a Spanish court ruled that Argentine and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and his father should stand trial on tax fraud charges, rejecting a request by prosecutors to drop the charges against the mercurial superstar.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 8 – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have wasted no time forcefully defending themselves after being suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee.
By Mark Baber
October 8 – The CIES Football Observatory has produced a report titled “Exporting countries in world football” providing an overview of migration of footballer’s around the world and, based on the data used, suggesting Brazil is the most represented country amongst migrant footballers , followed by Argentina and France.
By Samindra Kunti
September 8 – AC Milan’s director of academy performance Domenico Gualtieri has indicated that the holistic training approach at the club in the past may have been a mistake, but has stressed that such approaches are flexible of conception.
By Mark Baber
Ocotber 7 – Speaking to the Italian parliament, FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio argued it would be better for clubs to fix up their existing stadiums rather than build new ones, whilst declaring TV revenue was not a reliable source of income and football’s main problem was employees getting rich at the expense of entrepreneurs.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 7 – Bundlesliga club SV Darmstadt 98 is planning a €33 million modernisation of its stadium with the renovation targeted to be completedby the end of 2018.
By Ben Nicholson
October 7 – An economic impact study analysing the impact of Sacramento Republic FC’s proposed MLS stadium has been released, cataloging an enticing list of fiscal benefits.
By Samindra Kunti
October 7 – Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff has warned against too much complacency among players in the modern game at the Aspire Academy Global Summit on Football Performance and Science in Berlin.