By Jaroslaw Adamowski
July 20 – Poland’s football federation PZPN has passed draft regulation under which sides competing in the country’s top tier Ekstraklasa will be allowed a maximum of three players from outside of the EU on the pitch at one time. In the 2016/2017 season, this will be further decreased to two players per team.
By Samindra Kunti
July 20 – In a surprise move former France international Nicolas Anelka has bought Ath, a Belgian fourth division club on the brink of extinction.
By Ben Nicholson
July 20 – MLS players have overwhelmingly ratified the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) through 2019 with a 91% vote in favor, putting behind them the disagreements over the terms that threatened to delay the start of the 2015 season.
By Mark Baber
July 17 – With Iran, the US, Europe and Russia having reached an historic settlement of the nuclear issue the lifting of economic sanctions and the reintegration of the Islamic Republic into the global economy is likely to transform the fortunes of Iranian football, one way or another.
By Ricardo Setyon
July 17 – Brazil’s failure and early exit from the Copa America has prompted even more soul searching in-country, with commentators fearing that on current performance the team will not qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. A real possibility as their quarter final exit in Chile would not rank them in the qualifying slots.
By Samindra Kunti
July 17 – The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has signed a 30-year sponsorship deal with Ultrafarma, a pharmaceutical service provider with a large network of drugstores.
July 17 – A case involving alleged anti-semitism, sexism and homophobia and which lasted 11 months has finally been resolved, though with an immediate backlash, after English football authorities announced no disciplinary action will be taken against former Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay.
By Paul Nicholson
July 17 – An unexpected Caribbean hurricane has swept through the group stages of the Gold Cup in the US, and it has nothing to do with sports politics or financial corruption.
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 17 – The Ministry of Youth and Sports in Bulgaria has committed to allocating substantially increased funds to club youth academies in 2016. The announcement was made by Bulgarian sports minister Krassen Kralev (pictured) who outlined what would the subsidies for the Bulgarian Football Union would be for the new season.
By Mark Baber
July 16 – Real Madrid has retained the top spot as the world’s most valuable sports franchise, worth $3.26 billion, in the 2015 edition of Forbes’ annual list of the World’s Most Valuable Sports Teams.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 16 – Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan may have gone quiet media-wise since losing the FIFA presidential election to Sepp Blatter but in under two months’ time he will be in open forum when he seems sure to be quizzed on the pros and cons of his candidacy, which gained 73 votes, and what his next move might be.
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 15 – The new owners of Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia have taken emergency measures to financially stabilize the club, imposing a wage limit on players in advance of the new season.
By Mark Baber
July 15 – Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched an investigation into the accounts of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF).
By Andrew Warshaw
July 15 – Controversial FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar (pictured) is poised to stand for a remarkable eighth term of office as head of Spanish football despite being widely reported as being under investigation by FIFA. If re-elected the new term would take him through 30 years as the head of the Spanish federation.
By Ricardo Setyon
July 15 – With the Brazilian National League now a quarter way into its season, two clubs and one man have surprised everyone. Recife from the north east of the country, and Ponta Prete from Campinas, 120km from Sao Paulo, are upsetting the accepted club hierarchy with a series of unexpected results.