February 5 – The referee who awarded the controversial last-gasp penalty decision that helped hosts Equatorial Guinea reach the African Nations Cup semi-finals at the expense of Tunisia has been banned for six months.
February 5 – Neymar’s controversial 2013 transfer to Barcelona is back in the spotlight with the news that Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu is to be questioned over alleged tax fraud in the signing of the Brazilian international striker.
By David Owen
February 4 – A further 80 English grass-roots football facilities are to get much-needed investment from a recently-established fund that draws on money from the Premier League, the UK Government and the Football Association (FA).
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 4 – The Belarusian government has said it has earmarked funds to provide Dinamo Minsk with a new stadium by the end of 2019. The new arena will have a capacity of 25,000.
February 4 – Despite repeated protestations of his innocence and a plea to be allowed to get on with his job, Japan’s Mexican coach Javier Aguirre has been sacked over much-publicised match-fixing allegations covering the period he worked in Spain.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 4 – A year after announcing his plans to form a new MLS club in Miami, David Beckham is still searching for a permanent venue amid growing concerns that his dream franchise might be some way off.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 4 – The war of words between Europe’s clubs and the players’ union FIFPro over reforming the transfer system has been stepped up with another hard-hitting exchange of views.
February 4 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has extended its deal with Sportradar Security Services to monitor the global betting market in relation to MLS matches for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
By David Owen
February 3 – Premier League clubs continued to outspend their main European rivals during what was a far from record-breaking January transfer window. The £130 million that members of English football’s top flight shelled out was around double the total spent by clubs in the next highest-spending league – Italy’s Serie A, according to analysis by Deloitte, the professional services firm.
By Mark Baber
February 3 – The dark art of using OPTA in-match statistics to rank players has gained new exponents as members of The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory who have developed key performance algorithms in 6 different areas of play and used them to rank under-23 players across the main European Leagues.
By Samindra Kunti
February 3 – The Belgian FA, the KBVB, is suffering a financial hangover after posting a financial loss of €206,000 in 2014.
By Alexander Krassimirov
February 3 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia has announced debts amounting to BGN 1.7 million. (€ 850,000) to December 31, 2014. The amount must to be cleared by March this year, to allow the club to acquire a license for next season and compete in European competition.
February 2 – Stand-in hosts Equatorial Guinea may have surpassed all expectations by reaching the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations but the tournament, already criticised for lack of organisation, faces a barrage of fresh anger over both the officiating and player indiscipline.
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.