By Andrew Warshaw
March 30 – Russia are demanding UEFA automatically award them victory by default following the sickening sight of goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev being struck on the back of the head by a flare during disgraceful scenes at their Euro 2016 qualifier with Montenegro which was later abandoned.
By Ricardo Setyon
March 29 – The legend of the Maracanã stadium, with its close to 200,000 people cheering on a Sunday match, is a legend that is disappearing in the mists of time. Gone are the days when Fluminense, Vasco da Gama, Flamengo and Botafogo, would show why Brazilian football and its iconic players enchanted the Brazilian fans and the world.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 29 – Partizan Belgrade has signed a sponsorship deal with the country’s leading operator Telekom Srbija. Under the contract, which will see the Serbian company serve as the club’s main sponsor until the end of 2016, Partizan will receive a total of RSD 140.7 million (€1.2 million).
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 29 – Bulgaria’s Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) has refused to allow release of the prospectus for a second attempt in year at an initial public offering (IPO) by CSKA Sofia. Meanwhile, after a desperate plea by management for cash to save the club, fans have been donating money to ensure the club can get its license to play.
March 27 – Moldovan top division club Dinamo-Auto have indefinitely suspended two players over allegations of match-fixing.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 27 – FIFA are to send their Director of Security Ralf Mutschke to Sierra Leone to help tackle a match-fixing crisis that has caused deep division between sports administrators and government officials.
By Samindra Kunti
March 27 – Tax authorities in Belgium are stepping up their investigations into domestic football following unannounced inspections at the Belgian FA and the Pro League.
March 27 – CSKA Sofia, champions of Bulgaria 31 times, have issued a desperate plea to their supporters to cough up emergency funding to avoid being expelled from the country’s top division over mounting debts.
March 26 – The annual France Football Rich Lists for players and managers have been released, with the lists topped by Lionel Messi and Jose Mourinho respectively.
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 26 – Players at Bulgaria’s Lokomotiv Plovdiv boycotted training for a second day in protest against wages. The club recently changed ownership from businessman Konstantin Dinev to supporters’ association Future for Lokomotiv.
By Andrew Warshaw in Vienna
March 25 – The vote is over but the resentment lingers – and we are not talking about the FIFA presidency. David Gill may have been clear favourite to become Britain’s new FIFA vice-president on Tuesday but his trouncing of Welsh FA president Trefor Lloyd-Hughes left a sour taste in some mouths – particularly Welsh mouths.
By Mark Baber
March 25 – The infamous ability of well-to-do Italian criminals to string out court cases until the statute of limitations kicks in was again revealed this week as the top Juventus officials involved in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal escaped prison.
By David Owen
March 25 – One of Scotland’s best-known brands is becoming a sponsor of England’s Football League. Irn-Bru, the distinctive orange-coloured fizzy drink whose publicity materials once claimed it was “made in Scotland from girders”, will be the official soft drink partner of the body overseeing the second, third and fourth tiers of English football, in a three-year deal beginning during this year’s season-ending play-offs.
By Andrew Warshaw in Vienna
March 25 – UEFA president Michel Platini is steadfastly maintaining his stance that he is not specifically backing any one of the three candidates standing against Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency.
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 25 – Julian Indzhov (pictured), who was in the final stages of negotiation to buy Bulgarian football club CSKA Sofia, has this morning withdrawn from the acquisition process.