By Andrew Warshaw
February 10 – Limited standing areas could be re-introduced immediately below the top flight in English football following a campaign by grassroots fans’ groups who say better policing and attitudes have changed the landscape of the game.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 10 – The latest foreign incursion into English football club ownership is on the verge of completion after controversial Italian agricultural entrepreneur Massimo Cellino finally bought a 75% stake in Leeds United – subject to the takeover being approved by league authorities.
February 10 – Italian football has been hit by another possible matchfixing scandal after an unheralded lower-league side conceded eight own goals in the last 10 minutes of a regional cup game.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 10 – Portuguese football authorities say they had no choice but to call off Sunday’s hotly anticipated Lisbon derby between arch-rivals Benfica and Sporting in order to “avoid a tragedy” after strong winds caused part of the roof to collapse.
February 7 – The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has added the Army National Guard (ARNG) as the Official Armed Forces Partner of the NWSL. The ARNG joins Nike and the US Soccer Foundation as main sponsors of the league. No figure has been released for the value of the deal.
February 7 – Tyre manufacturers Continental has expanded its sponsorship agreement with UEFA to include rights to the qualifiers for both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup stretching over the next three years.
February 7 – The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has adopted a series of integrity measures with immediate effect and to include the CFU Cup which kicks off. While there has never been allegation of match-fixing in the Caribbean, the measures will warn and educate players and officials of one of the biggest challenges facing top level football worldwide.
February 7 – Egypt’s Court of Cassation has ordered a re-trial of 21 people sentenced to death in connection with the infamous February, 2012, Port Said riot in which more than 70 spectators died, causing two successive league seasons to be called off and plunging the sport into chaos.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 6 – Palestine football’s leading figurehead has warned he will call for Israel’s expulsion from FIFA unless it shows greater willingness to ease the plight of his country’s players and officials. FIFA recently set up a mediation Task Force and earlier this week Palestinian FA chief Jibril Rajoub met with his Israeli counterpart Avi Luzon and FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Zurich in the latest move to solve the long-term issue of access to and from Palestinian territories.
February 6 – Burkina Faso coach Paul Put is among 31 defendants in a Belgian match-fixing trial that started this week.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 6 – David Beckham’s dream of running his own club in the United States has become a reality after the global sporting superstar and former England captain announced that he has exercised his option to become the owner of a Major League Football team in Miami.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 5 – Cracovia Krakow has signed a new kit deal with Italian sportswear manufacturer Legea. The contract with Legea will come into force in July 2015, the Polish football club said. Legea will replace Nike which has been Cracovia’s kit supplier since 2012.
By Alexander Krassimirov
February 6 – The state in Bulgaria has allocated 3 million leva (€1,5 million) for the reconstruction of the Ludogorets Arena Stadium in Razgrad. The project was approved by ministers yesterday, with the money being allocated from a fund for ‘Growth and sustainable development in the region’. The stadium is home of current league champions PFC Ludogorets.
By David Owen
February 5 – A party from Afghanistan is to pay a knowledge-sharing visit to England, as part of a programme to foster the development of football in the war-torn country and aid the nation-building process that the west is keen to see take root.
February 5 – Barcelona president Sandro Rosell may have departed but the club’s vice-president is continuing Rosell’s legacy of calling for changes to the structure of the game.