By Andrew Warshaw
June 28 – A new dawn has finally broken for Scottish football after the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League finally agreed to merge – but it took 16 hours of painstaking last-ditch talks bring about a deal.
By Paul Nicholson
June 28 – Stefano Borgonovo died yesterday in Florence, Italy, aged 49. Borgonovo had fought ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a rare disease which kills nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain in the latter years of his life. His life will be remembered for his humility and grace in his battle against ALS, as well as for his style and potency on the football pitch.
June 27 – The Fans All Star Global Vote (FAS) had its official launch today in London, with former England player and manager Glenn Hoddle and former Argentina captain and world cup winner Ossie Ardiles weighing into the debate on who the best players in Europe and the Rest of the World are.
By Mark Baber
June 27 – English Football Conference side Macclesfield Town has withdrawn their pay-to-play offer to fans. The cash-strapped club had planned to allow a fan to make a 10-minute appearance in the league or cup in exchange for a £20,000 donation.
By David Owen
June 27 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will be forced to scale back its activities if Governments are not prepared to stump up more cash, chairman John Fahey (pictured) has warned. Writing in an annual report that reveals a 60%-plus advance in WADA’s annual deficit, Fahey describes limited funding as WADA’s “biggest constraint ahead”.
By Gareth Messenger
June 27 – Good news, bad news in Spain. During the launch of the club’s new season ticket drive this week, Spanish Primera club Granada announced that within the coming days they will be clearing all outstanding tax debt. At the same time Xerex, relegated from Segunda B, missed payments to the Spanish taxman and moved a step closer to bankruptcy.
June 27 – UEFA is convinced France will be ready to stage Euro 2016 even though a good deal of the necessary stadium construction has yet to get under way. At a news conference to unveil the 2016 tournament logo, both UEFA president Michel Platini and his number two Gianni Infantino shrugged off any doubts about the tournament stadia, the first tournament to comprise 24 teams, not being ready on time.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 27 – FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi is refusing to step down as boss of Thai football following the election row that shows no sign of abating.
June 26 – Qatar’s 61-year-old emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani announced yesterday that he has transferred power in the energy-rich and increasingly influential gulf nation to his fourth son – the 33-year-old crown prince, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (pictured), who has strong footballing links.
By Mark Baber
June 26 – After the Jerusalem District Court last week approved the transfer of Beitar Jerusalem to Eli Tabib from Arcadi Gaydamak, the take-over of the club now awaits a ruling from the Israeli Football Association (IFA) and its Budget Control Authority before being finalised.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
June 26 – UEFA has admitted for the first time that the Euro 2020 finals may not be the last to be taken to multiple venues because of the unpredictable economic climate and the massive spend involved – and says FIFA should also consider ditching single-nation tournaments.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 26 – Fenerbahce, one of European football’s most fanatically followed clubs, have been left reeling after being handed a two-year ban by UEFA which has delivered on its pledge to clamp down hard on match-fixing.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 25 – Italian football, already marred by a damaging match-fixing scandal, has been plunged into even graver off-the-field crisis when police revealed that 18 of the 20 top-flight clubs had been raided as part of a tax and money laundering investigation over the buying and selling of players.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 25 – Qatar’s state-of-the-art Aspire Academy, one of the world’s most sophisticated sports facilities and constantly being promoted by the Gulf state as a key part of its 2022 World Cup programme, is showing its humanitarian face by linking up with Argentine and Barcelona icon Lionel Messi in the fight against malaria.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 25 – Thailand have avoided being thrown out of world football after a tiny fourth-tier club agreed to withdrew a lawsuit that threatened to stop the Thai FA (FAT) from holding controversial elections.