By Lefteris Charalampopoulos
January 9 – On 28 December 2016 Giannis Alafouzos, president of Panathinaikos and owner of SKAI TV Station was found guilty by a Greek court, of instigating the journalist Kyriakos Thomaidis to violate Greek legislation regarding the protection of sensitive personal data.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 9 – A Swiss court has rejected a claim by three trade unions from Bangladesh and the Netherlands that FIFA failed to exert its influence to ensure fair treatment for migrant workers after handing Qatar the 2022 World Cup.
January 9 – A default notice seeking nearly $34,000 in arrears has been issued against the Cayman Islands home owned by former FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF boss Jeffrey Webb, according to the Cayman Compass newspaper.
December 23 – One of European football’s famous names could disappear entirely from the professional game after Romania’s defence ministry won a court case against Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.
December 21 – French authorities have opened a preliminary inquiry into tax fraud and money laundering in the wake of the ‘Football Leaks’ revelations which claimed a raft of players and coaches were using tax havens to stash away undeclared funds.
December 21 – In what FIFA will surely consider a blow to their efforts to stamp out under-age players moving overseas prematurely, Real Madrid have had their ban on transfer signings reduced to one window following a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
November 11 – Former Venezuela FA chief Rafael Esquivel pleaded guilty Thursday as anticipated to multiple charges resulting from the global football corruption scandal.
November 11 – Former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb has succeeded in having his sentencing delayed for a third time. Webb, who has pleaded guilty in the FIFA corruption cases brought by the US Department, will now be sentenced by a US federal court judge on May 11 next year.
October 19 –Argentina has refused a US extradition request for three of it nationals accused of bribery and money laundering in the US Department of Justice investigation into football corruption worldwide.
October 18 – Rome-based John Cabot University (JCU) has joined with exclusive sports law association Rex Sport to launch their Advanced Course in International and Comparative Sports law, a masters-level course aimed at law and other graduates who want to build careers in sports law.
By Nan Sato, Shimin Law
The Communist government in China has long had an uncomfortable relationship with gambling, but the mounting interest in sports betting may make the country’s leaders rethink some of its policies.
July 15 – Under Armour has moved aggressively in China to protect its brand from Uncle Martian, a low-end Chinese copycat of Under Armour, filing suit in the High People’s Court of Fujing Province.
July 11 – Within days of the shock custodial sentence handed down to Lionel Messi and his father even though they won’t in all probability actually go to jail, a Spanish court has dismissed a fraud and corruption case against his Barcelona superstar teammate Neymar – and his father too.
By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
July 8 – A former FIFA ticketing partner says he is suing the organisation for $40 million “for business losses” in a dispute over World Cup packages.
By Paul Nicholson
June 28 – A ruling last week in the Supreme Court in the US could well send shivers down the spines of football marketing executives and rights holders who haven’t been caught up in the US football corruption investigations, yet.