May 7 – Newly promoted club Union Saint-Gilloise has written an open letter to UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino asking the support of Europe’s football governing body in protest against the structural reform of Belgian domestic football from the 2016/17 season onwards.
By Paul Nicholson
May 6 – Spain’s Malaga are in talks to sell up to 95% of the club to a consortium of Chinese investors, according to media reports from China. Chinese money has also been linked with takeovers of Aston Villa in the English Premier League and AC Milan in Italy’s Serie A.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 6 – One of the world’s leading sports security experts has warned that cyber attacks are the biggest growing threat to major football tournaments as well as other key sporting events.
By Mark Baber
May 6 – The Football League on Tuesday announced the signing of broadcasting agreements with Channel 5 and ITN Productions which will see Football League highlights package being broadcast in the Saturday evening prime time slot, and ITN Productions replacing IMG as the League’s production partner.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 6 – Qatar’s labour minister has pledged to abolish the country’s controversial ‘kafala’ employment system, which has become a major focus of criticism since the Gulf state was awarded the 2022 World Cup, before the end of this year.
May 6 – Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur is continuing to build its brand presence in the US via its licensed product and in advance of its July match-up against the MLS All-Stars team.
May 6 – Having missed out painfully on the 2022 World Cup, Australia are to bid for the women’s version the following year as part of a 20-year vision to boost the sport in a country dominated by rival football codes.
May 6 – The political and financial chaos within the Russian Football Union (RFU) has triggered a no-confidence in current president Nikolay Tolstykh at a meeting of the RFU’s executive committee. Already there are calls for Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko, to take over the reins.
May 6 – With corporate social responsibility playing an increasingly powerful role in football to highlight humanitarian issues, UEFA has set up a new body designed to use the sport as a tool for social change.
May 6 – QPR may be battling to hold on to their Premier League status, but any fears of relegation have not stopped the club investing in its own future with a revised planning application having been submitted for a new training ground at Warren Farm in Ealing, London.
“You are only as strong as your weakest link.” It’s been difficult to apply this to La Liga where two clubs have been so financially dominant.
By Paul Nicholson
May 6 – US sports data specialists STATS LLC has continued on the acquisition trail with the addition of UK-based Prozone, specialists in game and player performance tracking. Last September STATS acquired Bloomberg Sports. The enhanced capabilities of the group will lead to new product, and potentially real time stats for football clubs, ‘moneyball’ style.
May 5 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) have signed a partnership agreement to strengthen safety and security in Asian football.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
May 5 – Widzew Lodz, former Polish champions who were relegated to the country’s second-tier following the 2013/2014 season and are now struggling to stay in that division, have put the club badge up for a sale in desperate bid to raise cash.
By Paul Nicholson
May 5 – Manchester United have continued to chase down the Twitter lead that London giants Arsenal and Chelsea have over them in terms of numbers of followers. Over the past four weeks Man Utd have averaged 15-20,000 new followers per week, more than Arsenal and Chelsea.