By Alexander Krassimirov
July 19 – Bulgarian club Levski has begun a large-scale reconstruction of its Georgi Asparuhov stadium in Sofia, although it has not yet formally signed a sponsorship agreement with Russian energy giant Gazprom that will significantly help fund the redevelopment.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 19 – In a move that will infuriate UEFA who banned them both over match-fixing allegations, Fenerbahce and Besiktas have won the right to have their names placed in Friday’s qualifying draws for the Champions League and Europa League after winning an emergency ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
By Gareth Messenger
July 19 – Spanish clubs have acted to halt the falling crowd attendancess by reducing prices for their season tickets. In the last five years, attendances have dropped by more than 7% – variously attributed to the Spanish economic crisis and the already high price of match tickets.
By Mark Baber
July 18 – Striker Papiss Cisse is not participating in Newcastle United’s tour to Portugal, as the dispute between the player and his club escalates over the club’s insistence that he wear the logo of legal loan-sharks Wonga on his shirt, against his personal Muslim beliefs.
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 18 – Bulgaria’s most successful football club CSKA Sofia looks set to open a new chapter in its illustious history and become a public company. The club has had a turbulent few months which has seen it flirt with bankruptcy and Bulgarian football legend Hristo Stoichkov, who was brought into the club but then quickly left.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 18 – The Lebanese referee jailed for six months after pleading guilty to accepting sexual favours in exchange for match-fixing has been back in court to give evidence in the trial of a Singaporean businessman accused of being behind the affair.
By Mark Baber
July 18 – UEFA Champions League Sponsor, Heineken on Wednesday had its “Road to the Final” advertisement banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority as “socially irresponsible, because it condoned or encouraged behaviour that was either illegal or not permitted.”
By Andrew Warshaw
July 18 – The Italian match-fixing scandal has snared one of its most high-profile figures to date, with Belgium’s national goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet among 20 individuals punished by the Italian football federation over two matches involving Bari in Serie B in 2008 and 2009.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
July 18 – After months of strong hints and tactical manoeuvring, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has finally come out and supported the growing calls to switch the 2022 Qatar to the winter.
By Mark Baber
July 17 – With President Goodluck Jonathan due to inaugurate the Football House, the new headquarters of the Nigeria Football Federation, on Thursday, the crisis of football administration in the country, revealed by the FCT Queens scandal, has led to calls from the country’s Sports Minister for clubs unable or unwilling to pay the backlog in players’ salaries to be barred from competing in the coming season.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 17 – Fifteen months after an aggressive report into the way FIFA operates, the Council of Europe appears to have softened its stance towards football’s world governing body.
By Mark Baber
July 17 – The Premier League, supported by UEFA and other sports organisations, secured a landmark judgment in the High Court on Tuesday requiring the six main UK-based Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to live streaming site First Row Sports.
July 17 – Online gambling company Bwin.party has agreed a three-year digital sponsorship deal with Italian champions Juventus, its fourth partnership with a top European team.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 17 – Leading football clubs in India have hit out against moves to stage a rival tournament to the national league inspired by cricket’s cash-rich IPL that attracts top international names.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 17 – Brazil’s controversial World Cup law, which gives FIFA the guarantees it needs to stage the tournament next year but has constantly plagued preparations, has again fallen into the spotlight with the country’s federal prosecutor challenging the legality of the legislation.