By Andrew Warshaw
November 1 – French professional clubs look certain to carry out their threatened strike after the country’s President Francois Hollande (pictured) refused to exempt them from his controversial 75% tax on high earners.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – Qatar’s relentless bid to secure a major profile in Europe has been significantly enhanced by a deal between Qatar Tourism Authority and Paris Saint Germain worth a reported €150-€200m a season. Widely rumoured last season, the partnership is designed to promote Qatar as a tourist destination to European audiences.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – UEFA has ordered the partial closure of CSKA Moscow’s stadium for their next home Champions League tie as a result of the highly published racist chanting towards Manchester City’s Yaya Toure. The Russian club, which strongly denied the claims, were charged after Toure complained about being verbally abused by a section of the crowd during City’s 2-1 win on 23 October.
By Gareth Messenger
October 30 – The main supporters group of Spanish La Liga club, Elche, have publicly admitted they were responsible for racist abuse directed at Granada defender Allan-Romeo Nyom (pictured) at the Estadio Martinez Valero on Saturday.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – Seemingly light-hearted remarks made by Sepp Blatter during his much publicised appearance at the famed Oxford Union debating society last week have landed the FIFA president in hot water.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 29- Bayer Leverkusen’s controversial Bundesliga win over Hoffenheim will be allowed to stand despite Stefan Kiessling’s “phantom” goal that raised fresh debate over the need for goal-line technology.
By Matt Scott
October 28 – The FIFA World Cup would be expanded to a 40-team tournament under a proposal aired by Michel Platini today. UEFA’s president has responded to a plan discussed by Sepp Blatter, his FIFA counterpart, to cull the number of European teams competing at the tournament finals.
By Alexander Krassimirov
October 28 – Bulgarian football club Lokomotiv Plovdiv has announced it is on the verge of signing a new partnership agreement with the Gazprom petrol station. The news, announced on the club’s website, was denied by the the Executive Director of NIS Petrol Ivan Kostadinov 24 hours later.
By Tom Parsons
October 25 – Many British television viewers will feel short-changed tomorrow on the day of arguably the biggest footballing match in the Spanish calendar. El Clasico (Barcelona v Real Madrid) takes place on Saturday with kick-off at 5:00pm GMT, however due to British broadcasting regulations the first 15 minutes of the game are not allowed to be shown live on British television.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 25 – Professional clubs in France have decided to go on strike for the first time in over 40 years in protest at the government’s proposal to tax business incomes of more than €1 million at a massive 75%. The clubs have unanimously voted in favour of boycotting fixtures scheduled for November 29 and December 2, the first walkout by French players since 1972 and affecting the two top leagues.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
October 24 – The Russian racism row following Wednesday night’s Champions League clash between CSKA Moscow and Manchester City was elevated a further level today when UEFA President Michel Platini requested an internal investigation into why the UEFA protocol for dealing with racial incidents was not applied. Already UEFA has opened a disciplinary investigation into the actual incident, while the Russian World Cup organisers have also issued a statement promising to eradicate racism.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 24 – After a period of relative calm with so much media focus on the tournament in Qatar four years later, organisers of the 2018 World Cup in Russia have suddenly found themselves back in the spotlight over the festering issue of racism which still shows no sign of being eradicated.
By Panos Bletsos
Ocotber 24 – Olympiakos have announced a two-year deal to promote the UNICEF logo on the front of their shirts and to help the Fund raise at least €2 million. The Greek champions and UEFA Champions League regulars have joined Barcelona in supporting the global children’s charity.
October 23- Two more cases of racism at Europa League games have drawn the wrath of Uefa who have punished both Cypriot club Apoel Nicosia and Croatia’s HNK Rijeka.
By David Owen
October 23 – In their World Cup play-off next month, or even if they make it all the way to Brazil for their first appearance in the finals proper, the footballers of Iceland may find that they have an unexpected pocket of support around the cheese and prosciutto town of Parma in northern Italy.