By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
July 22 – Britain’s FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce (pictured) says he will support moving the 2022 Qatar World Cup to winter because it makes “common sense” for everyone involved, not least the players. Boyce is anxious to avoid getting into an argument with the English Premier League – which steadfastly opposes a winter tournament – but is backing FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s call for a switch.
By Mark Baber
July 22 – The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has stopped its Women’s Team from participating in a tournament in Berlin, Germany, the organisers discovered as the team was due to fly in. The federation claims the reason behind the ban is to do with Ramadan, but the ban has been linked to threats and opposition to women’s football from Islamic extremists.
By Gareth Messenger
July 22 – Madrid’s High Court of Justice (TSJM) has confirmed the 2007 decision over the leasing of 120,000 sq m of land in 1998 by Las Rozas Town Hall to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), enforcing the return of the land to the local authority.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 22 – Brazilian authorities have backed down from a threat to ban shirtless and standing fans at the revamped Maracana stadium after the latest public outcry.
July 22 – Costa Rica head coach Jorge Luis Pinto (pictured) has been fined $5,000 by CONCACAF and warned about his future conduct following remarks he made during the Gold Cup.
By Mark Baber
July 19 – Sky Bet have picked up the title sponsorship for the Football League in a five year deal that will also see Sky Television extend its coverage of the Football League to a total of 148 live games per season from the 2015/2016 season onwards.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 19 – In a blow to the revenue-boosting hopes of FIFA and UEFA but a huge boost for fans without access to pay-tv, the European Court of Justice has ruled countries can insist on the World Cup and European Championship continuing to be made available on free-to-air channels.
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 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 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.