February 16 – Paris St Germain striker and Swedish national team captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic took his charity support a step further with new tattoos displaying the names of 50 hungry people for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). He removed his shirt after scoring against Caen at the weekend to show the names and raise awareness for the campaign.
By Alexander Krassimirov
February 13 – The UEFA Appeals Body has changed the punishment handed out to Bulgaria following the behaviour of fans during the European qualifier against Croatia in October 2014. Four blocks of the National Stadium Vasil Levski will now be closed for the country’s next home game against Italy on March 28.
By Mark Baber
February 12 – New Parma president Giampietro Manenti, chief executive of the Mapi Group which bought Parma for 1 Euro earlier this week, is confident the club can meet its obligations and pay off all its debts by the end of this month. Damiano Tommasi, president of the Italian footballer’s union the AIC, on the other hand, thinks it is unlikely the debt can be paid and is concerned for the welfare of the players.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – Rangers goalkeeper Steve Simonsen has been banned for two games, with one of them suspended, after being found guilty of betting on no fewer than 55 matches. The suspension is the latest blow for the beleaguered Scottish giants.
By Jamie Styles
February 12 – Scotland could see an unlikely winner of January’s Goal of the Month competition, with a young Celtic fan with Down’s Syndrome among the nominees.
By Mark Baber
Februaty 12 – The £260 million redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabéu has been brought to a halt by the High Court of Madrid. The plans had included new hotel facilities, a shopping centre and a redesign of the exterior which had met a mixed response when architects images were revealed at the end of January.
February 12 – While English top-flight football basks in the affluence of its new record-breaking television deal, in Spain, another of the so-called ‘big five’ European leagues, the situation could not be more different with clubs desperate to adopt a similar collective bargaining deal – and prepared to stop playing to make it happen.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 11 – 1. FC Köln and Germany’s postal operator Deutsche Post have signed a new sponsorship contract that will run through to 2017, with plans to collaborate on jointly introducing a suite of innovative new communications technology products.
By Matt Scott
February 11 – As the champagne corks were being swept from the floors of Premier League club boardrooms this morning, Sky shareholders were scrambling for the exit.
By Samindra Kunti
February 10 – Steven Martens has resigned as CEO of the Belgian FA after a reign of four years. His position had become untenable after allegations of financial mismanagement.
February 10 – Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has said that he will be submitting a bill on quotas of foreign players this week. The draft law will outline eligibility criteria for players which will include age, proof of standard of the player and terms of their employment and length of stay in Russia.
By Paul Nicholson
February 10 – Russian clubs hoping to get a break in the financial fair play rules because the ruble has effectively halved in value over the past five months have been told by UEFA there will be no concessions in the regulations.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 9 – Petrolul Ploiesti has filed for insolvency as the Romanian club’s financial base has become unstable following the arrest of its owners and management. The side is representative of a wider trend plaguing Romania’s football, with five other major clubs filing for insolvency earlier.
By Mark Baber
February 6 – The desperate financial situation of the Russian Football Union (RFU), which has been unable to pay national team manager Fabio Capello’s salary, looks set to be resolved in the next two days as billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov (pictured) has pledged to grant a loan to the federation to cover the arrears.
By Samindra Kunti
February 6 – Francois De Keersmacker presides over an upwardly mobile Belgian football federation with a national team that will be a Euro2016 challenger. He talked exclusively to Insideworldfootball about his home front challenges, why he backed Michael van Praag, why FIFA are not “a bunch of swindlers” but need to change, and the “stomach-churning” 2018 World up bid.