Real appeal Zidane ban, saying he has the right coaching badges
October 28 – Real Madrid are to appeal against a three-month suspension slapped on former World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane for not having the right coaching qualifications.
Europe
Barca top youth player rankings but ‘home-grown’ numbers drop again
October 28 – Barcelona, who fell foul of FIFA’s regulations on the transfer of youth players and were forced to clean up their act, have proof that their system does in fact work following figures from the CIES Football Observatory that show the club leads the way in Europe’s big-5 leagues in numbers of youth players making it through to their first team, as well as providing more players from their system to other big-5 league clubs.
UEFA to contribute €20 million more to Euro 2016 host-cities
By David Owen
October 28 – UEFA has agreed to chip in an extra €20 million for the 10 Euro 2016 host cities. The financial package will be released in two instalments, the first at once and the second after the competition finishes. The tournament, to be played in France, will be the 15th European Championship and the first to be contested by 24 teams.
Leeds lunacy continues with latest manager sacked
By Andrew Warshaw
October 27 – Here today, gone virtually tomorrow. In less than seven months since taking over the club, Italian entrepreneur Massimo Cellino has turned Leeds United – not so long ago the proudest and most successful club in English football – into a laughing stock by sacking yet another manager almost as soon as he has walked through the door.
Suarez chews over crime and punishment but accepts blame in new book
By Andrew Warshaw
Ocotber 27 – His ban for biting may be over and last weekend’s Barcelona debut may have been incident-free but the infamy Luis Suarez brought on himself at the World Cup continues to generate widespread fascination.
Platini gets personal as he keeps up his assault on FIFA and Blatter
October 27 – Michel Platini has re-ignited his well-publicised falling-out with FIFA president Sepp Blatter by accusing the veteran Swiss of having stopped serving the cause of football.
Violence erupts at Sofia derby, as snowball flattens coach
October 27 – Bulgaria’s biggest club rivalry was marred by a serious outbreak of crowd trouble at the weekend but of a somewhat unusual nature when CSKA Sofia coach Stoycho Mladenov was knocked unconscious by a snowball thrown from rival Levski Sofia supporters.
Dyke bashes Blatter again, but says he expects him to win vote for fifth term
October 27 – English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke is back on the offensive over FIFA’s reform process, saying senior officials, including the president, should be restricted to two terms of office.
Broadcast: Ekstraklasa launches free live app, Liverpool go HD
October 24 – Poland’s Ekstraklasa has launched a free app that will broadcast coverage of the matches as well as latest news and personalised updates from the league. The app is available on IOS and Android devices.
Romania’s Craiova unveils €55m stadium design for Universitatea
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 24 – Romanian government authorities have unveiled the design of a planned stadium for top tier football club CS Universitatea Craiova.
Both sanctioned as Serbia vs Albania walk-off row keeps running
By Andrew Warshaw
October 24 – In one of the most scrutinised judgments handed down in recent years, UEFA have effectively punished both parties for the politically-fuelled mayhem that caused last week’s Euro 2016 qualifier between Balkan rivals Serbia and Albania to be abandoned while goalless on 41 minutes after descending into chaos.
Hoeness’ Swiss banker feels long reach of the law in Poland
By Andrew Warshaw
October 24 – A Swiss banker has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the €28.5 million tax evasion case that sent former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, one of Germany’s most venerated footballing figures, to jail.
Bayer Leverkusen ordered to repay €16m sponsorship money
By Mark Baber
October 23 – Wednesday was a great day on the pitch for Bayer Leverkusen as they topped UEFA Champions League Group C after defeating FC Zenit 2-0 in the BayArena. Off the pitch, however, things were not so good as a court ordered the club to repay €16 million of sponsorship money received from electricity company Teldafax which went bust in 2011.
UEFA opens doors to closed stadium sanction rethink
By Andrew Warshaw
October 23 – UEFA are to review their policy of handing out behind-closed-doors sanctions to clubs guilty of misbehaviour following complaints that innocent away fans were unfairly penalised in Tuesday’s Champions League clash between CSKA Moscow and Manchester City.
Greece’s Irodotos heavily sanctioned after Ethnikos fan death
October 23 – A Greek third division club has been heavily sanctioned following the death of a rival fan last month after being attacked.