Spartak Moscow owner vows to stamp out racism at Russian games
By David Gold
April 5 – Spartak Moscow is creating a programme to help tackle racism and anti-semitism in Russian football, its owner Leonid Fedun has revealed.
Europe
Former director Paul Murray among four final bidders for Rangers
By Andrew Warshaw
April 5 – The administrators trying to save Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers received four “best and final” bids from prospective new buyers for the ailing club by the deadline yesterday.
Porto hit with €20,000 fine after Balotelli racism incident
By Andrew Warshaw
April 4 – UEFA have fined Porto €20,000 (£17,000/$26,000) after a section of fans racially abused Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli during a Europa League game in February.
FA Women’s Super League kicks off with Team GB London 2012 places up for grabs
By Andrew Warshaw
April 4 – The second English Football Association (FA) Women’s Super League (WSL) season gets under way this weekend in what is being showcased as an ideal opportunity to fight for Team GB places at London 2012.
Former FAI President Louis Kilcoyne loses battle to illness
By David Gold
April 3 – Louis Kilcoyne, the former President of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and also a previous vice-president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), has died at the age of 69 following a short illness.
Exclusive: Eastern European clubs buy league positions, claims FIFPro official
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – Clubs in Eastern Europe are deliberately rigging domestic matches in order to “buy” where they finish in the league at the end of the season, according the boss of the international players union, FIFPro.
Andrea Masiello arrested in Bari match fixing investigation
By Andrew Warshaw
April 2 – Yet another serious match fixing episode, this time in Italy, moved on apace today when Atalanta defender Andrea Masiello (pictured) was arrested in connection with last season’s scandal in Serie A.
Berlusconi returns to AC Milan hot seat
By David Gold
March 31 – Controversial politician Silvio Berlusconi has once again returned to the helm as President of Italy’s Serie A reigning champions, AC Milan.
Don’t delay in giving Redknapp the England manager’s job, warns Terry Venables
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 29 – Former England manager Terry Venables (pictured) has added his voice to the clamour to give the England job to Harry Redknapp in succession to Fabio Capello.
UEFA set to ignore goalline technology approval
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 29 – UEFA have given the biggest hint yet that it may ignore goalline technology, even if it is brought into law on a global level.
English Championship clubs are a scene of carnage, admits Portsmouth administrator
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 29 – The man charged with saving crisis-stricken English Championship club Portsmouth painted a bleak picture of all second tier teams by describing them as “a scene of carnage” in terms of their finances.
England plays delay game over centralised media rights, insists UEFA
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 28 – England is the only country among UEFA’s 53 members to be dragging its feet over thrashing out final details covering centralised media rights for national matches, according to the organisation’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino.
Stuart Pearce backs Olympic football to “galvanise Great Britain”
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 28 – Stuart Pearce, who is doubling up as Great Britain’s Olympic football coach as well as running the England senior team on an interim basis, says the tournament at this summer’s London Games will “galvanise the country” and showcase the sport at under-23 level.
Exclusive: Wales to take UEFA to CAS over Europe entry ruling
By Andrew Warshaw
March 28 – The Football Association of Wales (FAW) are considering taking UEFA to Europe’s highest sporting court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), for barring their clubs, including Premier League Swansea City, from playing in the Welsh Cup in order to try and gain a berth in the Europa League.
Russia responds to latest “banana incident” with anti-racism football taskforce launch
By David Gold
March 23 – The Russian Football Union (RFU) has launched a taskforce to tackle racism in football, just days after Christopher Samba (pictured far right) had a banana thrown at him during a league game.