Scottish clubs will have "plenty of time to recruit players this winter" after the Scottish Professional Football League and Scottish FA agreed the transfer window will close on Feb. 2. With the traditional deadline day date of Jan. 31 falling on a Saturday, teams will be "able to register players until midnight on Monday evening." Extending the deadline means Scotland will "fall into line with other major European leagues" (STV, 12/10). ... After Liga MX execs revealed on Monday their desire for Major League Soccer clubs to someday be incorporated into the Copa MX, a biannual knockout tournament featuring Liga MX and Ascenso MX clubs, MLS officials responded positively. MLS Exec VP/Player Relations & Competition Todd Durbin said, "As Commissioner Garber recently mentioned in his State of the League address, we believe the more competition we can have between MLS and Liga MX clubs, whether in official tournaments or exhibition tournaments, is a positive for both leagues" (MLS). ... Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt launched its own secondary ticket market on Tuesday. Fans will be able to sell their unused season and single-game tickets via the online platform (Eintracht Frankfurt). ... Ligue 1 side Metz "began to put in place Monday an anti-pigeon device" above the Stade Saint-Symphorien. Since the beginning of the season, hundreds of birds nest each night under the roof of the West grandstand, "making the cleaning of the seats ineffective." The club announced on its website that “after several months of intensive studies on the various options to solve this problem,” the club has chosen a company to set up a net, which will cover an area over 3,600 square meters. In addition, 500 cups of repellent gel will be set up to protect the top of the bleachers. Completion of this project is scheduled for Friday (SPORT 24, 12/11). ... Olympic Gold Medalist Jessica Ennis-Hill revealed her "shock" at the Twitter abuse she received after urging League One side Sheffield United not to sign convicted rapist Ched Evans. Ennis-Hill, who has a stand named after her at Bramall Lane, said that "she would want her name removed from the stand if her hometown club decided to sign Evans, who was released from prison in October after serving half of a five-year jail sentence." Ennis-Hill's stance "saw her targeted for abuse on social media." She said, "I knew I was in a position where I was going to upset someone whether I said something or didn't. With my stand at Sheffield United and the association I have with the club, I really just wanted to voice my opinion" (London TELEGRAPH, 12/11).
PSG FANS STABBED: Officials said that two Paris St. Germain fans were stabbed after Wednesday's Champions League match in Barcelona. Catalan Regional Police Dir Albert
Batlle said on Thursday that the fans
"were stabbed after the final group stage match between Barcelona and the
French team." Batlle told reporters that "two hooded men attacked
one PSG fan late Wednesday." The victim is recovering at Clinico hospital, "and did not have
life-threatening injuries." Batlle said that a "second French fan was attacked in the vicinity of Camp Nou half an hour later" (AP, 12/11).
