The non-playing staff of League Championship side Bolton "will receive their December wages as normal despite the club’s ongoing financial crisis."
Wanderers’ players "were not paid for the month of November and, although the staff were, there was a fear that the lack of funds at the Macron Stadium could prevent them from receiving their pay packets prior to Christmas." While Manager Neil Lennon and his backroom colleagues "are believed to come under the umbrella of non-playing staff, it is understood there is still no guarantee that his players will also receive their December wages" (PA, 12/16). ...
Mercedes said that it has "no reason to suspect any confidential engine data downloaded by a departing employee has fallen into Ferrari's hands." The team, which is "taking legal action against engineer Ben Hoyle," said on its website that "internal investigations were ongoing to protect against potential damage to them or others." The team said,
"The investigation has shown no reason to believe that information has been transferred to Ferrari" (REUTERS, 12/15). ... Barcelona has only one commercial office abroad -- Hong Kong -- but is planning to open three more by '17 -- Shanghai, N.Y. and São Paulo. Club President Josep Maria Bartomeu: "Those are the markets where Barça is pushing for growth" (YUTANG SPORTS, 12/16). ... The Bulgarian Football Union has "expelled" Litex Lovech "from the Bulgarian league after the players walked off the pitch in protest at refereeing decisions in Saturday's match against Levski Sofia." Union Disciplinary Commission Chair Yuri Kuchev said,
"It was the only possible decision according to (the BFU's) disciplinary rules." The BFU later said that Litex "could continue to play in the Bulgarian Cup" (REUTERS, 12/16). ... Serie A side AC Milan "caught a thief who was stealing kit from their training centre red handed, only to discover it was their kitman." Hundreds of shirts, shorts and socks "were reported to have gone missing from the Milanello warehouse over recent months, prompting the Varese police to install a hidden camera to discover the perpetrator." Club kitman Mustapha Medhoun "was caught on camera smuggling items away" (ESPN, 12/16).
