LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Gibraltar was finally accepted as a member of European soccer’s governing body UEFA on Friday after a 14-year battle during which they faced fierce opposition from Spain.

UEFA’s annual Congress voted in favour of a motion to allow the tiny British colony to become their 54th member, meaning that their national team and clubs are now eligible to play in international competition.

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Gibraltar was finally accepted as a member of European soccer’s governing body UEFA on Friday, allowing their national team and clubs to enter to take part in international competition.

UEFA’s annual Congress voted in favour of a motion to allow the tiny British colony to become their 54th member.

LONDON (Reuters) – Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are bitter rivals, yet in tactical terms they offer variations on the same theme.

Both press their opponents high up the pitch, can move the ball from defence to attack with bewildering speed and play with a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring wide players on each flank and a lone striker.

LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) – Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are bitter rivals, yet in tactical terms they offer variations on the same theme.

Both press their opponents high up the pitch, can move the ball from defence to attack with bewildering speed and play with a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring wide players on each flank and a lone striker.

ZURICH, May 15 (Reuters) – The Swiss cabinet proposed tightening anti-corruption laws on Wednesday, pointing to the international sporting federations based in the country as targets of the suggested changes.

“Switzerland is among the countries least affected by corruption and has effective legislation in this regard,” said a government statement.

BERNE (Reuters) – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticised as inadequate a 50,000 euro ($64,850) fine handed to AS Roma for racist behaviour from their fans and said lessons had not been learned in Italian soccer.

Blatter also said he would talk to the Italian football federation (FIGC), which he said had not been thorough enough in investigating Sunday’s incident in the match at AC Milan and had made its decision too quickly.

BERNE, May 14 (Reuters) – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticised as inadequate a 50,000 euro ($64,850) fine handed to AS Roma for racist behaviour from their fans and said lessons had not been learned in Italian soccer.

Blatter also said he would talk to the Italian football federation (FIGC), which he said had not been thorough enough in investigating Sunday’s incident in the match at AC Milan and had made its decision too quickly.

ZURICH (Reuters) – FIFA has proposed the introduction of extra officials in stadiums to watch out for incidents of racism, plus a two-tier system of sanctions for teams whose followers indulge in discriminatory behavior.

The new officials “would identify potential acts of discrimination with the aim of easing the pressure on referees,” FIFA in a statement on Monday. They would also help gather evidence for disciplinary committees.

ZURICH, May 6 (Reuters) – FIFA has proposed the introduction of extra officials in stadiums to watch out for incidents of racism, plus a two-tier system of sanctions for teams whose followers indulge in discriminatory behaviour.

The new officials “would identify potential acts of discrimination with the aim of easing the pressure on referees,” FIFA in a statement on Monday. They would also help gather evidence for disciplinary committees.

ZURICH (Reuters) – Referees are on the front line in the fight against racism but cannot always be expected to be aware of what is going on off the field, English referee Howard Webb said on Monday.

Webb took part in the first meeting of FIFA’s anti-racism task force and said that one suggestion was the use of off-pitch officials to help referees identify serious incidents.