2015 Greek bailout referendum
Greece officially exited from the bailout programs in August 2018 (three years after the referendum) and the Tsipras government announced some social cohesion measures such as increases in pensions and aid packages for low-income groups. The economy has also seen growth, albeit at a slow pace. However, these developments have not diminished criticism levelled at the Syriza government for its U-turn and the huge economic and social cost of austerity policies it imposed.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Background
The referendum was announced by Tsipras in the early morning of 27 June 2015. No prior notice of the decision was given to the Eurogroup. In the early hours of 28 June 2015, Parliament voted on whether or not the government's proposed bailout referendum should be held, with 178 MPs (Syriza, ANEL and Golden Dawn) for, 120 MPs (all other parties) against and two MPs abstaining.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Referendum question
Voters were asked whether they approve of the proposal made to Greece by the Juncker Commission, the IMF and the ECB during the Eurogroup meeting on 25 June. This proposal with a list of  was  by the commission, but withdrawn when negotiations were abandoned shortly after.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Referendum question
The Greek government thus asked to vote on two previous documents, titled "" and ".". The possible answers were stated as "Not approved/No" and "Approved/Yes".


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Legality concerns
Evangelos Venizelos from PASOK party, as well as To Potami and New Democracy parties, said that the proposed referendum would be unconstitutional, as the constitution does not allow for referendums on fiscal matters. Article 44, section 2 provides for two referendum procedures, one for 'crucial national matters' (first clause) and a second for 'Bills passed by Parliament regulating important social matters, with the exception of the fiscal ones' (second clause). The Syriza-led government argued the referendum was in accordance with the first clause, and therefore not unconstitutional.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Legality concerns
The Athens Bar Association (DPS), which is the largest legal association in Greece, raised a range of concerns about whether the referendum law approved by the Hellenic Parliament and President of Greece was legal. They said the call of referendum and the referendum question itself, featured "significant problems on the validity and meaning of voting "yes"/"no" in that referendum", in a situation where the result of such referendum could have major importance for the future of Greece. Procedural guarantees for calling referendums provided for by law 4023/2011, as well as Constitutional requirements (Article 44, sections 2 and 3) regarding which issues could be put to a referendum, were assessed not to have been met.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Legality concerns
On 1 July, Bloomberg reported they had found a translation mistake in the Greek version of the "Preliminary Debt Sustainability Analysis" part of the Institutions "unified proposal" being put to referendum.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Legality concerns
In this part there were three debt sustainability scenarios, and under the first two the original English document concludes that "this gross financing need metric points to no sustainability issues" (Bloomberg's wording for the conclusion was "that there are no sustainability issues") when the country's financing needs are taken into account, while the official Greek translation published to Greek voters and sent to reporters on 29 June, was missing the word "no", so that the Greek text reads "there are sustainability issues". This finding stressed the importance of the second concern raised by DPS, about the referendum putting "a pair of uncertified documents" to a vote, instead of what the law required, "a pair of certified translated documents approved by the initial issuer of the documents".


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Legality concerns, Court ruling
Greece's top administrative court, the Council of State, ruled on the legality of the referendum two days before it was due to be held against a claim that was submitted by private individuals and argued that the referendum could be violating the country's constitution by posing a question regarding "public finances". The court's decision was that the referendum was within the jurisdiction of the government and that the court had no authority on the issue, thus rejecting the claim.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said on 29 June during a press conference on Greece that "the momentum [for finding an agreement] was destroyed unilaterally by the announcement of a referendum and by the decision to mount a 'no' campaign to reject this agreement".


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
The European Commission further objected to the timing of the referendum, stressing it should have been held to allow sufficient time before 30 June 2015 deadline when the "20 February 2015 offer ratified by other national parliaments"—in which Greece had been offered the prospect of completing and extending its existing bailout agreement by a new (yet to be mutually agreed) set of renegotiated terms—expired.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
The commission also objected to the approach of not choosing a referendum question reflecting the entire dimensions of the comprehensive bailout offer, which was not only about implementation of a "reform programme", but also included a €35bn investment package which it said would spur job creation along with economic growth, and included a guarantee for debt relief according to a renewal of the "November 2012 debt relief statement". This would ensure—conditional on the completion of the second bailout programme under its new renegotiated terms—automatic debt relief, to the extent that the Greek debt-to-GDP ratio would be reduced to levels below 124% in 2020 and 110% in 2022.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
The European Commission also found it strange and inappropriate, that the Greek government asked for voters' opinion on the "Institution's 25 June compromise proposal" rather than the latest "Institution's 26 June compromise proposal". It said the latest "26 June compromise proposal" differed from the "25 June version" on several points (meeting objections tabled by the Greek government), of which one of the most significant was that the VAT rate for hotels had been reduced from 23% to 13%.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
The European Commission claimed that neither of the Institution's proposals, contrary to claims by the Greek government, had contained "excessive austerity", public wage cuts or pension cuts. Instead they had lowered their demand for a public budget primary surplus from the previously required 4.5%—now to be 1% in 2015 followed by a gradual increase to a level of 3.5% for 2018 and beyond—saving Greece from implementing €12bn of extra austerity measures.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
Their request for a "wage reform", it said, was about conducting an ILO approved review and update of the current collective bargaining rights in the private sector (not removal of collective bargaining rights)—and implementation of a new approved wage scheme in which public workers were paid in future according to qualifications and performance (instead of clientele deals). Their "pension reform", it said, was calling for the cancellation of incentives for early retirement, along with moving to a system in which all people in Greece received pensions on the same terms (not treating some sectors more beneficially than others).


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
The claim by Juncker that there were no pension cuts in the proposal raised eyebrows, with Financial Times journalist Peter Spiegel tweeting that it was "simply not true".


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
Other important elements of the proposals, the European Commission said, were: to implement a more efficient and independent Tax Collection Authority, opening up closed professions to competition (i.e. so that the Greek price for electricity—which is currently the most expensive in EU—would decline), and to implement a string of measures to ensure more social fairness (guaranteed minimum income scheme, making tax payments more proportionate to income, targeting extra saving cuts in public spending on areas with no adverse impact for average citizens—i.e. increased defense cuts, removing socially unjust favorable tax treatments of ship-owners, fighting corruption in which the focus should be "big fish" rather than "ordinary people", and safeguarding a lasting social fairness by supporting more transparency and efficiency in public administration—in particularly through establishment of a new politically independent tax administration).


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
Further, the European Commission signaled that the referendum question, to which they would recommend a "Yes", from its viewpoint should be understood as whether or not Greece wanted to remain part of Europe and the Eurozone, which at the present state included acceptance of receiving conditional bailout help on a set of mutually negotiated and agreed terms.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, European Commission
The Commission claimed the biggest impediment to jobs, growth and investment at the moment in Greece, was not the contents of the Institution's bailout proposals, but instead a paralyzing uncertainty caused by the Greek government's decision to cut itself off from continued bailout support and a moratorium on implementing structural reforms. According to the commission, this uncertainty and standstill could only be removed if Greece at the negotiating table agreed on one of the latest compromise proposals which the Institutions had tabled after accommodating a range of objections and requests tabled by the Greek government. They claimed the confidence effect of voting "Yes" to the settlement of such a deal, the predictability it would bring, together with the injection of liquidity into the economy from disbursements, would restore job creation and growth to the benefit of Greece.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, Council of Europe
The Council of Europe stated that the Greek referendum does not meet European standards, as voters were not given a two-week period to make up their minds, as non-binding guidelines recommend. Due to the hasty schedule, the Council of Europe was not able to send election observers and the Greek government had not requested them either.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, Council of Europe
However the head of the Greek delegation and vice president of the council's parliamentary assembly, Dimitris Vitsas, denied that there was any decision made by the Council of Europe and said that it was only a personal opinion expressed by the council's general secretary, Thorbjørn Jagland, with Tiny Kox, the head of the Left wing in the council's assembly supporting the same view and asking the general secretary to clarify his previous announcement.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Reception, United Nations independent experts
The United Nations Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order and on human rights and international law, Alfred de Zayas and Virginia Dandan respectively, welcomed the Greek referendum and called for international solidarity, while expressing disappointment that the IMF and the EU have failed to reach a non-austerity based solution yet, and supporting that no treaty or loan agreement can force a country to violate the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights of its population, nor can a loan agreement negate the sovereignty of a State.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Positions on implications of the referendum
There has been substantial disagreement between campaigns on the implications of the referendum, and the public has interpreted it in a variety of ways. Tsipras has argued that a "No" vote would represent a rejection of the austerity terms demanded by the creditors, and strengthen the Greek negotiating position. Tsipras declared "On Sunday, we are not simply deciding to remain in Europe – we are deciding to live with dignity in Europe".


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Positions on implications of the referendum
Tsipras has repeatedly rejected Greek and international warnings that a "No" vote would be perceived by Greek's main creditors as a "No" to reforms in Greece, and a "No" to remaining in the Eurozone. Advocates of a "Yes" vote, among them a grassroot movement entitled Menoume Europi (Stay in Europe) have cast the referendum as a decision on Greece remaining in the eurozone, and perhaps even the European Union.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Positions on implications of the referendum
Many international leaders as well as mainstream economists and media warned that if the "No" vote leads to a failure to secure continued bailout support for Greece in due time, this would likely lead to a broader Greek sovereign default, a haircut on Greek bank deposits, a collapse of the banking sector, followed by an aggravated depression of the Greek economy, and a Greek exit from the euro area. A new local currency to replace the euro would be strongly devalued, which would decrease the purchasing power for Greeks and lead to inflation.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Positions on implications of the referendum
Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that "in case of a 'No', Greece's (financial) situation will become exceptionally difficult... The economic problems will be even bigger and an aid programme more difficult to implement". European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece's negotiating position would be "dramatically weakened" if a 'No' won. Other European leaders have also criticized the Greek government's representation of the referendum options, with EU leaders saying that they would see a "No" vote as a rejection of Europe.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Positions on implications of the referendum
Public opinion strongly favours keeping the euro. Of all the political parties which won seats in the parliamentary election in May, only the Communist KKE expressed support for leaving the euro, and indeed for leaving the European Union.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Positions on implications of the referendum
A majority of European leaders, and the US President Obama have expressed the opinion that Greece should remain in the monetary union. An opposite view comes from the UK Prime Minister David Cameron who mentioned, according to a leaked note, that it "might be better" for Greece to leave the euro in order to sort its economy out, even though Cameron conceded that there were major risks in that, too.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Positions on the vote itself (Yes/No)
In his initial address, when prime minister Tsipras of the ruling Syriza party announced the plebiscite on 5 July, he recommended a "No" vote to the Greek people. Most other Syriza members also supported a "No" vote.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Positions on the vote itself (Yes/No)
ANEL, the other ruling party in coalition with Syriza, announced that they were campaigning for a "No" vote. The far-right Golden Dawn party, not being in the government, also called for a "No" vote.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Political parties
KKE declared it was against both of the latest two versions of the cash-for-reform counter proposals being submitted to the negotiation table between Greece and its public creditors (the counter proposal of the Greek government, and the latest compromise counter proposal of the institutions), and said that it would try to change the question of the referendum, so that people can vote not only against the latest compromise counter-proposal of the Institutions but also against the latest counter-proposal of the Greek government.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Campaigns, Political parties
Keynesian economists like James K. Galbraith and Thomas Piketty, along with Nobel prize in Economics recipients Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, individually expressed their support for the "No" vote on the referendum, arguing that the current austerity programme is a bad option from an economic point of view.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Opinion polls
According to opinion polls, since the imposition of capital controls in Greece as a result of the ECB's decision not to enlarge its Emergency Liquidity Assistance programme in Greece, there was a trend from a clear No-vote majority to a head-to-head race, or even a slight advantage for the Yes-vote, to accept the proposed bailout terms (as of 3 July 2015).


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Opinion polls
Poll results listed in the table below are in reverse chronological order and use the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If that date is unknown, the date of publication is given. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading option's colour. In the instance of a tie no figure is shaded.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Opinion polls, After the referendum announcement
Note: This section only covers confirmed polls conducted since the announcement of the referendum. Polls not confirmed by their respective pollsters are not shown in the table.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Opinion polls, Before the referendum announcement
Two opinion polls were conducted shortly before the announcement of the referendum on 27 June, and prior to the referendum question being made public. The first asked how people would vote if a debt-deal were put to a referendum, and the second whether people supported reaching an agreement with the creditor institutions or not. Both found support for a deal in principle.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Results
The "NO" (ΟΧΙ in Greek) vote won in all the regions of Greece, as well as in all the Greek constituencies. The highest share of "NO" votes was in Crete, particularly in the constituencies of Heraklion and Chania. The highest share of "YES" (ΝΑΙ in Greek) votes was in the Peloponnese region – most notably in the Laconia constituency – although the number of "YES" votes were outnumbered by "NO" votes.


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Aftermath
Three days following the no vote of the referendum, the Athens government "formally asked for a three-year bailout from the eurozone's rescue fund [on 8 July 2015] and pledged to start implementing some economic-policy overhauls" beginning by mid-July 2015. European finance leaders scheduled a "crisis summit" on 12 July to consider the request. The Greek request includes a "drastic turnaround" for Prime Minister Tsipras regarding "pension cuts, tax increases and other austerity measures." The total amount of loans requested in the Greek proposal is 53.5 billion euros (US$59 billion).


2015 Greek bailout referendum, Aftermath
The Greek parliament approved the Prime Minister's request on Friday, 10 July, and the completed package was forwarded to the eurogroup in advance of Sunday's meeting. On Monday, 13 July, the democratically elected government representing the Greek nation in the Eurozone signed a bailout package including 'worse' terms than the ones, already, publicly rejected via referendum.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal
The 2015 Greek football scandal emerged on 6 April 2015 when prosecutor Aristidis Korreas' 173-page work was revealed. Telephone tapping operated by the National Intelligence Service of Greece since 2011 has played a significant role in the case. According to the prosecutor's conclusion, Olympiakos F.C. owner Evangelos Marinakis along with Greek Football Federation members Theodoros Kouridis, and Georgios Sarris are suspected of directing a criminal organization since 2011.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal
The goal behind their scheme was to "absolutely control Greek football's fate by the methods of blackmailing and fraud", exploiting the self-governing ("autonomy") status of national football federations promoted by FIFA and UEFA. Referees, judges, football directors and chairmen are also involved in the scandal. All defendants were acquitted of all charges.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Organization's beginnings
In the summer of 2011, the Greek football was under the storm of Koriopolis scandal, a massive match-fixing case with many officials involved, including Evangelos Marinakis, the new owner of Olympiacos.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Organization's beginnings
According to the recent prosecutor's conclusion, Evangelos Marinakis, Theodoros Kouridis, Aristidis Stathopoulos, Georgios Sarris and Euboea Football Clubs Association president Ioannis Papakonstantinou later met at Hilton Hotel in Athens in December 2011. The decisions that they came up with after their meeting were to support Sarris' candidacy for the presidency of the Greek Football Federation in the upcoming election, aiming to control it, and that Evangelos Marinakis would have a leading role in the organization.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Organization's beginnings
One of the first actions of the new presidency of HFF was the replacement of the two football prosecutors (Fakos, Antonakakis) with two others (Petropoulos, Karras). The investigation inside the Federation for the Koriopolis scandal stopped and never resumed ever since.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Organization's beginnings
In January 2012, according to the prosecutor, Kouridis and Stathopoulos following Marinakis orders, secretly met referee Petros Konstantineas, currently a member of the Hellenic Parliament and a key participant in the fight against football corruption, and demanded from him to favour Olympiakos against Xanthi at their 22 January 2012 clash. Konstantineas refused and Olympiakos were defeated by Xanthi. A month later, according to the prosecutor, Marinakis allegedly ordered unknown people to bomb Konstantineas' bakery, which led to bakery's demolition on 23 February 2012, an incident that "established Olympiakos' president domination on Greek football".


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Expanding activity
Marinakis, Kouridis and Sarris used prepaid mobile phones owned typically by Chinese and Pakistani immigrants so as to communicate avoiding surveillance from the National Intelligence Service of Greece, although they were eventually wiretapped nonetheless. The phone Marinakis used was registered to a Pakistani individual named "Fataul Haque", while Sarris' phone was registered to a Chinese one named "Qianqian Zhang".


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Expanding activity
Korreas' conclusion stated that Olympiakos owner's influence expanded to a wider range beyond his own club and that following his interests, various illegal acts were committed. Specific referees were ordered to favor Platanias F.C., a club that was under Olympiakos' influence, against Panachaiki F.C. in a 2012 Football League play-off match which led to Platanias F.C. promoting to Super League. He intervened in Football League's Disciplinary Committee work in order to evoke favorable decisions for Tyrnavos 2005 F.C. against Niki Volou. Most important, he managed to influence most of the local Football Clubs Associations across Greece as well as most of the Super League clubs, which out of subordination and financial survival reasons agreed and aided Marinakis' right-hand Giorgos Sarris to become elected as the new president of Greek Football Federation.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Expanding activity
The prosecutor's conclusion goes on mentioning that Super League's control was taken using Marinakis' stated power and economic strength. Olympiakos even maintains a large roster aiming to loan players to weaker clubs, succeeding in that manner to "preserve their influence along the league". Club's officials have been recorded by the National Intelligence Service of Greece of even demanding and eventually managing to place in Panionios' manager position Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, Olympiacos' former goalkeeper, paying half of his contract salary.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Expanding violence
Various acts of violence are also included inside the prosecutor's conclusion against referees (Giorgos Daloukas, Dimitris Kyrkos etc. ), journalists and others. In a separate case, launched in July 2011, Marinakis is accused also of instigation and facilitating acts of violence. According to telephone recordings, Marinakis, along with the president of second-division club Ilioupoli, Giorgos Tsakogiannis, and others, cooperated so that a group of hardcore Olympiakos fans would travel on 13 March 2011 to a third division match and provoke riots to bring about a penalty. The prosecutor's report says that "Tsakogiannis informed [Ioannis] Papadopoulos that he had made arrangements and Evangelos Marinakis was aware of the plan for Olympiakos fans to cause riots".


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Expanding violence
In one of the recorded conversations, the ex-board member of Olympiakos Emilios Kotsonis (currently imprisoned for a case of a ship with two tonnes heroin, which was caught by the Greek authorities with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Administration) refers to the severe crowd violence during a derby match of Panathinaikos against Olympiakos (2011–12 season), for which Panathinaikos was docked three points and punished €212.000 as fine, saying that Golden Dawn was behind the incident.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Consequent state
Sarris, Kouridis and Stathopoulos along with their colleagues and former referees Briakos and Douros, compiled the referees' charts for the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons of Greek Leagues, including referees of their utmost trust, such as Ioannidis, Amparkiolis and Kampaksis, who were used in crucial games in favor of the organization's interests. Among others, they refereed the match of Apollon Smyrni F.C. against Panionios, being ordered to favour Panionios, as well as the match of Levadiakos F.C. against Panetolikos F.C., being ordered to favour Levadiakos. Levadiakos' owner Giannis Kompotis, having acquaintances among the organization's circle, regularly benefit from them.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Consequent state
Concluding, the prosecutor points up that Marinakis managed to currently dominate Greek football using his power and subsequent alliances and that furthermore, taking advantage of the situation, Olympiakos have been winning the Greek Super League each season since 2011, an achievement that automatically gives the club the income reward of around €20 million per year out of UEFA's market pool resulting from their subsequent participation in the UEFA Champions League Group Phase.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Consequent state
In one of the recorded conversations, the UEFA's Deputy General Secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, partner of Michel Platini and son of vice-president of Olympiakos Savvas Theodoridis, is heard to provide help to Marinakis. Theodoridis is appearing to be the person who is responsible for the good relations between Platini and the various Football Federations ensuring his reelection.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Prosecutor's conclusion, Consequent state
According to the Greek sports-site sdna.gr the Greek Federation has copied the code of FIFA Ethics Committee, but removing all the rules referring to punishments of officials, aiming to self-protection. The Federation still refuses to send its articles of association to the Greek General Secretary of Sports.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Other testimonies and statements
In 2014, Stamatis Vellis, ex-president of Apollon Smyrni, testified to the district attorney that the fate of his team depended on actions of corrupted members of the Hellenic Football Federation, naming a number of officials currently accused, and for that reason he quit from the presidency of his club and the Greek football.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Other testimonies and statements
In September 2014, Olivier Kapo, a former player of Levadiakos F.C., confirmed the alleged existence of a criminal organization within the Greek football industry, when he stated in the French press that in Greek football, "everything is corrupted [and] mafia-controlled."


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Other testimonies and statements
On 27 May 2015, the President of the Football Union of Thessaly, Anastasios Batziakas (head of a Union which appealed the current presidency of the Hellenic Football Federation due to corruption), testified that his life was threatened by anonymous calls.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Other testimonies and statements
In August 2015, Petros Konstantineas stated that the referees in Greece should be professionals and criticized the situation about Hugh Dallas for getting paid without having any jurisdiction. He described also the Football Federation as a company who "pop in and out the Greek courts" and that Syriza "is going to finish the job".


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Other testimonies and statements
On 2 March 2016, the owner oF PAOK FC, Ivan Savvidis, criticized the Hellenic Football Federation's officials and referees, stating at TV that "he is ashamed to be linked with the Greek football" and asked the resignation of Olympiakos' president, Marinakis, and the Federation's president. The board of directors of PAOK also asked the resignation of the Federation's president and the expulsion of all the accused persons from the Greek football, such as arbitration with foreign referees from the next season.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Other testimonies and statements
On 18 March 2016, Panathinaikos FC President Giannis Alafouzos sued Mr Marinakis and judges Tziblakis and Poulios for the Koriopolis case.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status
As of June 2015, suspects are being questioned by investigating judge Georgios Andreadis. Andreadis added 10 suspects to the 16 that prosecutor Aristidis Korreas had proposed. Court council is due to decide who are to put on trial.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status
Evangelos Marinakis was questioned on 18 June 2015 and he was released on a €200,000 bail. He is also forced to stop being involved in any football activity, as well as he must report to a police station every 15 days.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status, Koriopolis progress
In July 2015, and after the prosecutor's proposal to the penal justice, it was announced that are going to be tried for the Koriopolis: the players Avraam Papadopoulos, Kostas Mendrinos, the officials Achilleas Beos, Ioannis Kombotis (owner of Levadiakos F.C. ), Dimitris Tzelepis (chairman of Panthrakikos F.C. ), Giorgos Borovilos (president of Asteras Tripolis), Dimitris Bakos (owner of Asteras Tripolis), Michalis Kountouris (president of amateur Olympiacos CFP and board member of Olympiacos F.C.) and many more.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status, Koriopolis progress
On 5 September 2015, a new conversation recorded by the National Intelligence Service came in the light, with the ex-board member of Olympiakos Emilios Kotsonis asking for a meeting from a judge of the case (Giannis Tziblakis) with Evangelos Marinakis, who was finally cleared for Koriopolis. In the case intervened the Court of Cassation, the supreme court of Greece for civil and criminal law, and the case for Marinakis is going to be examined again.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status, Additional suspects
Additional suspects include Veria F.C. Director of Football Giorgos Lanaris and former owner Giorgos Arvanitidis, regarding 6 January 2013 match of Olympiakos F.C. against Veria. Veria player Nikolaos Georgeas and club's manager Dimitris Kalaitzidis at the time, testified in March 2015 that Lanaris following Arvanitidis orders demanded from Veria players to lose with a 3–0 score, which eventually happened. According to Andreadis, both Marinakis and Arvanitidis had agreed on the match fixing. Guillermo Pérez, football player of Veria at that time, stated also to the prosecutor that the game was fixed. However, Veria was judged as innocent for the suspected fixed match against Olympiakos by the appeal committee of the Football Federation.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status, Additional suspects
Atromitos F.C. football director Giannis Agkelopoulos along with club's owner Giorgos Spanos were also questioned by Andreadis on the suspicion of manipulating 4 February 2015 match of Olympiakos against Atromitos, following Panathinaikos F.C. football director Takis Fyssas testimony. Fyssas claimed that Atromitos coach at that time, Ricardo Sá Pinto, had shared with him that Agkelopoulos demanded from the coach not to use Pitu Garcia, Napoleoni, Katsouranis and Kivrakidis for the match in question.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status, Additional suspects
At the questioning, Agkelopoulos and Spanos handed over a letter written by Sa Pinto claiming that the story is not true, while Fyssas claims the story is known even by Fernando Santos' assistant, Ricardo Santos. Santos confirmed him after talking to the Press, stating that he had informed Fyssas through a text message which then became part of the latter's testimony.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status, UEFA's reaction
On 30 June 2015, UEFA's General secretary Gianni Infantino stated that Olympiakos will keep their spot in the Champions League for the time, such as Asteras Tripoli FC. Later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed the participation of Olympiakos in the Champions League.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status, UEFA's reaction
On 17 June 2015, the English sports-site  had revealed that UEFA's integrity officer for the HFF (Dimitris Davakis) didn't state to the UEFA's Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector, Miguel Liétard Fernandez-Palacios, the judicial process and the alleged involvement of Asteras Tripoli in the Greek match-fixing scandal of Koriopolis, regarding their participation in the UEFA Europa League.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Current judicial status, UEFA's reaction
According to the Telegraph, UEFA did not respond to a request to confirm whether Infantino's deputy, Theodore Theodoridis, had recused himself from any discussions or decisions about the handling of the Olympiakos case, because of the relationship of Theodoridis's father, Savvas, vice-president of Olympiakos, and Theodoridis Jnr.


2015 Greek football match-fixing scandal, Final acquittal of all defendants
On January 28, 2021, the three-member Criminal Court of Appeals  acquitted the leader of Olympiacos, Vangelis Marinakis, of all the charges against him in the trial of 28. The same happened with all the defendants in the case. After a thorough analysis of all the elements of the investigation, from the testimony of the witnesses (and the contradictions they encountered) and from the rejection of the pre-investigation conclusion by the lawyers of the accused, the court decided to reject all the accusations. A case that lasted almost six years and occupied Greek football, tarnishing reputations, has now been closed definitively and irrevocably.


2015 Green Bay Blizzard season
The 2015 Green Bay Blizzard season was the team's thirteenth season as a professional indoor football franchise and sixth in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of ten teams competing in the IFL for the 2015 season, the Green Bay Blizzard were members of the United Conference. The team played their home games at the Resch Center in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin.


2015 Green Bay Blizzard season, Roster
Rookies in italics updated June 18, 201522 Active, 13 Inactive


2015 Green Bay Packers season
The 2015 Green Bay Packers season was the franchise's 97th season overall, 95th in the National Football League, and the tenth under head coach Mike McCarthy. With a Week 15 win over the Oakland Raiders, the Packers clinched a playoff spot for the seventh consecutive season, but they failed to win their fifth consecutive NFC North title after a Week 17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings as does matching their 12–4 record from last season. As a result, the fifth-seeded Packers traveled to Washington to face the fourth-seeded Redskins in the Wild Card round.


2015 Green Bay Packers season
They beat the Redskins 35–18, and then traveled to Arizona for a rematch against the second-seeded Arizona Cardinals, where the Packers' season ended as they lost to the Cardinals in overtime, 20–26. One highlight of the Packers' season was a stunning come-from-behind victory over their division rivals Detroit Lions, which resulted in a 61-yard game-winning Hail Mary pass from quarterback Aaron Rodgers to tight end Richard Rodgers II as time expired.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Offseason, Free agents
Re -signed         Signed Away         Suspended, ReleasedRFA: Restricted free agent, UFA: Unrestricted free agent, ERFA: Exclusive rights free agent, FT: Franchise Tag*Player was signed after the June 1st deadline and will not count towards compensatory selections.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 1: at Chicago Bears
The Packers opened their season against their famed arch-rival, the Bears. The Bears, behind the strong running of Matt Forte, had the early lead against the Packers, but the Packers were able to gain the advantage in the second half behind Aaron Rodgers' three touchdown passes, two of which were to James Jones, who had been cut by the New York Giants just a week prior. The Packers clinched the win with a Clay Matthews interception, followed by an Eddie Lacy touchdown run, giving the Packers their tenth win over the Bears in the rivals' 12 most recent games.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 2: vs. Seattle Seahawks
The Packers' home opener featured a rematch of the 2015 NFC Championship Game between the Packers and the Seattle Seahawks, who had won in their previous three meetings with the Packers, all of them in Seattle. The Packers got the early 13–3 lead, helped by James Jones' 3rd touchdown reception in only two games, but the Seahawks were able to rally back on two Russell Wilson touchdown passes, giving Seattle a 17–13 lead in the third quarter.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 2: vs. Seattle Seahawks
The Packers then scored 14 unanswered points, aided by two Seahawks turnovers and shut down the Seahawks offense, holding their star running back, Marshawn Lynch, to only 42 yards rushing with a 2.7 yards per carry average. The Packers won 27–17, building up a 2–0 record and adding to a ten-game winning streak at Lambeau Field.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs came in as one of only two teams in the NFL, the other being the Houston Texans, who have never lost at Lambeau Field (until Week 13 of the 2016 NFL season.) The Packers dominated the Chiefs for most of the game, with Aaron Rodgers throwing five touchdown passes, though the Chiefs managed to outscore the Packers 21–14 in the second half. The Packers' 38–28 victory ended the Chiefs' being undefeated at Lambeau and extended the Packers' own home winning streak to eleven games.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 4: at San Francisco 49ers
This game was the Packers first trip to Levi's Stadium, which opened in 2014.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 4: at San Francisco 49ers
With the win, the Packers improved to 4–0. The Packers not only got their first win over the 49ers since 2010, but it was also the Packers' first victory over Colin Kaepernick.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 5: vs. St. Louis Rams
Aaron Rodgers threw his first interception at home since 2012, which was picked off by James Laurinaitis. The Packers' defense intercepted St. Louis quarterback Nick Foles four times, one of them returned for a touchdown by Quinten Rollins for 45 yards.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 5: vs. St. Louis Rams
The Packers went to 5–0 for the first time since 2011.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 6: vs. San Diego Chargers
The Packers wore new throwback uniforms, replicas of their uniforms from the 1940s, for their game against the Chargers.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 6: vs. San Diego Chargers
The Packers took another early lead, helped by James Starks' two touchdown runs, but the Chargers came back, with Philip Rivers hitting key passes to Keenan Allen. The two teams traded points in the second half, with the Chargers able to keep pace with the Packers. In the last play of the game, Packers rookie cornerback Damarious Randall has deflected what could have been a game-tying touchdown pass from San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers. Rivers became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 500 yards in a game and lose the game.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 6: vs. San Diego Chargers
With the win, the Packers entered their bye week at 6–0. It is also the second time the Packers started 6–0 after the 2011 season.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 8: at Denver Broncos
The Packers flew to Denver for a duel with Peyton Manning and the undefeated Denver Broncos. The Broncos wore their alternate blue uniforms with white pants as worn in Super Bowl XXXII.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 8: at Denver Broncos
Packers cornerbacks Sam Shields and rookie cornerback Quinten Rollins suffered a shoulder injury in the game and their returns were questionable.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 8: at Denver Broncos
The Broncos took the lead early in the first quarter when Ronnie Hillman scored a 1-yard touchdown.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 8: at Denver Broncos
In the second quarter, Hillman scored another touchdown and the Broncos led 14–0. The Broncos lead became 17–0 when Brandon McManus made a 50-yard field goal. Von Miller was injured during the second quarter. The Packers struck back when Eddie Lacy scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. They trailed 7–17 at halftime.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 8: at Denver Broncos
In the third quarter, the Packers cut Denver's lead to seven when Mason Crosby made a 56-yard field goal. Denver extended their lead to 24–10 when C. J. Anderson made a 28-yard run.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 8: at Denver Broncos
Denver continued to dominate when Brandon McManus made a 24-yard field goal and DeMarcus Ware sacked Aaron Rodgers for a safety, making the score 10–29.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 8: at Denver Broncos
The Packers defense finally recorded an interception when Damarious Randall picked off Peyton Manning. In this game, the Broncos held Rodgers to 77 yards passing, the lowest of his starting career in a game where he hasn't come off with injury.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 9: at Carolina Panthers
Green Bay would travel to Charlotte to take on the undefeated Panthers. The Panthers would lead all game. The Panthers would lead 37–14 at one point. Green Bay would try to come back, but they wouldn't, as Carolina hung on for the win. Despite the loss, Aaron Rodgers would throw 4 touchdown passes with only 1 interception.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 10: vs. Detroit Lions
For the first time since 1991, the Packers lost to the Lions at home.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 11: at Minnesota Vikings
The Packers broke their three-game losing streak with a victory in Minnesota. Green Bay held Minnesota to two scores, including a 47-yard pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Kyle Rudolph for the game's first touchdown. The Vikings' extra point try went wide, and after three Green Bay field goals, the Packers closed out the first half with a TD pass from Rodgers to Cobb to take a 10-point lead.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 11: at Minnesota Vikings
Adrian Peterson scored in the third quarter to bring the Vikings within six points of the Packers, but Green Bay got it back with a long pass from Rodgers to James Jones in the corner of the end zone. Two second-half Crosby field goals brought Green Bay's total to 30, and the Vikings relinquished their brief first-place standing in the NFC North back to the Pack.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 12: vs. Chicago Bears
On a night where the Packers would retire long-time star quarterback Brett Favre's jersey, Chicago would upset Green Bay, winning 17–13. The Packers had a chance near the end to steal the win from Chicago, but the Bears defense would force a turnover on downs to end the game.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 13 at Detroit Lions
In a game dubbed "The Miracle in Motown" by Jim Nantz, the Packers trailed 20–0 at halftime before pulling off a comeback in the second half. This game is well known by Packer fans for its ending. Towards the end, the Packers tried to lateral the ball to get down the field and score a game-winning touchdown. The play looked like a total bust, as Aaron Rodgers was wrapped up and brought down, seemingly ending the game. However, the Lions were called for a controversial facemask penalty that gave the Packers one more chance on an untimed down.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 13 at Detroit Lions
On the next play, Rodgers threw a 61-yard Hail Mary pass to Richard Rodgers II to end the game. The ball traveled 68 yards through the air, making it the longest touchdown pass in NFL history by air. The pass gave the Packers a 27–23 win. Some Packers fans refer to this play as "Hail Rodgers" or "Rodgers to Rodgers".


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 14: vs. Dallas Cowboys
In a rematch of "Dez Bryant's no catch game", the Packers rattled the depleted Cowboys 28–7. This was the first game Mike McCarthy took back play-calling duties after relinquishing it to Tom Clements.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 15: at Oakland Raiders
The Packers would travel to Oakland to take on the Raiders. The defense had a good day, intercepting Derek Carr twice, as the Packers won 30–20.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 16: at Arizona Cardinals
In this game, Aaron Rodgers suffered, what many call, the worst game of his career, as the Packers got destroyed 38–8 in Glendale to a good Arizona Cardinals team. The Packers would commit 4 turnovers in this game and Rodgers would be sacked a career-high 9 times.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 16: at Arizona Cardinals
With the mistake-filled loss, the Packers fell to 10–5, and now have to face Minnesota next week for the NFC North championship.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 17: vs. Minnesota Vikings
The Packers looked to complete a 2–0 season sweep against the Vikings in order to win the division, but their hopes died late in the fourth quarter as Aaron Rodgers attempted another hail mary play that ended up being tipped by the Vikings defense, allowing Minnesota to win the division title for the first time since 2009 and preventing Green Bay from winning the division title for the fifth straight season. This was also the first time in franchise history that the Packers would go 0–3 at home against their division.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Regular season, Week 17: vs. Minnesota Vikings
This loss dropped the Packers to 10–6, splitting the season series with Minnesota, 1–1.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Postseason, NFC Wild Card Playoffs: at (4) Washington Redskins
The Packers would play in Washington for the first playoff game. The first half was all Redskins, as they jumped out to an 11–0 lead during the early point of the second quarter. However, the Packers would come back, and would outscore Washington 35-7 the rest of the game.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Postseason, NFC Wild Card Playoffs: at (4) Washington Redskins
With the win, the Packers advanced to the Divisional Playoffs.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Postseason, NFC Divisional Playoffs: at (2) Arizona Cardinals
In a rematch of week 16's game, the Packers went back to Arizona for a rematch with the Cardinals. This game was a lot closer, as the Packers lost a shootout 26–20 in overtime. This game was wild, especially towards the closing. In the fourth quarter, trailing by 7 with less than 2 minutes left, facing a 4th and 20, the Packers converted with Rodgers completing a 61-yard pass to receiver Jeff Janis to set the Packers up.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Postseason, NFC Divisional Playoffs: at (2) Arizona Cardinals
Later, with 5 seconds left, Aaron Rodgers would throw another Hail Mary pass, this time to Janis, and to tie the game at 20. In overtime, the Cardinals would get the ball first. On the first play from scrimmage, Carson Palmer would complete a pass to Larry Fitzgerald, who was able to run through the Packers defense for a gain of 75 yards and be tackled at the Green Bay 4 yard line. Two plays later, the Cardinals would win it after Fitzgerald took it in on a flip from Palmer to end the game and send Arizona to the NFC Championship game.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Game summaries, Postseason, NFC Divisional Playoffs: at (2) Arizona Cardinals
With the loss, the Packers ended their season with an overall record of 11–7.


2015 Green Bay Packers season, Statistics, Regular season statistical leaders
Statistical values are correct through Week 17*leads the league in statistical category


2015 Green Party (Czech Republic) leadership election
The Green Party (SZ) leadership election of 2015 was held on 24 January 2015. Jana Drápalová became  the first female leader of the Party. She defeated Petr Štěpánek and Tomáš Schejbal.


2015 Green Party (Czech Republic) leadership election, Voting
Voting was held on 24 January 2015. Drápalová and Štěpánek were considered main Candidates. Štěpánek in his nomination Speech. He focused on his political experiences and opposition to Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Energy. Drápalová stated that Greens have to be more united. She also stated that it was a key goal for the Party to return to the Chamber of Deputies. Schejbal stated to he wants the Green Party to be more left wing noting Syriza and Podemos as an inspiration. He stated that Europe is on the Crossroad: "Socialism or Death."


2015 Green Party (Czech Republic) leadership election, Voting
Drápalová received 115 votes  of 198 and was elected. Her main rival Štěpánek had 69 votes while third Candidate Schejbal only 11


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, 2015 was held to determine the future leadership of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. The election was won on the first ballot by first term List MP James Shaw.


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, Background
In January 2015 Russel Norman announced his intention to stand down as co-leader of the Green Party. This triggered an election to fill the now vacant male co-leadership.


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, Candidates, James Shaw
James Shaw had been a List MP since 2014 and was ranked 12th on the Green Party list. He was the Greens' spokesperson for economic development, justice, trade and small business. He put himself forward as a candidate able to grow the Greens' party vote and strengthen its economic credentials in the minds of voters.


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, Candidates, Kevin Hague
Serving as a List MP since 2008, a former Chief Executive of the West Coast District Health Board and ranked 3rd on the party list, Kevin Hague had the most experience of the four nominees. At the time he was the Greens' spokesperson for ACC, health, housing, rainbow (LGBT) issues. He was seen by commentators as the "safe choice" as the most experienced candidate with the strongest record in Parliament.


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, Candidates, Gareth Hughes
A List MP since 2010, Gareth Hughes was ranked 5th on the party list. He was serving as the Green Party's Musterer (whip) as well as their spokesman for energy, mining, ICT, and science. Hughes (aged 33) was seen as a choice representing a generational shift and was seen as the strongest voice on environmental issues, a key area of concern for the party.


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, Candidates, Vernon Tava
Vernon Tava was a member of the Waitematā Local Board, Green Party Auckland co-convener and was an electorate candidate for Northcote in 2011. Tava was pitched as an outsider (having never been an MP) and pledged a return to the party’s roots and core values as neither left nor right wing and placing the environment back at the top of party priorities.


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, Result
The voting was conducted via an STV vote by 127 party delegates from electorates across the country. The following table gives the ballot results:


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, Post-election
Shaw became the Green Party's third male co-leader and joined Metiria Turei in leadership duties. Shaw set himself the goal of making the Greens "more like modern New Zealand" and an ambitious target to expand the party membership to over 20,000. At the time the party had around 6000 members and he wished to double the membership of the party in a year, then double it again the following year. By the time of the 2017 general election, Shaw was the sole Green Party leader; Turei resigned her co-leadership following public scrutiny of her announcement that she had committed benefit fraud in the early 1990s.


2015 Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand male co-leadership election, Post-election
Hague later admitted that losing was a "blow" and when he was approached by Forest & Bird, he decided to resign from the House of Representatives and take up the CEO role for that organisation instead. His resignation was announced in September 2016. Vernon Tava later quit the Green Party altogether believing the party had lost its way from environmentalism and was becoming "too socialist". He joined the 2017 campaign team of National's East Coast Bays candidate Erica Stanford.


2015 Greenlandic Football Championship
The 2015 Coca-Cola GM was the 45th edition of the Greenlandic Men's Football Championship. The final round was held in Qasigiannguit from August 3 to 8. It was won by B-67 Nuuk for the fourth consecutive time and for the eleventh time in its history.


2015 Greenlandic Football Championship, Qualifying Stage, Disko Bay
NB Some match results are unavailable. NB Kugsak-45 qualified for the Final Round as hosts.


2015 Greenlandic Football Championship, Qualifying Stage, East Greenland
NB A.T.A.-60 withdrew for financial reasons and were replaced by Siumut Amerdlok Kunuk (Central Greenland runners-up).


2015 Greensboro mayoral election
The 2015 Greensboro mayoral election was held on November 3, 2015 to elect the mayor of Greensboro, North Carolina. It saw the reelection of Nancy Vaughan.


2015 Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
The 2015 Grote Prijs Jef Scherens was the 49th edition of the Grote Prijs Jef Scherens cycle race and was held on 23 August 2015. The race started and finished in Leuven. The race was won by Björn Leukemans.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season
The 2015 season is Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense's 112th season in existence and the club's 10th consecutive season in the top division of Brazilian football. At this season, Grêmio participate in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the Copa do Brasil and the Campeonato Gaúcho.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Season overview, Pre-season
At the end of the 2014 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, without qualify for the 2015 Copa Libertadores de América, the new board of directors of the Grêmio, with the president Romildo Bolzan Jr., decided to reduce the monthly payroll of the club from €2.2 million to €1.5 million. For the season, with the reduction of the monthly payroll, the Grêmio decided to invest in its academy, using in their pre-season more than 10 players of youth squads.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Season overview, Pre-season
With it, the Grêmio did not exercise the option of purchase of two players who were with loans to a close, and Alan Ruiz and Dudu returned to their respective clubs. Also, the contract of Zé Roberto was not renewed, leaving him free to sign with another club, which ended up being Palmeiras. Pará also left the club on season-long loan, moving to Flamengo as payment of a debt that the Grêmio had with the Carioca club since 2000 because of a Rodrigo Mendes transfer.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Season overview, Pre-season
With the end of the 2014 season, the Grêmio received as a loan return almost 20 players, seeing that the vast majority began to train separately from the First team squad waiting for a new loans. The young goalkeeper Jakson Follmann was loaned to Linense to gain experience in a half-season deal. Rodrigo Sabiá, which is not part of the club's plans, was again loaned, this time to Paulista also in a half-season contract. The midfielder Guilherme Biteco goes definitively to 1899 Hoffenheim after having been selling to the club in October 2012, but followed at Grêmio on loan until then.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Season overview, Pre-season
On 17 December, the Grêmio announced its largest purchase for the season, the playmaker Douglas, acquiring in a free transfer from Corinthians, signing a contract until the end of the season. Also on the 17th was announced the departure of Mateus Magro to Aparecidense, who was with his contract with Grêmio ending. Two days later, announced the signing of polyvalent player Marcelo Oliveira, signed from 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champions Cruzeiro, also in the free transfer deal, signing a contract until December 2016.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Season overview, Pre-season
As well as Follmann, the club also loaned Bressan to Flamengo, however, in a season-long deal. The club also renewed the contract of Cristian Riveros, which would end in mid-2015, but did not reveal the new term. It was also announced that Saimon, Léo Gago and Marco Antônio will not have their contracts renewed, thus being free to sign with another club. Also did not have his contract renewed the goalkeeper Gustavo Busatto, who went to América-RN. Already Bergson, who had returned from loan, confirmed a new loan deal, this time to a K League club side, which yet has not been disclosed.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Season overview, Pre-season
On Christmas Eve, the club announced its latest deal in 2014, revealing the purchase of Pedro Geromel for an undisclosed amount from FC Köln until December 2017. Until then, he was on loan until the mid of 2016, which may leave the club if a purchase proposal was offered to the German club by another team. On the same day, the executive of football Rui Costa confirmed that the Grêmio has no more interest in Edinho and he did not participate in the 2015 season.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Season overview, Pre-season
On the first working day of 2015, were announced two loans until the end of the season. Tony confirmed his departure to Bahia and Douglas Grolli will pass another season playing at the Chapecoense. On 5 January, another season-long loan deal was announced, this time with the forward Fernandinho going to Serie A club Hellas Verona. On the same day, it was also announced the half-season loan of Maxi Rodríguez to Universidad de Chile, to compete in the Copa Libertadores de América. On day 6, it was announced that Bergson was loaned to Busan IPark.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Club, Kit
This is the first season that Umbro supplies kits for Grêmio, after three years of partnership with Topper. The agreement has a duration of four years, that is, until the end of the 2018 season. The presentation of the complete collection for this season took place in on 8 January, at 20:30 UTC−02:00, in Arena do Grêmio. With the slogan "Heart & Soul", the Umbro-based the collection in the Grêmio's tradition, keeping the pattern already known and identified with the club.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Squad information, First team squad
Players and informations last updated on 4 October 2015.Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Squad information, Starting XI
According to the most recent line-ups, not most used players (in Notes).


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Squad information, Starting XI
Last updated: 30 Octubre 2015.Source: Squad statistics and Start formations Only competitive matches. Using the most used start formation. Ordered by position on pitch (from back right to front left).


2015 Grêmio F.B.P.A. season, Statistics, Home attendances
Below listed are the top ten home attendances of Grêmio in matches at this season.


2015 Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup
The 37th Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup was held on 31 December 2014 and 4 January 2015. Guangdong won by an aggregate 1–0.


2015 Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao F.C. season
The 2015 Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao season is the 62nd year in Guangzhou Evergrande's existence and is its 48th season in the Chinese football league, also its 26th season in the top flight. The club's name was changed from Guangzhou Evergrande F.C. to Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao F.C. before the 2015 season due to e-commerce company Alibaba Group purchasing a 50% stake in the club from the Evergrande Real Estate Group. Fabio Cannavaro was appointed as the new manager of the club after Marcello Lippi announced his retirement at the end of 2014 season. On 4 June 2015, Brazilian football manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was appointed as the new manager of club, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal.


2015 Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao F.C. season, Players, On loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Guangzhou International Women's Open
The 2015 Guangzhou International Women's Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 12th edition of the Guangzhou International Women's Open, and part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2015 WTA Tour. It took place in Guangzhou, China, from September 22 through September 26, 2015.


2015 Guangzhou International Women's Open, Points and prize money, Prize money
1 Qualifiers prize money is also the Round of 32 prize money* per team


2015 Guangzhou International Women's Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Doubles
Chuang Chia-jung and Liang Chen were the defending champions, but Chuang chose not to participate. Liang played alongside Wang Yafan, but lost in the quarterfinals to Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi.


2015 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Doubles
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won the title, defeating Xu and You in the final, 6–3, 6–1.


2015 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Singles
Monica Niculescu was the defending champion, but she lost in the quarterfinals to Yanina Wickmayer.


2015 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Singles
Jelena Janković won the title, defeating Denisa Allertová in the final 6–2, 6–0.


2015 Guangzhou R&F F.C. season
The 2015 Guangzhou R&F season is the 5th year in Guangzhou R&F's existence and its 5th season in the Chinese football league, also its 4th season in the top flight.


2015 Guangzhou R&F F.C. season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Guangzhou R&F F.C. season, Squad, Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Guangzhou R&F F.C. season, Squad, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Guangzhou R&F F.C. season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Guangzhou R&F F.C. season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Guangzhou R&F F.C. season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Guangzhou R&F F.C. season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Guatemala landslide
On October 1, 2015, heavy rains triggered a major landslide in the village of El Cambray Dos within Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala—15 km (9.3 mi) east of Guatemala City, killing at least 280 people and leaving dozens unaccounted for across the village. The landslide leveled much of the village, leaving some areas under 15 m (49 ft) of earth and debris.


2015 Guatemala landslide, Background and event
El Cambray Dos is a mountain village, situated at the foot of steep hills. Municipal officials had previously urged residents multiple times, starting in 2008, to move to other areas because of landslide concerns. In November 2014, the Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres (Conred) urged residents to "immediately" relocate to avoid future disaster. The event was preceded by several days of heavy rain, associated with the nation's annual rainy season, that caused moderate flooding, other landslides, and two deaths across the nation.


2015 Guatemala landslide, Background and event
The rains saturated the steep mountains surrounding and following exacerbation from the nearby Pinula River, the mountainside gave out around 9:30 p.m. local time (UTC−06:00) on October 1. The landslide caught most residents off-guard, leaving them trapped within mud and debris. Some areas were buried under 15 m (49 ft) of earth and debris. Approximately 125 homes were damaged or destroyed; based on this, authorities estimated that 450 people were unaccounted for by the evening of October 2. This was later reduced to 350 the following day with hopes of finding more survivors diminishing. At least 131 people were confirmed dead. In addition to the fatalities, 36 people were injured.


2015 Guatemala landslide, Background and event
The landslide is one of the deadliest in recent years in Guatemala. Approximately 600 people, residents and rescuers, searched through mud and debris for survivors. By October 3, 1,800 people were conducting search and rescue. Heavy machinery was brought in to clear debris. Local authorities established shelters for those rendered homeless. Residents across Guatemala donated items, such as clothes and food, to relief agencies. At least 50 tons of aid had been collected according to El Nuevo Herald. Cuba and the United States offered to provide assistance.


2015 Guatemalan general election
General elections were held in Guatemala on 6 September 2015 to elect the President and Vice President, all 158 Congress deputies, all 20 deputies to the Central American Parliament, and mayors and councils for all 338 municipalities in the country.


2015 Guatemalan general election
The Renewed Democratic Liberty became the largest party in Congress with 44 seats. Since no presidential candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off took place on 25 October. Jimmy Morales won the contest, taking 67.4% of the vote, in a landslide victory over Sandra Torres.


2015 Guatemalan general election
It was the first presidential election since 1995 in which the runner-up of the previous contest did not then go on to win.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Background
Ahead of the election, the La Linea corruption case involving high-ranking officials of the outgoing administration, including President Otto Pérez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti, was made public by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala. Baldetti resigned in May and was arrested on fraud charges in August. More than a dozen ministers and deputy ministers as well as a number of government officials also resigned. Less than a week before the election, President Pérez was stripped of his immunity, resigned and was arrested.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Background
Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre acts as head of state until a new president is elected and sworn into office. The scandal has further diminished many Guatemalans' trust in the political elite. Some of the participants of mass protests against corruption demanded a postponement of the election due to the crisis and claims of irregularities.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Background, Possible Belize referendum
In May 2015, Belize allowed Guatemala to proceed with a referendum asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to definitively rule on Guatemala's longstanding territorial dispute against Belize, although Belize by its own admission was not ready for such a vote. A previous treaty between the two countries stipulated that any such vote must be held simultaneously. Guatemala was initially expected to hold its referendum on the issue during its second round of presidential elections in October 2015. Belize has yet to announce its vote on the matter.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Background, Possible Belize referendum
When Jimmy Morales was running for president, a Guatemalan journalist asked Morales which Guatemalan historical event he thought was the most deplorable. Morales responded, "The most deplorable event – among all the things that have happened in Guatemala, there are certain things that are not spoken about and which I believe we should. Everything that goes contrary to national unity and territorial integrity are things that should hurt us. Something is happening right now, we are about to lose Belize. We have not lost it yet. We still have the possibility of going to the International Court of Justice where we can fight that territory or part of that territory. ... I think that it is worth anything that is natural resources and of benefit to the nation."


2015 Guatemalan general election, Electoral system
The President of Guatemala is elected using the two-round system. The 158 members of Congress are elected by two methods; 31 members are elected by closed list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, with seats allocated using the d'Hondt method. The other 127 seats are elected in 23 multi-member constituencies based on the departments (with the Central District or Guatemala City as a separate constituency) also using the d'Hondt method.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Electoral system
Around 7.5 million people registered for the elections. Members of the armed forces (Air Force, Army, and Navy), people in prison, and Guatemalans living abroad were not allowed to vote. The Tribunal Supremo Electoral (Supreme Electoral Tribunal) officially called for general elections on 2 May 2015.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Campaign
A total of 14 candidates were registered to contest the presidential elections:


2015 Guatemalan general election, Campaign
In the buildup to the elections the Patriotic Party (PP) and Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER) were suspended due to repeated offences. However, all parties were reinstated before elections were called.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Opinion polls
A poll released on 3 September gave Morales 25% of the vote, compared to 22.9% for Manuel Baldizon and 18.4% for Sandra Torres.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Results, President
The front runners: Morales, Baldizón and Torres, were expected to competitively compete for the position of President. In the first round, Morales gained 24% of the vote, followed by a closely fought battle between Torres and Baldizón, with less than 20,000 votes separating the two. Since no candidate received a 50% majority, the top two candidates participated in the run-off in October. Morales won the run-off contest with 67.4% of the vote to Torres' 32.6%. Morales, a comedic actor, won with the slogan "not corrupt, nor a thief".


2015 Guatemalan general election, Results, Congress
In Congress, Baldizón's LIDER gained 31 seats on their previous election making them the largest party with 45 seats. Torres' UNE retained second position with 32 seats, despite losing 16. Competing in their first election, Todos captured 18 seats. PP suffered the greatest loss, losing 38 seats overall, down to 18. Morales' FCN gained 11 seats.


2015 Guatemalan general election, Reactions
Following his victory, Morales vowed "I will try with all my heart and strength not to disappoint you." The US-based National Public Radio described this a rightward shift among voters in both the Americas and Europe.


2015 Guatemalan protests
The 2015 Guatemala protests were a series of demonstrations against the government of Otto Pérez Molina in which he was involved in a scandal and political corruption that led to his resignation in the same year. These mass protests, nonviolent protests, bloodless disturbances, political crisis and peaceful uprising in war-scarred Guatemala led by hundreds of thousands.


2015 Guatemalan protests, Protests
The protesters called for the resignation of the president as he is considered to be involved in corruption in the government. Despite the fact that the people asked him to, the president has said that he will not resign and will continue with his mandate until his turn ends; At the end of June 2015, the preliminary ruling against him was approved, which awaited the next ordinary meeting of the Congress of the Republic to continue the process.


2015 Guatemalan protests, Protests
The protesters suspected that Manuel Baldizón:would be involved in money laundering and drug trafficking since it is believed that he spends more money than he has, and since he is investing an exaggerated amount of money in advertising, mostly illegal. It is suspected that if he is elected president in the general elections of September 6, his management could reach enormous levels of corruption. Mass protest movements by millions of Guatemalan miners, Doctors, Workers, Students and Teachers continued throughout 2015-2016, even after the resignation of the government. Mass protests in August forced the uprising to oust the government and president Otto Perez Molina. City-wide and nationwide Occupations and Strikes continued throughout the year.


2015 Guia Race of Macau
The 2015 Guia Race of Macau was the eleventh and final round of the 2015 TCR International Series season as well as the fourth and final round of the 2015 TCR Asia Series season. It took place on 22 November at the Guia Circuit.


2015 Guia Race of Macau
Robert Huff won the first race, starting from pole position, driving a Honda Civic TCR, and Stefano Comini gained the second one, driving a SEAT León Cup Racer.


2015 Guia Race of Macau
The Swiss driver won the title, finishing also third in race 1.


2015 Guia Race of Macau, Success Ballast
Due to the results obtained in the previous round, Pepe Oriola and Munkong Sathienthirakul received +30 kg, Stefano Comini and Tin Sritrai +20 kg and Jordi Gené and Kevin Pu +10 kg. Nevertheless, Sathienthirakul, Sritrai and Pu did not take part at this event, so they didn't take the ballast, whereas Frank Yu took the +20 kg from the Singapore round.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election
The 2015 Guildford Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Guildford Borough Council in England as one of the 2015 local elections, held simultaneously with the General Election.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Results
The result saw the Conservatives win 35 of the 48 seats on Guildford Borough Council, one more than the 34 seat which they won in the previous elections in 2011.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Results
Towards the north and east of the Borough of Guildford, a new party the Guildford Greenbelt Group won three seats, two in Send ward and one in Clandon & Horsley ward. All three of these gains were from the Conservatives. Also in the north and east of the Borough of Guildford, the Liberal Democrats retained their 2014 by-election gain, which they had made from the Conservatives, in Lovelace ward.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Results
Moving from the east and north east of the borough to the town of Guildford itself, the Conservatives made five gains. They gained one of the three Liberal Democrat seats on Friary & St Nicolas ward, plus one of the three Liberal Democrat seats on Stoughton ward, plus the Liberal Democrat seat on Stoke ward. They also gained two of the three seats on Westborough ward, taking one from the Liberal Democrats and one from Labour.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Results
The summary table below shows changes relative to the 2011 Guildford Borough Council election results. It does not take account of the interim by-election change in Lovelace ward.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Voting trends
This article compares the votes obtained in the 2015 election with those obtained in 2011. The percentages obtained per candidate can be found in the full list of ward by ward results further down this page. The source and methodology for calculating percentages are discussed in the reference notes at the foot of the page.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Voting trends
The 2015 Guildford Borough Council election coincided with the United Kingdom general election. This resulted in a significantly increased turnout.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Voting trends
The wards to the west of Guildford town saw the Conservatives win every single seat, by a comfortable margin. In five of the six rural wards to the west of Guildford where there was both a Liberal Democrat candidate and a Guildford Greenbelt Group candidate, it was the Greenbelt candidate, rather than the Liberal Democrat, who was the runner up to the Conservatives.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Voting trends
The voting behaviour in the town of Guildford itself was different from the rural areas. In a clear majority of the rural wards the top two parties were the Conservatives and the Guildford Greenbelt Group. By contrast in the town of Guildford itself, the Greenbelt Group were not in the top two in any of the wards.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Voting trends
The west side of the town had a number of wards where the total number of votes cast for Conservative candidates in that ward and cast for Liberal Democrats in that ward were nearly equal. The closest was in Stoughton which had a total combined vote for Conservative candidates of 4421, versus 4424 for the Liberal Democrats. In Friary & St Nicolas ward, the total combined vote for the three Conservative candidates was 4265. The total combined vote for the three Liberal Democrat candidates was 4254.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Voting trends
In the east side of the town, other than Stoke ward, the Conservative won comfortably in all the wards, with the Liberal Democrats a distant second.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Voting trends
The Labour percentage vote in the town of Guildford itself, if one considers the wards as a whole, was up. However the Labour vote was down in percentage terms in those wards which had a Labour councillor going into the election.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Voting trends
The most dramatic voting change occurred in the eastern rural wards. Traditionally these have contained the Conservative's safest seats. In 2011, the Conservatives won all six of the council seats in Clandon & Horlsey ward, Lovelace ward and Send ward towards the east and north east of the Borough. In 2015, the Conservative only retained two of those six seats; losing three seats to the Guildford Greenbelt Group and seeing the Liberal Democrats retain their 2014 by election gain in Lovelace ward. The long-term future of the Wisley Airfield site, in Lovelace ward, was one of the issues particular to this part of Guildford Borough.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Ash, Ash South & Tongham
Ash is to the west of Guildford Borough Council and borders Aldershot further to its west. Ash South and Tongham ward is the southerly one of the three Ash wards. It elects three councillors.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Ash, Ash South & Tongham
The 2011 elections had seen three Conservative candidates face only 2 Labour candidates and no one else. As a results the three Conservatives had been returned very easily with each candidate getting around 80% of the vote. The 2015 elections were more competitive. Three Conservatives, two Liberal Democrats, one Labour and one Guildford Greenbelt candidate stood for this ward. The three Conservatives won between 63% and 69% of the vote. Two new councillors for the area, Nigel Kearse and Paul Spooner, were amongst those elected. The two Liberal Democrat, one Labour and one Guildford Green Belt candidates each obtained votes in the 20% to 30% region.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Ash, Ash Vale
Ash Vale is the northerly of the three Ash wards. It elects two councillors.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Ash, Ash Vale
The Liberal Democrats had not put up candidates in either the Ash South & Tongham ward or the Ash Vale ward in the 2011 elections. In 2015 two Liberal Democrats and two Conservatives competed in this ward. The Conservatives won.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Ash, Ash Vale
There was a noticeable difference between the vote of the top Conservative candidate (71%) and that of the second candidate (60%). By contrast the two Liberal Democrat candidates, in Ash Vale ward, were only 2 vote apart from one another.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Ash, Ash Wharf
Ash Wharf is the central of the three Ash wards. It elects two candidates.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Ash, Ash Wharf
In both the 2011 elections and the 2015 elections, four years later, the top Conservative candidate, in Ash Wharf, obtained 63.3% of the vote.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Normandy
Normandy elects one councillor. It is the ward between Guildford (the town) and Ash.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Normandy
The Conservatives held Normandy ward, in 2015, with a majority of 644 over the second placed Guildford Greenbelt candidate. The Liberal Democrats fell back to fourth, behind the Labour candidate. The Liberal Democrats only obtaining around 7% of the vote in a seat they (and their SDP-Liberal Alliance predecessors) had held between 1987 and 1999. New councillor for the area David Bilbe was elected.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Pilgrims
Pilgrims ward covers a number of small villages along the North Downs. It elects one councillor.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Pilgrims
Conservative Tony Rooth was re-elected with 61.9% of the vote, with the Guildford Greenbelt candidate, on 14.6%, in second place.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Pirbright
The previous three contests in Pirbright have been straight Conservative versus Liberal Democrat fights. This time in addition to Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates, there was a Guildford Greenbelt candidate.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Pirbright
The Conservative share of the vote has remained within a fairly consistent range, in Pirbright, over the last decade. It was roughly 66% in 2007, 64% in a by election in 2010 and 71% in 2011. In 2015, it was 66%. Existing councillor, Gordon Jackson, was re-elected.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Shalford
Shalford borders Guildford town to its south west. It elects two councillors. The ward includes Artington and Compton as well as Shalford.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Shalford
Shalford was one of a number of wards in Guildford where the Conservatives retained the seat in 2015, but with new candidates. Michael Illman and Michael Parsons were elected with a majority that fell slightly from the Conservatives 2011 majority of 746,  to 669. The runner up was the Guildford Greenbelt Group.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Worplesdon
Worplesdon ward borders the town to the north and north west of Guildford. It elects three councillors. It includes a substantial amount of town overspill in addition to villages like Worplesdon and Wood Street village.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, West Rural Guildford, Worplesdon
The Conservatives retained their three seats in Worplesdon ward. Their majority increased slightly from 399, in 2011, to 426 in 2015. Existing councillors for the area David Elms, Bob McShee and Iseult Roche were re-elected. The Guildford Greenbelt Group were the runners up. The Liberal Democrat vote fell to around 15% (in 2011 it had been in the 32-35% range).


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Friary & St Nicolas
Friary & St Nicolas ward elects three councillors. The Friary bit of this ward covers most of the town centre, stretching slightly to its north. The St Nicolas bit of the ward is on the other side (the west side) of the River Wey and covers the south west part of the town.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Friary & St Nicolas
Prior to the 2015 elections all the councillors, since 1983, for Friary & St Nicolas had been Liberal Democrats (or their predecessors). However the Liberal Democrat majorities had been consistently falling through a number of elections. In 2003 the Liberal Democrat majority had been 1014, in 2007 it was 553, and in 2011 it fell to 241. In 2015, the Conservatives took one of the three Liberal Democrats seats on Friary & St Nicolas ward.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Onslow
Onslow include Onslow Village, Guildford Park and the University of Surrey. The ward elects three councillors.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Onslow
In the previous eight full council elections in Onslow, half the time three Liberal Democrats had been elected and the other half of the time two Liberal Democrats and one Conservative had been elected. In 2015, the result in Onslow was, once again, two Liberal Democrats and one Conservative.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Onslow
The top Labour, Green and Guildford Greenbelt candidates all obtained between 21% and 23% of the vote


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Onslow
The gap between the top Conservative candidate in Onslow and the bottom one was around 14% of the total vote. The gap between the top Greenbelt candidate and the bottom one was between 9 and 10% of the total vote. The gap between the top Labour candidate and the bottom one was between 8 and 9% of the total vote; which tends to indicate that there was a lot of voting splitting between the parties, or plumping for just one candidate.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Stoughton
Stoughton is to the north west of Guildford. It elects three councillors.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Stoughton
Stoughton was one of three wards to the west of Guildford in which a Conservative topped the poll, followed by two Liberal Democrats. The other two wards were Friary & St Nicolas and Onslow wards.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Stoughton
The Liberal Democrat in third place beat the Conservative in fourth by six votes. Third gets elected, fourth doesn't.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Westborough
Westborough ward includes Westborough and Park Barn. Park Barn was largely built as a council estate. Westborough ward elects three councillors.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Westborough
Throughout most of its history, as a council ward, Labour have held all three of the Westborough council seats.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Westborough
Westborough became a ward on Guildford Municipal Borough Council in 1933, as the boundaries of the town were extended to the west around that time, necessitating a new ward in that area. Between 1933 and 2014, the Conservatives won only once in Westborough ward, in 1968, a year where Labour did very poorly in local elections throughout England and the Conservative gained a lot of their seats as a result.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - West Side, Westborough
In 2015 the Conservatives gained two of the three seats on Westborough ward, one at the expense of Labour and one at the expense of the Liberal Democrats. Existing Liberal Democrat councillor Julia McShane was the other person elected.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Burpham
Burpham is towards the north west of the town of Guildford. It elects two councillors.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Burpham
In the previous three local elections in Burpham (2003, 2007 and 2011), the ward had been a Conservative - Liberal Democrat marginal, where the largest majority had been 137. In 2015, Conservatives Christian Holliday and Mike Piper increased their majority over the top Liberal Democrat candidate, in third place, to 689 votes.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Christchurch
Christchurch ward covers the area east of Guildford from Cross Lanes in the west to Boxgrove Park and Abbotswood in the east. The ward elects two councillors.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Christchurch
Conservatives Matt Furniss and Nikki Nelson-Smith were re-elected with respectively 67.7% and 56.8% of the vote. The top Liberal Democrat, in third place, won 18.2% of the vote.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Holy Trinity
Holy Trinity ward include most of the south part of the town on the east side of the River Wey.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Holy Trinity
Three new Conservatives candidates were elected to represent Holy Trinity ward in 2015. Their majority over the Liberal Democrat in fourth increasing from the 145 majority the Conservatives obtained in 2011, to 438 in 2015.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Merrow
Other than a period in the 1990s when the Liberal Democrats captured Merrow & Burpham, this has been a safe Conservative ward since the mid 1950s. The Conservative majority over the top placed Liberal Democrat grew from 855 in 2011, to 1348 in 2015.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Stoke
Stoke ward largely consists of Bellfields and Slyfield Green. Much of Bellfields was originally built as a council estate.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, Guildford Town - East Side, Stoke
Historically Stoke ward, along with Westborough ward, have been the wards in Guildford most likely to vote Labour. In 2011 Stoke ward had a close result which saw one Labour and one Liberal Democrat elected, with the top Conservative 35 votes off second place. In 2015, longstanding Labour councillor Angela Gunning was re-elected. Also elected was Conservative William Chesterfield; who became the first Conservative to be elected for Stoke ward since 1969.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, East Rural Guildford, Clandon & Horsley
Clandon & Horsley elects three councillors. It is traditionally the Conservatives safest ward on Guildford Borough Council. 2015 saw two Conservatives and one Greenbelt candidate elected in Clandon & Horsley ward. There was a 40% swing from the Conservatives to the Greenbelt candidates in Clandon & Horsley ward.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, East Rural Guildford, Effingham
Effingham is the most easterly of the wards in Guildford Borough. It elects one councillor.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, East Rural Guildford, Effingham
Liberal Democrat Liz Hogger saw her vote increase form 54.7% in 2011 to 60.5% in 2015. In both 2011 and 2015, Liz Hogger got the highest percentage vote of any Liberal Democrat candidate for Guildford Borough Council.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, East Rural Guildford, Lovelace
Lovelace consists of the villages of Ripley, Ockham and Wisley. It elects one councillor.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, East Rural Guildford, Lovelace
2014, Liberal Democrat, by election winner Colin Cross retained the seat with a 432 majority over the Guildford Greenbelt candidate in second. The Conservatives were pushed into third. Lovelace was the only ward in Guildford where the Conservatives did not finish in the top two political parties in 2015.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, East Rural Guildford, Send
Send elects two councillors. Two Guildford Greenbelt candidates topped the poll with a 242 majority over the Conservative in third place. As in Clandon & Horsley ward, there was a 40% swing from the Conservatives to the Greenbelt candidates in Send.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, East Rural Guildford, Send
There are twenty two wards on Guildford Borough Council. 36.2 % of the votes which the Greenbelt Group got throughout Guildford Borough in 2015 came from just one ward - Clandon & Horsley. A further 13.2% of the Greenbelt's Guildford vote, in 2015, came from Send ward.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, East Rural Guildford, Tillingbourne
Tillingbourne includes Shere, Albury and St Martha's. Conservatives Richard Billington and David Wright were re-elected with a 799 majority over the Greenbelt candidate in third place.


2015 Guildford Borough Council election, By-Elections
A by-election was held on 5 May 2016 in Stoke ward following the resignation of William Chesterfield.


2015 Guinean presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Guinea on 11 October 2015. The result was a first-round victory for incumbent President Alpha Condé, who received 58% of the vote.


2015 Guinean presidential election, Background
In December 2013, the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa that began in Guinea spread to neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia, as well as with health workers and visitors who returned to their respective countries. At the time of the elections the worst of the epidemic was over, although there were still a lesser number of prevalent cases.


2015 Guinean presidential election, Background
The seven opposition parties called for a postponement, citing alleged irregularities in the electoral roll, but their pleas were rejected by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI). Cellou Dalein Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) also petitioned the Supreme Court of Guinea to have the election postponed, but it was rejected.


2015 Guinean presidential election, Electoral system
The elections were held using the two-round system, with a second round taking place if no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round. Presidents are limited to two terms in office, allowing incumbent president Alpha Condé to run for a second term.


2015 Guinean presidential election, Campaign
A total of eight candidates contested the elections; including incumbent Condé, Diallo, who was named as the candidate of the UFDG on 25 July 2015, Sidya Touré of the Union of Republican Forces, Papa Koly Kourouma of the Generations for Reconciliation, Union, and Prosperity party, Georges Gandhi Faraguet of the Guinean Union for Democracy and Development, Faya Millimouno of the Liberal Bloc, Marie Madeleine Dioubaté of the Guinea Ecologists Party and Lansana Kouyaté of the National Party for Hope and Development.


2015 Guinean presidential election, Campaign
During the campaign Condé told voters that he aimed to promote development and consolidate stability. Diallo promised to give priority to youth employment, as well as "access to health care, decent housing, water, electricity, safety, and justice". His campaign slogan promised to deliver a "KO blow" to his opponents. He cited his record on overhauling the army and judiciary, the completion of a hydroelectric dam and reforms in making the mineral-rich country's mining contracts more transparent. He said in an interview: "Ask the people of Guinea if what we have done in five years, the others did in 50. Ask that on the streets." His campaign was said to benefit from improving supply of electricity in Conakry and the relative stability the country endured despite the Ebola epidemic.