By Andrew Warshaw
March 30 – Russia are demanding UEFA automatically award them victory by default following the sickening sight of goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev being struck on the back of the head by a flare during disgraceful scenes at their Euro 2016 qualifier with Montenegro which was later abandoned.
By Ricardo Setyon
March 29 – The legend of the Maracanã stadium, with its close to 200,000 people cheering on a Sunday match, is a legend that is disappearing in the mists of time. Gone are the days when Fluminense, Vasco da Gama, Flamengo and Botafogo, would show why Brazilian football and its iconic players enchanted the Brazilian fans and the world.
This could be the beginning of a new era for football in China, this could also be a new chapter in the history of football the sport. On March 16, the first Monday after the National Congress, the central government issued this document: The Overall Reform Plan For Football In China. It would be hard for us to find out a similar precedent that the national council would issue a formal policy, which covers up to 50 different issues in the football industry,
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 29 – Partizan Belgrade has signed a sponsorship deal with the country’s leading operator Telekom Srbija. Under the contract, which will see the Serbian company serve as the club’s main sponsor until the end of 2016, Partizan will receive a total of RSD 140.7 million (€1.2 million).
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 29 – Bulgaria’s Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) has refused to allow release of the prospectus for a second attempt in year at an initial public offering (IPO) by CSKA Sofia. Meanwhile, after a desperate plea by management for cash to save the club, fans have been donating money to ensure the club can get its license to play.
By David Owen
March 29 – A 20% jump in income from its Asia and North Africa region enabled FIFA to generate marginally more TV revenue from the 2014 World Cup than the previous edition in South Africa. This was in spite of a near 10% decline in revenue from the key European region.
The Premier League cannot get it wrong? Or can it? You would have thought that with no English clubs in either of the European competitions the Premier League will be just a little bit concerned. But not Richard-Scudamore, soon to move from long standing chief executive to executive chairman.
March 27 – Moldovan top division club Dinamo-Auto have indefinitely suspended two players over allegations of match-fixing.
By Mark Baber
March 27 – Turkish Airlines has announced to the Istanbul Stock Exchange that it intends to add the UEFA Champions League to its list of football sponsorships. The value of the three-year deal has not been revealed, but current Champions League sponsor packages are currently between €55-65 million per season.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 27 – FIFA are to send their Director of Security Ralf Mutschke to Sierra Leone to help tackle a match-fixing crisis that has caused deep division between sports administrators and government officials.
By Samindra Kunti
March 27 – Tax authorities in Belgium are stepping up their investigations into domestic football following unannounced inspections at the Belgian FA and the Pro League.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 27 – He is guarded about how many votes he will pick up and where they will come from. And he won’t guarantee he will stay the course. Yet there is a certain gravitas, authority, self-belief and dry humour about Michael van Praag that gives the impression the Dutch FA president might, just might, just have a fighting chance of upsetting Sepp Blatter at the FIFA presidential election on May 29.
March 27 – CSKA Sofia, champions of Bulgaria 31 times, have issued a desperate plea to their supporters to cough up emergency funding to avoid being expelled from the country’s top division over mounting debts.
March 27 – With Russia having completed its final planning for 2018 World Cup stadium build and construction underway, the current focus is now switching towards budgets and planning for infrastructure around the championships.
Watching developments in English football can be a trying business, whether we are talking on or off the pitch. So it is characteristic that a week which brought a big step forward in manoeuvring a respected English voice on to the sport’s top table should also have featured a proposal from the boss of the Football Association that would, in my opinion, represent a significant backwards step both for the Premier League and the England team he is trying to strengthen.