By Samindra Kunti in Cologne
March 29 – It’s rare for Germany to be schooled on home soil, but on Tuesday night a barnstorming Belgium did just that with an impressive 3-2 friendly win, a result that handed Germany a reality check on the road to Euro 2024.
March 29 – Bulgarian top tier club Botev Plovdiv has launched a search for a naming rights sponsor for its new ‘Hristo Botev’ stadium in the second largest city in Bulgaria. The 19,000-capacity stadium will be officially opened within the next month.
March 28 – Clubs worldwide have secured a whopping 70% increase in their share of World Cup revenues for the 2026 and 2030 tournaments. FIFA has increased its payments to clubs for the release of players to $355 million. For the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the figure was a combined $209 million.
March 28 – Chelsea reported losses of £121 million in 2021-22, with the club citing the sanctions imposed on former owner Roman Abramovich as a major factor.
March 28 – Algeria have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations following a 1-0 win against Niger through a sixth-minute strike by Baghdad Bounedjah. On 12 points, they enjoy an unassailable lead in Group F with two matches to go.
March 28 – UEFA has announced that it will award the hosting rights to the Women’s Euro 2025 finals on April 5.
March 28 – American player agency CRD Sport has opened negotiations for the acquisition of Bulgaria’s top tier club Pirin Blagoevgrad.
March 28 – Can Brazil’s dominance of the Copa Libertadores be broken? At the draw this week, reigning champions Flamengo were given what looks to be an easy path to the knock-out rounds. Brazil’s other six clubs in the competition will be keen on leaving their mark as well.
March 28 – Mexico and the USA are both through to the Concacaf Nations League finals to be played in Las Vegas in June, but both nations left it to the last match of the group games to qualify.
March 28 – The European Club Association (ECA) and FIFA have extended and expanded a Memorandum of Understanding that will now run until the end of 2030.
March 28 – In Chile yesterday Inter Milan announced the opening of an Inter Academy, today the club’s international focus has shifted to North America with news that an Inter delegation is on its way the US to promote the club.
By Samindra Kunti
March 27 – FIFA have postponed the U-20 World Cup draw amid a protest against Israel’s participation in the tournament.
March 27 – They may be still banned from FIFA and UEFA tournaments because of the invasion of Ukraine but Russia has nevertheless managed to manoeuvre its way back into international football.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 27 – Tottenham Hotspur are looking for their fourth permanent manager in as many years after the widely anticipated dismissal on Sunday of high-profile Italian coach Antonio Conte.
March 27 – England captain Harry Kane’s struck a record-extending 55th goal for his country on Sunday as England beat Ukraine 2-0 at Wembley in their latest Euro qualifier.