By Paul Nicholson
March 8 – Such is that desperation to take control of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) by the UAE – so often the proxy for Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical ambition – the country has thrown in a $320 million incentive to federations to vote for Major General Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithi in his bid win the AFC presidency.
March 8 – Following claim after claim of financial wrongdoing by Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City based on information provided by the Football Leaks whistleblowing website, UEFA has finally decided to take action and have opened an investigation into alleged financial fair play violations.
By David Owen
March 8 – Everton has turned to China as it seeks to push on with the Farhad Moshiri revolution and mount a sustained challenge to the Premier League’s Big Six, including local rivals Liverpool.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 8 – Chelsea’s row with FIFA over being slapped with a two-window transfer ban after being found guilty of illegally signing no fewer than 29 under-age foreign players has taken a dramatic twist with the club’s request to have the ban frozen whilst they appeal unexpectedly turned down.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 8 – With just a week to go before the eagerly awaited latest meeting of its ruling Council in Miami, FIFA has banned one of the decision-making body’s elected members from all football duty for three months, making a mockery of the idea that corruption has been weeded out of the organisation.
March 8 – Faced with a barrage of adverse reaction to highly controversial video assistant referee decisions that proved pivotal in this week’s Champions League last-16 ties, UEFA have been quick to provide a detailed explanation of why the various calls were made – along with images to support their case.
March 8 – Australia’s women’s team won the inaugural Nations Cup on home soil with a 3-0 win against Argentina. The win was welcome news for the Matildas in the lead up to the World Cup after the recent sacking of coach Alen Stajcic.
March 8 – Lionel Messi has returned to the Argentina squad for the first time since the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He will join Lionel Scaloni’s team later this month against Venezuela and Morocco.
March 8 – A 44-year-old Manchester United fan is being treated in hospital after being stabbed in Paris following the club’s dramatic Champions League win over Paris St-Germain on Wednesday night.
March 8 – Lucozade Sport has signed its first sponsorship in women’s football as the official sports drinks and hydration partner of the England Women’s team ahead of the France 2019 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 7 -With little more than a week to go until the all-important Miami summit of FIFA’s decision-making Council, Gianni infantino is reportedly working to try and rescue the idea of expanding the 2022 Qatar World Cup to 48 teams.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 7 – UEFA members are meeting in Istanbul today for an unpublicised strategic meeting that is expected to discuss competition format beyond 2024 and the eagerly anticipated FIFA Council meeting in Miami next week.
By David Owen
March 7 – Wolverhampton Wanderers, the famous old Midlands club, now Chinese owned, which is enjoying a successful return to the English top flight, ran up an eye-watering £55 million loss in its promotion season.
March 7 – FIFA ended its last four-year cycle with revenue of $6.4 billion. The world governing body has leaked details of its finances to selected media that reportedly show cash reserves having now been boosted to $2.74 billion after concerns that reserves were dwindling.
By David Owen
March 7 – Leicester City’s financial fairy tale came to an abrupt end in the year to end-May 2018 after their on-pitch exploits of recent seasons. Bereft of European football, the Foxes, as was foreseeable, suffered a severe reverse in both turnover and profitability, while managing to remain narrowly in the black at the pre-tax level.