March 13 – Theo Zwanziger’s imminent departure from the high echelons of FIFA is getting messier still. The former head of German football, who is stepping down from FIFA’s executive committee in May, has been using every opportunity to denounce the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar as well as having a go at Wolfgang Niersbach, his successor at the German FA and soon at FIFA too.
He couldn’t resist. He just couldn’t resist. Just when it seemed Jose Mourinho had answered his critics by showing he could lose with good grace – we weren’t good enough, the better team won, congratulations to them etc etc – so, as the television analysts pointed out, he went and spoiled it all.
March 13 – Allstate Insurance Company has signed on as the Official Auto, Life, Home and Retirement Insurance Sponsor 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Already committed to soccer sponsorship in the US, this is the first time Allstate has stepped up to a regional partnership.
March 13 – The Belgian Pro League, the country’s second tier, has approved a structural reform of its domestic club football. In the future there must be a strict division between professional and amateur football, according to the Pro League, with the number of professional teams being cut.
March 13 – The final and third-placed play-off for this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup will be played in Philadelphia. The tournament kicks off July 7 in Dallas and travels through 12 North American cities before reaching Philadelphia for the finals weekend on July 25-26.
March 12 – Five men are to appear in court in connection with the racist abuse by Chelsea fans prior to the Champions League first-leg last-16 game against Paris St Germain last month.
March 12 – No sooner has qualifying for the 2018 World Cup begun in various parts of the world than Zimbabwe have been thrown out for failing to pay former coach Jose Claudinei Georgini.
By Mark Baber
March 12 – FC Barcelona is making a push in the Chinese market via a new strategic partnership with IMG. The club will be represented in China in the areas of marketing and branding strategy, sponsorships, friendly matches and travel.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 12 – The exact dates for the first ever winter World Cup in November and December 2022 leads a packed agenda for next week’s FIFA executive committee meeting.
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 12 – Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad is to receive another BGN 2 million (€1 million) from government to modernization the Ludogorets Arena stadium in Razgrad.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 12 – Swiss club FC Sion has inked a sponsorship deal with local drinks maker and distributor Alloboissons. The company will serve as the main sponsor of the side for three-and-a-half years.
By Samindra Kunti
March 12 – The Belgian Jupiler Pro League may team up with MP & Silva and Screen Capital International to create its own private TV channel.
March 12 – Greek football has been plunged into yet more disgrace after a cup quarterfinal between league leaders Olympiakos and second division AEK was abandoned after a last-minute Olympiakos goal sparked crowd violence.
March 12 – The police commander in charge during the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster at which 96 Liverpool fans died says he will regret lying about the tragedy until his dying day.
Chelsea’s dramatic Champions League elimination at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night makes it likely that next week will bring down the curtain on the participation of Premier League clubs in this season’s flagship European club competition, before even the quarter-final stage. Survival in the other big continent-wide tournament, the Europa League, may last only a further 24 hours if Everton cannot get the better of Ukraine’s Dynamo Kiev over two legs.