Old meets new in shiny renovated stadium. Botev Plovdiv embrace next frontier
March 20 – Bulgaria’s oldest football club Botev Plovdiv has signed a partnership agreement with one of the newest digital platforms targeting football, Fanzee.
News
Misfiring Flamengo overcome Vasco de Gama to reach Carioca final
March 20 – Flamengo have reached the final of the Carioca championship, defeating cross-town rivals Vasco da Gama to ease some of the pressure on Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira.
FA Cup heats up as Fulham lose the plot and Manchester teams edge towards Wembley clash
March 20 – The prospects of a mouth-watering first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final have moved step closer after both clubs reached the semi-finals at the weekend in vastly different fashion.
Ghana lays Christian Atsu to rest with service at State House
March 20 – Ghana’s president was among hundreds of mourners who paid their last respects at the funeral on Friday of former international Christian Atsu, who died last month in the devastating earthquake that rocked Turkey.
48-team World Cup will increase competitiveness, not dilute it, argues Infantino
March 20 – Gianni Infantino has defended the biggest expansion in World Cup history, saying 48 teams in 2026 will not dilute the quality of the tournament.
MLS dances to TikTok tune as US threatens to ban the Chinese-owned app
March 20 – While the US government has increased its pressure campaign against TikTok, threatening a US ban of the app if the company doesn’t split with its Chinese ownership, Major League Soccer has no issue with the social media platform being used to collect vast volumes of data.
Giant clashes: Man City face and Bayern and Real Madrid meet Chelsea in UCL quarter finals
March 17 – Manchester City’s quest for a first ever Champions League trophy has been made all the harder with the toughest possible draw in the quarterfinals.
Infantino says Saudi deal for WWC is off but country has an equal right to be a major sponsor
By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – FIFA has admitted defeat over plans to allow Saudi Arabia to be a major sponsor of this year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand even though Gianni Infantino described objections to the idea as “a storm in a teacup”.
Tebas tells Barca to come clean over payments to former top referee
March 17 – La Liga’s outspoken president Javier Tebas says Barcelona face a heavy sanction if found guilty of manipulating referees and has urged the club to come clean sooner rather than later.
FIFA Club World Cup every year… without the Europeans who get a bye to the final
March 17 – While focus has been shifted to the 2025 Club World Cup and how teams will qualify, or have qualified, FIFA have also said they will run a global club competition every year.
Prize money tripled for 2023 WWC but Infantino tells commercial partners they must do more
By Samindra Kunti in Kigali, Rwanda
March 17 – FIFA said it has tripled the ‘prize money’ for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand as president Gianni Infantino lashed out at broadcasters for not offering enough money for the tournament’s broadcast rights.
Club World Cup 2025 has nine teams qualified but will country quota disqualify big teams
March 17 – While details of the hosts for FIFA’s 32-team Club World Cup in 2025 are still to be announced, nine of the world’s biggest clubs have already qualified for the event as champions of their confederation’s leading club competitions.
Tebas says he has quit European Leagues body and is taking LaLiga with him
March 17 – LaLiga CEO Javier Tebas says he has resigned from the European Leagues body saying that it does not take its role seriously and has done nothing to fight what he says are the financial abuses of the Premier League and state-backed clubs.
Cadbury adds Chelsea to Premier League renewals list
March 17 – Mondelēz International brand Cadbury is rolling out its sponsorship renewals in the Premier League in what is understood to be another series of three-year terms.
Novibet breaks Fortaleza sponsorship record with 2-season kit deal
March 17 – Fortaleza Esporte Clube has unveiled online bookmaker Novibet as the team’s main sponsor in a two-year deal starting this season.