By Paul Nicholson
March 17 – The New York Cosmos, one of the world’s most iconic football club names, has announced that they will travel to Cuba for a friendly match against the Cuban national team on June 2. The Cosmos will be the first professional sports team to play in Cuba since 1999.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 16 – Serie A has extended its long-running sponsorship with Telecom Italia. The Italian top tier will partner with the company, through its mobile phone brand TIM, until 2018.
By Mark Baber
March 16 – The attempt by the Kenyan Football Federation (FKF) to put an end to the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) by taking matters to the civil courts was defeated comprehensively in the Kenyan High Court this morning as the Judge ruled the FKF does not have the capacity to sue.
March 16 – Barcelona may be holding on to their lead in La Liga but off the field the club have become ever more deeply embroiled in the Neymar tax fraud case.
March 16 – Italian crisis club Parma, thumped again 4-1 at the weekend, have had two more points deducted by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for failing to pay their players’ salaries.
By Mark Baber
March 13 – Kenyan Premier League officials have walked free from court after being cleared of the contempt of court charges brought against them by the Kenyan Football Federation and its President Sam Nyamweya. The ruling comes in spite of a remarkable letter being sent to the FKL by FIFA Deputy Secretary General Markus Kattner in which he explicitly scotched reports that FIFA had requested the withdrawal of the case.
March 13 – UEFA have re-ignited their attack on football’s lawmakers for making what they say is entirely the wrong call over how to solve the triple punishment rule.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 13 – Desperate players at Belarus’ FC Dinamo Brest have taken the unusual step of writing to state authorities pleading for them to pay their unpaid wages. Belarus’ top clubs are struggling to stay afloat financially and for the Dinamo Brest player, the crisis has reached breaking point.
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.
By Samindra Kunti
March 13 – The Brazilian government has announced that three government secretariats will take office at the Mane Garrincha stadium. Once more, Senator Romario criticized the high costs for the renovation of the stadium.
By Mark Baber
March 13 -The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) and renewable energy company, First Eco Partners, held a ceremony the Football House in Kanifing to celebrate the signing of three-year sponsorship deal for the GFF first division league, reportedly worth D3m (£47,000) which was first announced in January.
March 13 – Bhutan, the world’s worst international team according to FIFA rankings, defied their lowly status by securing a shock 1-0 win over Sri Lanka in their World Cup qualifying debut as the Asian zone kicked off for places in Russia in 2018.
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.
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.