By Paul Nicholson
March 18 – The Russian ban on selling alcohol in stadiums looks to have been lifted, with drinks companies saying they have bought licenses to sell beer in stadiums from 2018, in time for the FIFA World Cup 2018.
By Mark Baber
March 18 – The revelation that the head of the Nigeria Women Professional League (NPWL) has been actively discriminating against suspected lesbian footballers has unleashed a storm of protest including a petition to FIFA which has so far gathered nearly 50,000 signatures.
By Paul Nicholson
March 18 – The Times has today published a retraction of the Dream League story it ran over its three back pages last Wednesday morning (March 13).
March 18 – A top-flight Greek footballer has been handed a life ban from the national team for making a Nazi salute to fans. AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis (pictured), former captain of Greece’s under-19 team, conceded the “stupidity” of his actions after making the gesture in celebrating his winning goal in a 2-1 win over lowly Veria on Saturday.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 18 – Under pressure from FIFA to resolve their differences or face severe sanctions, Indonesia’s two rival football associations have struck an 11th hour agreement to merge, ending a long and bitter feud that could have resulted in the country being suspended from international competition.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
March 17 – High-ranking decision makers from across the globe converge on Qatar on Monday and Tuesday for another prestige summit organised by the Gulf state, keeping itself firmly in the sporting spotlight.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 15 – Third party ownership, the process by which professional footballers’ ‘rights’ and careers are controlled by outside parties, is one of the most serious issues facing the European game, according to UEFA, and could be banned from all its competitions.
March 15 – UEFA seem likely to investigate yet another instance of racism following complaints by Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas that the club’s Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor suffered abuse during last night’s Europa League game at Inter Milan.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 15 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb is steering a diplomatic path when it comes to favouring either of the two candidates running for north America’s vacant FIFA executive committee seat.
By Mark Baber
March 15 – Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the multinational corporate behemoth which owns the Los Angeles Galaxy, is no longer for sale and CEO Tim Leiweke has stepped down by “mutual agreement”.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 14 – The outgoing head of the Asian Football Confederation has called for unity as lobbying intensifies ahead of the AFC presidential election in May.
By Mark Baber
March 14 – AS Roma have signed a 10-year kit supply deal with Nike as part of its plans to return it to the top tiers of European and world fotball.
By Mark Baber
March 14 – The Indian State of Goa is holding a football conference on March 15-16 to further develop the coastal state as the ‘gateway to football’ in India.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 14 – The international players union FIFPro has issued a damning indictment of the dysfunctional nature of Indonesian football, saying nothing had changed since the tragic death in December of Paraguayan player Diego Mendieta.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
March 13 – A three-page newspaper scoop claiming that Qatar is planning to launch a groundbreaking ‘Dream Football League’ next month, featuring the world’s most iconic clubs in a 24-team tournament that could ultimately rival the Champions League, has been dismissed as an elaborate hoax.