March 23 – The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) which was readmitted to full FIFA membership March 16, has been given a $300,000 grant by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to renovate its damaged headquarters in Lahore.
By Samindra Kunti
March 23 – Belgian’s Pro League has earmarked €300,000 of its TV rights revenue for women’s football in a bid to boost and strengthen the game in the country. The step is a first sign that the league is taking the women’s game seriously.
March 23 – England manager Gareth Southgate says he has “no concerns” about security and safety at the World Cup in Russia despite the escalating diplomatic spat between London and Moscow over the poisoning of a former double agent on british soil.
March 23 – Alan Rothenburg, the man widely credited with bringing the 1994 World Cup to the United States and making such a success of it, says it is by no means a foregone conclusion that the tournament will go back to the USA – and its neighbours Mexico and Canada – in 2026.
By Paul Nicholson
March 23 – Rochell Woodson, the Liberian FA executive committee member who blew the whistle on corruption within the federation, has said she will not stand for election for president while the LFA continues to break its own statutes and manipulate the election rules.
March 23 – Following the gun-toting antics of PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis that led to the suspension of the Greek Super League, further information is emerging purportedly linking Savvidis, his associates and his companies to more criminal violence and intimidation in Greek football dating back to 2015.
March 23 – English Championship club Fulham have been granted planning permission to extend their Craven Cottage stadium to 29,600. The building work will start in the Summer of 2019.
March 22 – Kyrgyz Republic sealed their place at next year’s AFC Asian Cup on Thursday, as a 5-1 win over Myanmar saw the Central Asians confirm a first-ever qualification for the tournament.
March 22 – Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into last year’s sale of AC Milan by Silvio Berlusconi’s holding company to a Chinese consortium, according to Reuters quoting a judicial source.
March 22 – The crackdown by Spanish authorities to prevent elite footballers getting even richer by beating the tax system has struck again, with former Liverpool and Real Madrid star Xabi Alonso facing a possible five-year jail term after being accused of fraud.
March 22 – Troubled English Premier League club West Ham United have meted out lifetime bans to five supporters who invaded the pitch during a recent 3-0 defeat by Burnley.
March 22 – The diplomatic spat between Britain and Russia over the poisoning of a former double agent on British soil has plummeted to new depths after British foreign secretary Boris Johnson claimed Vladimir Putin will use this summer’s World Cup to glorify Russia in the same way Adolf Hitler used Berlin’s hosting of the summer games in 1936 as propaganda for the Nazi regime.
By Paul Nicholson
March 22 – Betting brands and football club sponsorship are tightly linked but while the clubs have an appetite for the betting company money, the brands question how much clubs really want to engage with them.
March 22 – Manchester United is officially crossing the gender divide and launching a women’s team that will for the first time play under the famous club’s name and in its club colours.
21 March – LaLiga has expanded its regional sponsorship coverage with telecoms giant MTN Group into Africa. MTN Ivory Coast joins the company’s Iranian subsidiary MTN Irancell as a regional sponsor of the Spanish league.