USA 2 Costa Rica 2 (USA win 4-3 on pens)
June 29 – You’d hate to use the word ‘sterile’ to describe a Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final, but following the drama and passion of Guatemala versus Canada, it all felt a little flat as the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) and Costa Rica kicked off for the right to face Guatemala in St. Louis. After 90 minutes and the drama of penalty kicks,
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.
March 22 – NFL club San Francisco 49ers have announced an education partnership aimed at young people with Premier League Chelsea, working through their teaching focussed affiliates – the EDU Academy for the 49ers and The Chelsea Foundation.
By Paul Nicholson
March 21 – Outgoing Liberia FA (LFA) president Musa Bility has petitioned FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino not to release the findings of an audit of the LFA in December last year.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – Gianni Infantino, used to getting his own way since taking over as FIFA president, has failed in his bid to introduce a new global league for women amid concerns that not enough consultation took place with the various stakeholders before the idea was officially tabled.
March 21 – Poland has been awarded the right to host the 2019 U-20 World Cup, seeing off competition from India. Peru will host the 2019 U-17 World Cup.
March 21 – UEFA has extended its partnership with the Leaders XX Series into a second year. The Leaders XX Series is a forum that gathers football and sports industry leaders grow women’s sport through innovation.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – European governments are lining up behind Britain in considering a diplomatic snub of the World Cup in protest at the poisoning of a former double agent and his daughter on British soil that is being widely blamed on Russia.
March 21 – English Championship club Brentford are targeting a December 2019 move into their new West London stadium, according to club chairman Cliff Crown. Ground breaking has just begun on the site for the 17,250 capacity venue, with building work starting next month in what is expected to be an 18-month construction timeline.
March 21 – If Tottenham Hotspur were to sell Harry Kane they would see a return on investment of €198 million, making him the biggest and best potential piece of player business in the world. Lionel Messi, of Barcelona were to sell him, could net €197 million for the club.
March 21 – Italian Serie A giant Internazionale have launched another academy set up in another country. Following hard on the heels of new Inter Academy openings in Lebanon and Indonesia over the past four week, comes Inter’s foray into in Budapest, Hungary.