March 16 – Ahead of the election that ended his 28 years as Confederation of African Football president, Issa Hayatou today dismissed any possibility of changing the timing of the African Nations Cup, the Continent’s showpiece event, amid calls for it to be rescheduled to accommodate European clubs who lose their African players midway through the season.
March 16 – FIFA is reviewing both payment and pension arrangements for members of its new-look ruling Council as part of the organisation’s cost-cutting policy, according to an AP report.
March 16 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) is developing a mobile app for athletes that will alert them to any potential doping issues in medication they are taking.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 16 – UEFA have confirmed that they will have to hold a special election for one single place on the FIFA Council since there are now only three candidates being elected for the four seats available at the European governing body’s congress next month.
African football is in a dilemma. Not the first time, for that. CAF, the Confederation of African Football, is voting tomorrow and the result may well be remarkable.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 15 – As African football awaits its most far-reaching election in three decades, outright war has broken out between the two rival camps with the self-styled campaign manager for the sole challenger to Issa Hayatou’s previously untouchable throne facing disciplinary action.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 15 – Twenty-fours before the most hotly anticipated election in African football history, Nigerian authorities have denied they have ordered their highly influential FA to vote for Issa Hayatou as he bids to cling on to power for another four-year term.
March 15 – The past week has been a good one for growth in Twitter followers to Premier League clubs. Manchester United topped the weekly growth stats again with 70,500 new followers compared to 59,200 the previous week.
March 15 – New season new team seems to be the club mantra for playing squads across Europe’s Big 5 leagues, but how successful is this policy in terms of achieving honours and stability? Research by the CIES Football Observatory suggests that changing your team every season will not win you prizes.
March 15 – The Jordanian FA has inaugurated the first women’s stadium in the capital Amman for next year’s Women’s Asian Cup.
March 15 – The Asian Football Confederation has rescheduled the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Final Round Qualifier between DPR Korea and Malaysia, originally scheduled for March 28, for June 8.
By Paul Nicholson
March 14 – Liberian FA (LFA) president Musa Bility appeared to admit on Liberian radio at the weekend that in 2015 he took $50,000 from FIFA meant to go towards humanitarian aid during the Ebola crisis. The money was distributed to his own executive committee members while he retained $35,000. Bility is accused of multiple acts of corruption by a former LFA executive committee member and other stakeholders in Liberian football.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 14 – Several months after upholding a six-year ban on Sepp Blatter, bringing an inglorious end to the colourful and controversial career of the former FIFA president, the Court of Arbitration has rubbed salt in his wounds with an unwanted belated 81st birthday present.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 14 – You might have thought that Samuel Eto’o, as arguably Cameroon’s greatest ever footballing icon, would be backing his compatriot Issa Hayatou when African nations go to the polls on Thursday to decide whether to give Hayatou an unprecedented eighth term or go for Madagascan challenger Ahmad Ahmad.
March 14 – Two South American players with top Mexican clubs have been banned for a year by the country’s FA following a review of lesser punishments which sparked a referees strike.