March 24 – The International Labour Organisation (ILO), one of the oldest established United Nations agencies with 186 member states, says Qatar is making progress toward ending forced labour and improving conditions for migrant workers but that the real test will be whether it actually enforces new legislation by an ILO-imposed December deadline.
March 24 – Carlsberg have extended the longest running commercial partnership in English Premier League football with a three-year addition to their current 24-year long deal with Liverpool.
March 23 – Beijing, China, is set to host the first Manchester derby with City’s new manager Pep Guardiola in charge and, if rumours are correct, Jose Mourinho having taken over as United’s new manager.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 23 – He may have retired from the international arena as a prominent FIFA member and consistently distanced himself from all manner of allegations about behind-the-scenes wheeler-dealing but is the net finally closing in on the previously untouchable Franz Beckenbauer?
By Andrew Warshaw
March 23 – As next summer’s expanded European Championship finals in France come under increasing scrutiny because of the threat of terrorism, UEFA have been quick to express assurances about safety and security in the wake of Tuesday’s Brussels attacks that killed at least 34 people and left scores more injured, with one high-ranking UEFA official suggesting matches might even have to be held behind closed doors.
March 23 – And then there was one. Costas Takkas, close associate of disgraced ex-CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges that he participated in bribery schemes under the widespread the-US led football corruption investigation.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 23 – German football has a new general secretary as it endeavours to tackle the fallout from the 2006 World Cup corruption controversy.
By Paul Nicholson
March 23 – Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Liverpool and Chelsea will all compete this summer in the US-organised International Champions Cup (ICC), but not all games will be played in the US.
By Samindra Kunti
March 23 -The arbitration committee of the Belgian FA, the KBVB, has decided that Royal Antwerp FC must repay €4.9 million to its former chairman Eddy Wauters. The verdict leaves Antwerp gasping for air.
By Paul Nicholson
March 22 – Following on from the report by law firm Freshfields into the German 2006 World Cup bid process, FIFA has opened its own investigation into six individuals over potential vote buying and failure to report a breach of the FIFA ethics code.
March 22 – The promise of the east has lured the might of Manchester United to make their 2016 pre-season tour to China for two games this summer.
By David Owen
March 22 – FIFA appears to have suffered a substantial fall in the revenue it receives from the Club World Cup. Notes contained in the governing body’s recently-published financial and governance report for 2015 state that revenue received from the competition last year reached only $20.45 million, a near halving from the $40 million recorded in both 2013 and 2014.
By Mark Baber
March 22 – As China’s Wanda steps in as one of FIFA’s top-level sponsors, its chairman Wang Jianlin says two more Chinese companies will sign up as FIFA partners this year.
By Samindra Kunti
March 22 – Next week’s friendly international Belgium – Portugal at Brussels’s King Baudouin Stadium may be cancelled after the Belgian capital was hit by terrorist attacks.
By Paul Nicholson
March 23 – Daily fantasy sports operators FanDuel and DraftKings have stopped paid games in the New York market. The companies are in a battle with the state’s attorney general over whether the games are illegal gambling.