March 3 – The Poland vs Scotland international friendly this Wednesday is being streamed live on the internet rather than broadcasting via more conventional TV channels outside of host country Poland. The webcast will be free of charge on the Daily Record and Daily Mirror websites (www.dailyrecord.co.uk and www.mirror.co.uk).
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 3 – Budapest Honved has announced plans to build a new stadium in the Little Pest district of Hungary’s capital. The football club will receive funds for the investment under a 40 billion forint (€128.6 million) government programme to modernise and expand 27 football stadiums by 2016.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – The stadium set to host the showpiece opening match of the World Cup may not be ready until less than four weeks before the start of the tournament, the latest of a series of setbacks for FIFA and Brazilian organisers. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said that work on the stadium in Sao Paulo may now not be completed until mid-May.
March 3 – Northern Irish officials have confirmed that this week’s friendly in Cyprus will go ahead despite the bombing of local referee Leontios Trattou’s (pictured) car on the island last Friday. Trattou is scheduled to referee the Ukraine vs US friendly on the island. All first division matches were suspended at the weekend.
March 3 – Football’s rule-making body has given the green light for both male and female players to wear head coverings for religious reasons during games.
By Paul Nicholson
March 3 – The draw for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 took place yesterday. The finals tournament is one of three major women’s world championships being hosted in the CONCACAF region over the next 18 months. Next month Costa Rica will hold the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup whilst the spotlight will be back on Canada in 2015 for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – After months trying to clear his name, Carson Yeung, the Hong Kong businessman who bought English club Birmingham City, faces a lengthy jail term after being found guilty of five counts of money laundering by a court in Hong Kong. Last month Yeung resigned as a director of both the club and its parent company Birmingham International Holdings Ltd (BIHL) as he awaited the verdict of a trial that had lasted 50 days having already lost two appeals to get it thrown out.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
March 2 – Those who favour scrapping the so-called triple punishment rule were left disappointed today when football’s lawmakers opted to retain the status quo even though referees badly need some kind of guidance in applying this most controversial of regulations.
By Andrew Warshaw in Geneva
March 1 – Almost a third of the teams that entered UEFA’s two club competitions this season are in danger of breaking financial fair play regulations. UEFA administrators and legal experts revealed today that 76 clubs out of the 237 who started in the Champions League and Europa League were being probed for potentially failing strict break-even rules.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 28 – Two recent controversial Champions League dismissals have refocused attention on the so-called triple punishment – penalty , sending off and subsequent – that continues to cause so much consternation throughout the game. The rule, which has been hotly debated with referees applying different interpretations as to what constitutes a goal-scoring opportunity, comes up for discussion once again at the annual International FA Board meeting in Zurich on Saturday.
February 28 – The Ghana Premier League, which has signed Ghana’s First Capital Plus Bank as its headline sponsor, is rolling out a number of marketing initiatives to support the partnership. The bank will pay $10 million in five year deal, easily a record sponsorship for the league.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 28 – In a move that could serve as an important test case for English football’s disciplinary procedures, former French international striker Nicolas Anelka has been banned for five matches and fined £80,000 for his infamous “quenelle” gesture that made worldwide headlines.
February 28 – The UAE Football Association (UAEFA) and the Czech Republic (FACR) have renewed a signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing the two federations to co-operate and share expertise across a range of football related areas from administration to development and facilities.
February 28 – The Beautiful Game is an increasingly overused expression; of course it is beautiful. It has a depth of beauty and meaning to football fans and players that is rarely communicated in words. But can this depth be expressed in art? The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) thinks it can.
By Paul Nicholson
February 28 – World players union FIFPro has renewed its vehement criticism of the current transfer system following the latest FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS) data which reported global transfer fees in 2013 of $3.72 billion, an increase of 41% on the previous year.