By Alexander Krassimirov
March 19 – The beleaguered president of Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia, Alexander Tomov, has said he is now in negotiation with companies from Western Europe as Bulgarian firms can’t afford the price of a major club sponsorship.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 19 – Red Star Belgrade is close to finalising the negotiation of an extension to its Gazprom sponsorship, valued at more than €20 million over a five-year term.
March 19 – Russia’s cabinet passed a 10% cut in the federal budget but was quick to emphasise that the cuts would not effect the build programme of the 2018 World Cup Stadia.
March 19 – Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, who launched their Chinese language site on the Netease platform last month, have increased their Chinese commitment with further support for the AIA China Youth Football Development programme.
By Mark Baber
March 18 – Egypt’s Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat has indicted 16 defendants for the Zamalek massacre in which 20 fans died after a crowd outside the stadium was fired upon by police before the game between Zamalek and Enppi on February 8.
By Matt Scott
March 18 – Greek football is at risk of being broken up unless widespread hooliganism and corruption is tackled by the state authorities, the Panathanaikos president has warned.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 18 – In a week when the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will take centre stage as FIFA announces the exact November-December dates, the country has again pledged to push ahead with reforming its controversial ‘kafala’ labour system – but has stopped short of presenting a timetable for when this will happen.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 18 – China is setting out a blueprint for staging the World Cup a generation down the road by raising the standard of the national team as part of a sweeping development project.
March 18 – Bhutan, officially the world’s worst national team, have pulled off a second straight fairytale victory by defying all the odds – and this time progressed to the second round of Asian World Cup qualifying.
March 18 – The police chief in charge at the 1989 English FA cup semifinal at which 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death has admitted that his failure to close a tunnel was the “direct cause” of the disaster.
By Paul Nicholson
March 18 – New data from the CIES Football Observatory shows that the average cost of a squad has risen by 24.5% between 2009/10 and the current season. The CIES research looks at transfer spend in the Big-5 leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
March 18 – Premier League Liverpool have added a Malaysian stop to their 2015 pre-season tour. On the return leg from two games in Australia, the Reds will stop off in Kuala Lumpur to play a Malaysian XI at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Friday July 24.
By Mark Baber
March 17 – FIFA has postponed the Pakistan v Yemen World Cup qualifier, which had been scheduled for today, following Sunday’s twin bombings aimed at Christians in Lahore.
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 17 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia have begun a national roadshow to sell the ‘Levski is yours’ fundraising campaign. Jointly organised by the supporters trust Blue Bulgaria and the National supporters club of Levski, the tour will include 18 two-day events around the country as the club bids to broaden its ownership base.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – A week before he is due to be re-elected unopposed as UEFA president, Michel Platini has sought to play down any suggestion that power is beginning to go to his head after two terms of office.