By Andrew Warshaw
March 4 – One of Russia’s leading football officials has admitted the country must eliminate the “virus” of racism before the 2018 World Cup. With so much focus on Qatar 2022, Russian organisers have managed to escape the same level of scrutiny but comments by FIFA president Sepp Blatter have forced them to concede that considerable effort needs to be made to tackle discrimination.
By Paul Nicholson
March 4 – Jeffrey Webb is set to be re-elected unopposed to the presidency of North and Central American and Caribbean confederation CONCACAF. The XXX Congress on April 16 will see one contested election with a battle for the FIFA Executive Committee post for the Central American region.
March 4 – Traffic Sports has signed a new sponsor for the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League. Maxxis joins the roster as Official Tire Sponsor for the competition which is now into its quarter final stages.
By Paul Nicholson
March 3 – City Football Group (CFG), owners of English Premier League club Manchester City, have taken their next steps in Japan with the opening of a Tokyo office for its City Football Japan subsidiary.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – The BBC and Sky have officially invited all four candidates for the FIFA presidential election, including Sepp Blatter, to take part in a political-style live TV debate.
By Mark Baber
March 3 – Liverpool’s annual accounts for the year ended 31 May 2014 show the club made a pre-tax profit of £900,000 – the first time the club has been in the black for seven years and the reward for a positive style of play, coming second in the Premier League, and the fruits of the Premier League broadcasting deal.
March 3 – Russia’s moves to reduce construction costs as they prepare for the 2018 World Cup in the face of a collapse of the ruble against the dollar, have resulted in more proposals for stadium cost-cutting and a reduction in the number of training sites for teams that qualify.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – Dutch FA chief Michael van Praag has become the latest FIFA presidential candidate to unveil his manifesto, parts of it perceptibly similar to that of the other European candidate vying for Sepp Blatter’s crown, Luis Figo.
By Samindra Kunti
March 3 – Corinthians and the city of Sao Paulo are at odds over a development incentive certificate (DIC) for the Arena Corinthians, worth €12.6 million.
By David Owen
March 3 – New Dutch analysis has estimated that the prevalence of doping in elite sport is “likely” to be between 14 and 39% – far above the level of adverse analytical findings turned up by anti-doping tests. But the analysis also concludes that, while the tools to obtain a far more accurate gauge of true doping levels exist, published studies on the subject are “scarce”.
By Denis de Haas, Sport1
March 3 – As the Bundesliga currently stands both VfB Stuttgart and SC Freiburg need to stay focused on the relegation battle. But now the clubs are haunted by their past.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” Nelson Mandela
In Europe at least, falling is an ever-present risk in the game of football. Relegation makes it so. Every year in four of the top-five leagues in the UEFA jurisdiction, 15% must lose their top-flight status. It is a devastating emotional blow for all who suffer it but, due to the riches available to that division in England,
March 3 – Dave Mackay, one of the iconic midfielders of British football whose name will for ever be synonymous with Tottenham Hotspur during the club’s golden era half a century ago, has died at the age of 80.
By Paul Nicholson
March 3 – Buying the wrong player at the wrong price is the biggest mistake a club can make financially. CIES statistics show that the clubs who traded best in the transfer window for the start of the season (in terms of number of best performing players) are Real Madrid and Hoffenheim, followed by Barcelona, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Southampton, Leverkusen and Napoli.
By David Owen
March 2 – The Football Association is keen for Great Britain teams once again to participate in the Olympic football tournament at next year’s Games in the football-besotted city of Rio de Janeiro. This follows the appearance of both men’s and women’s teams at London 2012, when it was felt desirable that the host nation should be represented if possible in every sport. Prior to that, no British team had played at any Olympics for more than half a century.