March 28 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke admits “time is flying” towards completing the final three stadiums for the World Cup and that the delays faced by Brazil should serve as a lesson to future hosts.
Since Mexico ’86, when Morocco’s Atlas Lions became the first African side to reach the second round at the World Cup finals, the continent has managed, in the six tournaments that have followed, to maintain an unbroken presence in the knockout stages.
But on the seven occasions that an African team has reached the second round or the quarter-finals, the managers at the helm have come from every other part of the world except –
Just as the cavernous conference hall at Astana’s Palace of Independence was being cleared away and the delegates from 54 countries were being chauffeured to the Kazakh capital’s airport past dozens of weird futuristic-looking buildings, in a side room Michel Platini unbuttoned his jacket and leaned back in relaxed, almost triumphant mood.
The president of UEFA knew the job had been done, that he had pressed all the right buttons during his organisation’s annual congress and received the support he needed to carry on leading his flock.
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
March 27 – Response to US senators Mark Kirk
and Dan Coats demands to FIFA to ban Russia from World Cup 2014 and strip them of hosting rights of the World Cup 2018 has been dismissive, if not ridiculing. And UEFA president Michel Platini is “fed up”.
By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 27 – UEFA President Michel Platini says he is the only possible candidate who could get more votes than Sepp Blatter among FIFA’s 209 member nations if the pair go head to head at next year’s presidential election.
By Tom Parsons
March 27 -West Ham held the Premier League’s first Social Media Match around their fixture against Hull City last night. The multi-activity initiative was aimed at engaging with as many of their 900,000 fans on Social Media platforms as possible with “interactive interviews, features and competitions”.
By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 27 – UEFA formally announced the creation of its new Nations League competition to replace meaningless friendlies today, with the organisation’s president Michel Platini pledging it will become an integral part of the game in years to come.
By David Owen
March 27 – FIFA, world football’s governing body, has paved the way for a big increase in prize money at the 2018 World Cup, to be staged in Russia.
By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 27 – UEFA president Michel Platini laid down the gauntlet to FIFA today to stop “hiding behind committees” and have the “political courage” to get far tougher on Third Party Ownership (TPO), declaring that European football would otherwise go it alone in their own competitions to stamp out the growing practise.
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 26 – UEFA has begun a match-fixing investigation into the European Championship Under 19 game between Bulgaria and Portugal. The match was played in June 2013 and ended with a comprehensive 7-0 win for Portugal.
By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 26 – A fresh and more stringent crackdown on match-fixing and the rubber-stamping of a brand new European competition, the Nations League, to replace international friendlies look set to be the main items agreed by UEFA’s 54 member nations tomorrow.
By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 26 – A handful of countries who initially expressed interest in staging matches at the pan-European 2020 finals have pulled out of the running, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino (pictured) revealed today.
By Mark Baber
March 26 – Chairman of the Czech Football Association, Miroslav Pelta has responded to violence at Saturday’s match between Baník Ostrava and league leaders Sparta Prague by calling for anti-hooligan measures to be adopted with the return of police to stadiums and fan registration cards mooted.
By Mark Baber
March 26 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has announced a multi-year partnership deal with Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, with Etihad becoming the official airline partner of MLS in the United States.
