By Mark Baber
March 18 – The revelation that the head of the Nigeria Women Professional League (NPWL) has been actively discriminating against suspected lesbian footballers has unleashed a storm of protest including a petition to FIFA which has so far gathered nearly 50,000 signatures.
By Paul Nicholson
March 18 – The Times has today published a retraction of the Dream League story it ran over its three back pages last Wednesday morning (March 13).
March 18 – A top-flight Greek footballer has been handed a life ban from the national team for making a Nazi salute to fans. AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis (pictured), former captain of Greece’s under-19 team, conceded the “stupidity” of his actions after making the gesture in celebrating his winning goal in a 2-1 win over lowly Veria on Saturday.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 18 – Under pressure from FIFA to resolve their differences or face severe sanctions, Indonesia’s two rival football associations have struck an 11th hour agreement to merge, ending a long and bitter feud that could have resulted in the country being suspended from international competition.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
March 17 – High-ranking decision makers from across the globe converge on Qatar on Monday and Tuesday for another prestige summit organised by the Gulf state, keeping itself firmly in the sporting spotlight.
What a story! Loads of Money. Qatar! One tournament every two years. A project including big names such as Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool and the best football players worldwide. What a dream of a football league!
The story run by The Times of London has all the ingredients of a fairy tale for adults. And like the lovely stories for kids, it was freely invented. At least, all available information so far suggests it.
By Mark Baber
March 15 – FIFA has written to the Guatemala FA expressing concern over the decision by Guatemala’s national sport tribunal to overturn the lifetime ban imposed for match-fixing on three national team players.
Exclusive: By Osasu Obayiuwana
March 15 – A recommendation that the new FIFA president and his executive committee members are both elected by its congress, an important part of the proposed reforms for world football’s governing body, may not be achieved by 2015, when the next presidential election is due, says Sepp Blatter.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 15 – Third party ownership, the process by which professional footballers’ ‘rights’ and careers are controlled by outside parties, is one of the most serious issues facing the European game, according to UEFA, and could be banned from all its competitions.
It is always tempting in sport to draw huge global lessons from one defeat or victory. That is a temptation that should be avoided for the simple reason that sporting victories or defeats on their own do not signify vast changes. That only emerges if they are part of a consistent pattern over several seasons.
The most potent example of this was provided by Barcelona. Before their match against A.C. Milan many were prepared to write their obituary.
March 15 – UEFA seem likely to investigate yet another instance of racism following complaints by Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas that the club’s Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor suffered abuse during last night’s Europa League game at Inter Milan.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 15 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has once again criticised the decision by his UEFA opposite number Michel Platini to spread the 2020 European Championship finals across the entire continent.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 15 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb is steering a diplomatic path when it comes to favouring either of the two candidates running for north America’s vacant FIFA executive committee seat.
By Mark Baber
March 15 – Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the multinational corporate behemoth which owns the Los Angeles Galaxy, is no longer for sale and CEO Tim Leiweke has stepped down by “mutual agreement”.
