3 out of 5 Premier League players go bankrupt
By Mark Baber
March 5 – Xpro, the charity for ex-professional players, has revealed the shocking fact that three out of five Premier League players go bankrupt within five years of retirement.
Gold Cup 2025
Canada stunned by Curaçao comeback in chaotic added time
Canada 1 Curaçao 1
June 21 – Canada came into the Gold Cup as one of the firm favourites and after a 6-0 fiesta against Honduras at home in Montreal, looked to be on the right road to a much-needed title. But on an airless 92˚˙ night in Houston they punctured.
Rangers renew call for admission to English leagues
By Andrew Warshaw
March 5 – The idea of the two Glasgow giants abandoning Scottish football and being integrated into the English league has once again been raised – this time by Rangers chief executive Charles Green.
John Yan:龙哥听不到集结号 The Dragon will not hear the bugle call
张吉龙，人称”龙哥”。但这”龙哥”只是一个花名，连江湖绰号都算不上。他曾经是亚足联第一副主席，也曾经因缘际会，由于国际足联高层的权力斗争，而升级为亚足联代理主席、国际足联执委，但他从来都不是”龙哥”，和龙头大哥的威势、前呼后拥的行头，相去十万八千里。行走在国际足球政治的江湖上，张吉龙谨小慎微、如履薄冰，在夹缝里为中国足球争取些利益，可他始终都是一个人在战斗。
张吉龙被”牺牲”、被”放弃竞选亚足联主席”，新闻并不是从国内媒体产生的。消息最早由法新社披露，然后其他亚洲媒体跟进，最后才流转到中国国内。当网络舆情一片汹涌，对于这样的”牺牲”和”放弃”，表达的不仅是不解，更是愤怒时，张吉龙已经在吉隆坡的亚足联总部收拾工作、收拾心情，虚席以待亚足联真正的主席主人了。他将回归到亚足联副主席的席位上，大概干到2015年任期期满。
体制内还有人羡慕乃至嫉妒张吉龙者——”他已经60岁了，本该退休，要不是他在亚足联有个职务，否则凭什么是他啊……”就退休年龄论，张吉龙比较其他体制内司局级干部，或许是幸运的，他能多干两年，只是这样的际遇，这样的含辛茹苦，这样的孤立无援，我不相信张吉龙会恋栈不去。
West Ham say Olympic Stadium deal is near
By Andrew Warshaw
March 5 – After months of inconclusive meetings and several delays, English Premier League club West Ham could now be days away from finally securing agreement to move into the London 2012 Olympic stadium – and avoid it becoming a classic post-Games white elephant.
Becks signs to boost Chinese Super League season launch
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 5 – Rocked by corruption and controversy, Chinese football has gone for the boldest of coups in an effort to enhance its battered image on and off the field: signing up David Beckham.
Not all is rosy in the English Premiership money garden
By Paul Nicholson
March 5 – Manchester United may sit on top of the money league as the world’s most value sports club, but their colleagues in the Premier League are finding it much tougher to compete at their level, both on the pitch and off it.
AFC presidency race heats up as candidates declared and Al Serkal calls for withdrawals
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
March 4 – One of the three west Asian candidates seeking to replace Mohamed bin Hammam and run football in the entire Continent until 2015 has urged his two rivals to step aside to avoid a potentially damaging split.
As the Asian Football Confederation announced a four-man race for the presidency on May 2, Yousuf al Serkel (pictured), of United Arab Emirates, said he is to ask the two other regional candidates bidding against him to stand down. Read more …
Federation bans Nigerian Lesbians from football activity
By Mark Baber
March 4 – Dilichukwu Onyedinma, chair of the Nigeria Women Football League and a member of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) executive committee, has reportedly announced after the Annual General Assembly on Thursday, that lesbianism is now officially banned from Nigerian football.
Auxerre on edge of financial cliff staring relegation in the face
March 4 – Former French club giant Auxerre, currently in Ligue 2, is under scrutiny by French football’s financial watchdog and has until the end of the season to recapitalise or face possible relegation.
FT hitches up with IFA and heads to Rio for June Summit
March 4 – What better place could there be to head for a football business gathering and what better timing? In a major announcement the International Football Arena (IFA) has teamed up with the Financial Times (FT) to host a summit, June 17, in Rio de Janeiro.
Andrew Warshaw: A slow creep towards a Winter World Cup
Every time you ask FIFA whether they would sanction switching the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter, you get the same answer: only if Qatar, as the host nation, officially requests us to do so.
And every time you ask Qatari organisers the same question, you also get the same answer: only if we are asked to do so by FIFA as world football’s governing body.
It’s a clever tactic,
Webb to demand tougher anti-racism penalties and more education
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 4 – FIFA’s new anti-racism chief says tougher penalties need to be introduced to help eradicate abuse and wants to meet with both the perpetrators and victims. FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, who runs the CONCACAF confederation that covers north and central America and the Caribbean, believes black players have been let down by football’s authorities and is determined to do something about it.
CAF steps into Congo row as League sets up interim committee
By Osasu Obayiuwana in Lagos
March 3 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has warned DR Congo’s government to stop interfering in its domestic football or face severe sanctions.
Webb to head new FIFA anti-racism task force
By Andrew Warshaw in Edinburgh
March 2 – FIFA are setting up a new crack unit to deal with the worrying resurgence of racism throughout the game, Sepp Blatter has announced.
Benfica TV picks up Premier League rights
March 1 – In a world first, a club TV channel has bought the broadcast rights to an international football league. Benfica TV has been awarded exclusive audio visual broadcast rights for all Barclays Premier League matches per season for from 2013/14 – 2015/16 in Portugal.