Vidic bites the bullet and pulls out of Serbian FA presidential race
March 14 – Former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has withdrawn his candidacy for president of the Serbian FA just two weeks after throwing his hat into the ring.
Bulgaria’s debt-plagued Levski refused sale of defender to Russian Premier League club
March 14 – Nasko Sirakov, owner of Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia, admitted that the club refused to sell a player to a Russian club, despite the serious financial crisis facing the club and its huge debts to the National Revenue Agency (NRA).
Cadbury stay sweet on Man Utd with renewal of global partnership
March 14 – Manchester United and Cadbury, part of the Mondelēz International brand family, have renewed their global partnership that began in February 2020.
Analysis: Are 104 games the way forward for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
March 13 – This week in Kigali, Rwanda, in and around its Congress, FIFA will discuss proposals to change the opening group stages of the 2026 World Cup from three to four teams. Mario Guajardo and Alex Krumer, business and economics professors at universities in Norway are specialists in studying formats and schedules for sports competitions. They analyse some of the options available to FIFA.
Qatari espionage operation spied on Infantino/Lauber’s ‘unremembered’ meeting
March 13 – On the eve of the FIFA Congress in Rwanda where Gianni Infantino will be re-elected FIFA president, the Italian-Swiss football official has been further embarrassed following a report in Swiss Sunday newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung that Qatar spied in 2017 on Infantino and then Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber.
Match-fixing? Real Madrid to join case against Barca for allegedly buying referee influence
March 13 – Real Madrid are to join an official complaint filed on Friday by prosecutors against Barcelona and two of its ex-presidents over millions of dollars allegedly paid to a company that belonged to the former vice president of Spain’s refereeing committee.
Canadian women get equal pay offer but tell government hearing they don’t trust federation
March 13 – Canada’s women players have told a government hearing they don’t trust the sport’s governing body to negotiate a fair labour agreement after Canada Soccer went public with proposals for equal pay and division of prize money.
Partisan Belgrade Ultras fury grows as winless season sparks new protest
March 13 – Ultras of Serbian club Partizan Belgrade, increasingly frustrated with club management over the poor performance of the team, made their dissatisfaction clear at the weekend, locking the main entrance to the club stadium and sending a message to officials.
Uzbeks and Iraqis make history as AFC U20 Asian Cup reaches semi-final stage
March 13 – Iraq, Japan, South Korea and Uzbekistan sealed their places at the U20 World Cup in Indonesia later this year, all coming through a dramatic set of quarter finals at the AFC U20 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan on Sunday.
ECA’s Ukrainian relief effort approves 11 new club projects
March 13 – The European Club Association (ECA) has approved a further 10 clubs with 11 projects as part of its Ukraine relief programme that provides funds, in conjunction with the UEFA Foundation for Children, for initiatives to support displaced Ukrainian families and children.
Freedom of speech therapy: Lineker to return to BBC’s after suspension over asylum tweet
March 13 – The BBC staged a u-turn and reinstated its highest-paid tv presenter Gary Lineker today following a near-mutiny over its decision to take the former England captain off the air because of his criticism of the rhetoric around government migration policy.
9 steps: Ways England’s top flight clubs are improving mental health for players and fans
March 13 – Mental health has become a critical issue in today’s footballing landscape with the growing recognition across the game that it is as important as physical health. This is still relatively new, following decades of an unhealthy emphasis on bottling up emotions. It is a habit that is gradually being deconstructed with England’s top flight clubs increasingly at the forefront of a revision of attitudes.
Court tells Textor’s Botafogo to deal with its debt or face its assets being frozen
March 12 – Brazilian club Botafogo has been told to renegotiate with creditors after failing to settle around Reais 10 million (€1.8 million) in debt. Failure to do so will result in the club’s assets being frozen.
Sanchez quits Middle East for Ecuador and a focus on 2026 World Cup qualification
March 13 – Qatar’s World Cup coach Felix Sanchez has a new role. He will succeed Gustavo Alfaro as head coach of Ecuador on a four-year deal, with qualification for the 2026 World Cup his main challenge.
Former Fox TV exec Lopez found guilty of bribing South American football bosses
March 10 – The follow-up and fall-out from the FIFAgate scandal is still working its way through US courts with the former head of Fox International Channels Hernan Lopez convicted on charges that he participated in a scheme to bribe South American soccer officials.