World Cup 2026: Houston make its case for hosting to FIFA bid inspectors
March 10 – Houston is the latest of the US cities presenting its host credentials for the 2026 World Cup to FIFA bid scrutineers.
LaLiga teams with Panini for limited edition, blockchain based tradeable cards
March 10 – LaLiga is using blockchain technologies via its partner Panini in the US to securely enter the online card trading business.
Juventus fall at last-16 again as Porto prove too strong
March 10 – Once again Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus won’t win the Champions League. For the third time since the arrival of the Portuguese superstar, the Turin-based club have been eliminated in the round of 16 – at the hands of Porto this time, a setback for Juventus and its chairman and ECA boss Andrea Agnelli.
High-flying West Ham see finances hammered by covid, resulting in £65m loss
By David Owen
March 9 – Yet another Premier League club has revealed that it haemorrhaged red ink during the covid-battered 2019-20 financial year, with high-flying West Ham posting a pre-tax loss of £65.3 million for the twelve months to end-May.
Bility scorns FIFA’s backroom deals and questions morality of Infantino’s CAF conquest
By Paul Nicholson
March 9 – Former CAF executive committee member and Liberian FA president Musa Bility has issued a warning to his African football colleagues over what he calls the “FIFA-fronted capitulation of CAF presidential candidates”.
CAF elections: Politics back in play as exco and FIFA Council seats come into focus
March 9 – While the race for the CAF presidency pretty much over with three of the candidates challenging for the position having agreed deals to pull out in favour of South Africa’s Patrice Motsepe, the jostling for position on CAF’s executive committee and the FIFA Council is taking centre stage.
Swiss refuse, again, release of investigation file to Infantino before his criminal hearing
March 9 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino was struck another legal blow in the criminal case against him in Switzerland with the Swiss Federal Criminal Court ruling he can’t have access to the investigation file into his case.
European clubs expects revamped 36-team Champions League format to be agreed this month
March 9 – The new format of the Champions League after 2024 could be agreed upon within a matter of weeks according to the boss of European Club Association, Andrea Agnelli.
Covid spike forces CAF to call off U17 finals at last minute as travel restricted
March 9 – The 2021 edition of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations has been cancelled at the last minute by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), leaving hosts Morocco embarrassed on the eve of the governing body’s 43rd general assembly.
Samoura opens Female Leadership summit with call to challenge and innovate
March 9 – FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura opened the Female Leadership in Sport Summit yesterday with a message that the world governing body has at its a heart a “mission to transform FIFA into an egalitarian organisation”.
Romanian official suspended for ‘inappropriate comment’ in PSG-Basaksehir case
March 9 – UEFA have suspended Romanian fourth official Sebastian Coltescu until the end of the season for his role in a racism case last December.
Fenway or the highway? Klopp not under pressure from Liverpool owners
March 9 – Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp is not under pressure from the club’s American owners despite the Premier League defending champion’s dramatic collapse in form.
FIFA clears the way for Motsepe at CAF as rivals withdraw in favour of ‘African unity’
By Andrew Warshaw
March 8 – The behind-the-scenes deal-making that for weeks has characterised the election for the top job in African football has resulted in three of the four candidates – Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast, Senegal’s Augustin Senghor and Ahmed Yahya of Mauritania – pulling out at the 11th hour in favour of giving South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, the preferred choice of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a clear run for the CAF presidency.
Ahmad has ban and fine reduced at CAF but is remains out of presidential race
March 8 – Disgraced Confederation of African Football president Ahmad Ahmad has lost his appeal against his FIFA ban for corruption but has won a reduction in the length of that ban from five years to two.
Laporta wins Messi vote but will he keep him at Barca and fix the finances
March 8 – Joan Laporta was elected Barcelona president by a landslide on Sunday, taking charge of the club for a second spell but this time inheriting a financial crisis and the possible departure of Lionel Messi at the end of the season.