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.
March 1 – An unlikely trade mission this week pitched former World Cup bidding foes together in a show of friendship and economic opportunity. The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee and the US Embassy in Qatar concluded a joint trip to Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 1 – FIFA vice president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (pictured) has summoned three of the candidates hoping to run Asian football to a summit in Jordan next week to make sure they have a proper agenda and are not just playing politics.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 1 – The race to lead Asian football into a new era of unity and stability has suffered a dramatic blow amid reports that China’s Zhang Jilong (pictured), who has been in charge on an temporary basis for almost two years, has decided not contest the presidential election in early May.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 1 – Football’s lawmakers, meeting in Edinburgh on Saturday, are to discuss the idea of trialling an electronic chip in players’ shirts that could potentially prevent cardiac attacks such as the one suffered by Fabrice Muamba (pictured) last year.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 1 – In a move that evokes memories of the 1986 World Cup being switched, FIFA has been forced to make a late change for next year’s under-17 women’s tournament after hosts Costa Rica failed to meet certain deadlines.
March 1 – Beleaguered Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers will not be stripped of any of their league titles over alleged undisclosed payments to players during the club’s former guise. But the company that used to run the club have been fined £250,000 by a commission appointed by the Scottish Premier League.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 1 – The Asian Football Confederation, stung by non-stop allegations of match-fixing, says the latest episode affecting a number of Lebanese players did not involve any of that country’s World Cup fixtures.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
February 28 – FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke says the organisation has not received a shred of firm proof that Qatar broke any rules in securing their shock 2022 World Cup ballot victory.
By Mark Baber
February 28 – Louis Cooper, the 15 year old Hull City supporter, has taken the next legal steps against the West Yorkshire police and their decision to restrict travel and tickets for Hull fans for the upcoming Huddersfield game March 30.
February 28 – The Russian Football Union has re-elected the country’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko as its representative on FIFA’s executive committee Wednesday.
February 28 – Baku, Azerbaijan, is to host a 16-team World Military Cup, July 2-14, 2013. The agreement to host was signed between Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry and the International Military Sports Council (CISM) for the organization of the 1st CISM World Football Trophy 2013.
By Mark Baber
February 27 – It appears Spanish giants FC Barcelona have breached FIFA regulations on the international transfer of players designed to stop child trafficking and exploitation.
“I don’t understand Twitter. I don’t know why anyone should get involved with it. We have given instructions to the players that nobody should tweet about Manchester United. We have to.”
Those were the words of Alex Ferguson in August last year, after an indiscretion by Rio Ferdinand on Twitter. He hadn’t even sent the tweet that insulted Ashley Cole, but had re-tweeted it with a laugh.
And so I am puzzled –
A revolution devours its own as history teaches us. Arsene Wenger, known as the Professor, should know that. But he seems to be oblivious to the fact that having been the greatest agent of change in English football he cannot stand still and needs to evolve if he is to move forward and not fall victim to his own revolution.
That Wenger has been the greatest revolutionary in British football cannot be doubted.