By Mark Baber
March 12 – FC Barcelona is making a push in the Chinese market via a new strategic partnership with IMG. The club will be represented in China in the areas of marketing and branding strategy, sponsorships, friendly matches and travel.
By Alexander Krassimirov
March 12 – Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad is to receive another BGN 2 million (€1 million) from government to modernization the Ludogorets Arena stadium in Razgrad.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 12 – Swiss club FC Sion has inked a sponsorship deal with local drinks maker and distributor Alloboissons. The company will serve as the main sponsor of the side for three-and-a-half years.
By Samindra Kunti
March 12 – The Belgian Jupiler Pro League may team up with MP & Silva and Screen Capital International to create its own private TV channel.
March 12 – Greek football has been plunged into yet more disgrace after a cup quarterfinal between league leaders Olympiakos and second division AEK was abandoned after a last-minute Olympiakos goal sparked crowd violence.
March 12 – The police commander in charge during the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster at which 96 Liverpool fans died says he will regret lying about the tragedy until his dying day.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 11 – The full scale of corruption in Cypriot football has been exposed by a referee whistleblower who claims officials are regularly deciding the outcome of games on orders from above.
March 10 – City Football Group – owner of Manchester City, New York City FC and Melbourne City FC – has announced a £400,000 football charity initiative through its Cityzens Giving programme.
March 10 – Former Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o was honoured on Monday for his “inspiring” stand against racism as he became the third recipient of the European Medal of Tolerance awarded by a leading anti-discrimination group.
March 10 – A report into a swathe of alleged rigged Ligue 2 games in France last season has concluded that one match was subject to “an understanding” between the two clubs concerned.
March 10 – New data from the CIES, the Swiss-based Centre for Sports Studies, finds that €1.072 billion has been generated from sales of academy players by clubs in Europe’s Big 5 leagues. Topping the chart is Premier League club Southampton earning €90.2 million from sales since July 2012.
March 9 – Russian national team manager Fabio Capello and his compatriot Oreste Cinquini, the team’s general manager, have at last been paid the outstanding salaries owed to them going back to June of last year. Reports are that the Russian Football Union (RFU) has now paid the outstanding $5.96 million up to February.
By Paul Nicholson
March 9 – Rangers’ new board had a slow start to their tenancy with a lifeless 0-0 draw away to Cowdenbeath on Saturday. Now the directors are hoping their promised revolution will get a kick start with a packed Ibrox this Tuesday in their first home Championship match under the new regime against Queen of the South.
By Rafael Buschmann and Michael Wulzinger
March 6 – Where did the money go from six benefit football matches played by Lionel Messi and friends? The world famous football player says they went to charity. Tax investigators believe they went to the players. Documents have emerged that are fueling those suspicions.
By Paul Nicholson
March 5 – Scottish giants Celtic have traded Nike in for another US firm, New Balance, in a new kit deal estimated to worth $5.8 million per year, the biggest ever for the club and easily the largest sponsorship in club football in Scotland.