Ceferin opens door for South Americans to join Europe’s Nations League
March 11 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has suggested that South American teams could feature in the Nations League in the near future.
Europe
Ukraine solidarity: AC Milan launch replica Shevchenko shirt to raise relief funds
March 11 – Leagues and clubs across Europe have been showing their support for Ukraine following the invasion by Russia. AC Milan have gone a step further and are raising money via a special replica jersey.
AS Monaco’s Russian owner Rybolovev donates to Ukrainian aid funds
March 10 – Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, president and majority owner of France’s AS Monaco and Cercle Brugge in Belgium, is donating money to support the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and help ‘innocent’ people.
PSG crash out of Champions League to Benzema-inspired Real Madrid
March 10 – PSG and the fabled Messi-Neymar-Mbappe trio are out of the Champions League after Karim Benzema masterminded a dramatic 3-1 victory for Real Madrid to progress to the last eight of the European Cup, 3-2 on aggregate.
Premier League switches off Russian broadcasts over Putin’s ‘barbaric, senseless invasion’
March 9 – The Premier League has suspended its TV deal with Russia with immediate effect, cutting off the feed as punishment for the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Madrid court rules against Real Madrid and Barca’s bid to pause LaLiga Impulso funding
March 8 – The challenge by Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Athletic Club to LaLiga Impulso, the joint venture that will see CVC Capital Partners inject about €1 billion into the league, has suffered a new blow in court.
Monaco owner Rybolovlev escapes sanctions, for now
March 7 – AS Monaco president and Russian oligarch Dimitri Rybolovlev will not have to relinquish his ownership of the French club after his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
European Leagues body expels Russian members over Ukraine crisis
March 7 – Europe’s leagues have moved to expel the Russian Premier League and the Football National League of Russia from their association.
LaLiga and Latvia’s Virsliga look to future with MoU
March 7 – Spain’s LaLiga and Latvia’s Virslīga have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together topromote football development, with a special focus on technology solutions.
Russian exodus continues as former Norwich boss Farke and 8 players quit Krasnodar
March 4 – Eight foreign players plus German manager Daniel Farke, who was in the job for just six weeks, have quit Russian Premier League club Krasnodar in a continuing exodus since Russia invaded Ukraine.
UK adds Usmanov to sanctions list. Everton face life without Russian cash
March 4 – The doors are closing on Alisher Usmanov. Having already had sanctions applied to him by the EU, he has now been added to the UK’s hit list of Russian oligarchs.
Ukraine crisis: UEFA bans Belarus teams from playing at home
March 3 – Belarus and its club sides have been banned from playing matches at home by UEFA. Instead they will have to find neutral venues to play behind closed doors.
Albanian elections postponed after local court suspends president
March 3 – The Albanian Football Federation has postponed its presidential election until March 15, following a dispute with one of its regional associations.
Fire sale? Abramovich shops Chelsea to billionaire boys club
March 2 – Speculation is mounting than Chelsea’s billionaire oligarch owner Roman Abramovich may be about to sell the club in the wake of his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Belgians get radical with revamped second tier format, addition of U23 teams and play-offs
March 2 – The Belgian second division will expand to 12 teams with the introduction of both four U-23 teams and a playoff system from next season, the Pro League has confirmed.