March 21 – One of European football’s most bitterly contested derbies was called off Sunday when Turkish authorities cancelled the Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe clash in Istanbul about two hours before kickoff citing an unspecified threat.
By Samindra Kunti
March 18 – The construction of Brussels’s EURO2020 stadium has hit a new snag: a public road on the lot bookmarked for the venue may cause a delay of six months. UEFA wants construction to start this year.
March 17 – Franz Beckenbauer, under increasing scrutiny over the mysterious SFr10 million payment made during Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid campaign which he led, has asked to be released from his contract as an expert analyst and commentator for Sky Deutchland’s football coverage.
Beckenbauer’s appearance as a Sky expert as part of the broadcaster’s live coverage of Wednesday’s Champions League game between FC Bayern Munich and Juventus was his last indefinitely, the network announced.
March 17 – Under 22 players across Europe’s top 31 leagues are getting more playing than time in terms of percentage of minutes played, but the number of home grown U22 players breaking through in their countries of origin is in decline, according to the latest research by the CIES Football Observatory.
By Mark Baber
March 16 – In a suit brought by a commercial player agency against the German Football Federation (DFB), the Court of Appeal sitting in Frankfurt has struck down various provisions of the governing bodies regulations on player agents.
March 15 – Lars-Christer Olsson, who spent four years as general secretary of UEFA, has taken over as chairman of the European Professional Football Leagues.
March 14 – Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema (pictured) will technically be eligible to play for France at Euro 2016 after certain legal restrictions were lifted in the sex tape blackmail investigation that has rocked French football.
By Bernd Fisa
March 13 – The world’s football community will pay a further tribute on the next few days days to former Italian striker Stefano Borgonovo who in 2013 passed away at the age of 49 following a long battle with motor neurone disease also known as Lou Gehrig disease.
March 11 – Italy national coach Antonio Conte is edging closer to taking over at Chelsea’s but hanging over him is a match-fixing debacle from his time at Siena.
By Mark Baber
March 10 – A few hours after the news had leaked out prematurely, FC Barcelona announced officially that the winner of the international design competition for the refashioning of the Camp Nou is the Nikken Sekkei and Pascual i Ausió Arquitectes team.
By Mark Baber
March 9 – A new Women in Football (WiF) survey, the results of which were published on Tuesday, presents a worrying picture of sexism in the workplace within UK football, including significant rises in those who have personally suffered bullying and sexual harassment.
By Mark Baber
March 7 – The Danish Football Association (DBU) announced officially on Friday that it, along with the football associations from Sweden, Norway and Finland is exploring the possibility of bidding for European Championship hosting in 2024 or 2028.
By Mark Baber
March 7 – The Danish Football Association (DBU) announced officially on Friday that it, along with the football associations from Sweden, Norway and Finland is exploring the possibility of bidding for European Championship hosting in 2024 or 2028.
By Samindra Kunti
March 7 – The Dutch FA, the KNVB, is further fine-tuning a structural reform of its domestic club football. From the 2016/17 season onwards professional and amateur football in the Netherlands will be integrated through a mandatory system of promotion and relegation. In a latest reform the ‘Topklasse’ has been rebranded as ‘Derde Divisie’ (Third Division).
By Andrew Warshaw
March 4 – UEFA could elect a new president just before the start of the European Championship finals in June if Michel Platini fails to clear his name.