Drogba waiting in the wings as Ivory Coast elections postponed
March 10 – The elections of the Ivory Coast’s football federation (FIF) have once against been postponed, with eligibility issues prompting the new delay.
World Football
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.
LigaMX hits Queretaro with fan ban and forces sale on owners after weekend violence
March 9 – The Mexican Football Federation and LigaMX have moved swiftly to sanction Queretaro after violence at the weekend during the visit of league leaders Atlas that left 26 people injured and at least 21 hospitalised.
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.
FIFPRO and Kenyan players’ body appeal to CAS to let women compete at AFCON
March 9 – World players union FIFPRO and Kenya Footballers Welfare Association have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn the cancellation of Kenya’s qualifier with Uganda, which ruled the Kenyan women’s national team out of the Africa Cup of Nations and quashed any chance of the country qualifying for the 2023 World Cup.
CFG bid €180m for control of Brazilian champions Atletico Mineiro
By Samindra Kunti
March 8 – City Football Group (CFG), owners of Manchester City and a slate of clubs around the world, is bidding to take over Brazilian champions Atletico Mineiro.
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.
Mexicans suspend Liga MX after gruesome fan violence in Queretaro
March 7 – The Liga MX match Queretaro vs Atlas was suspended after horrific violence in and around the stadium, with reports of multiple casualties and dozens of injured fans.
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.
Parlow Cone hangs on to US Soccer presidency to prevent return of Cordeiro
March 7 – Former US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro failed to win a return to office at the weekend, with Cindy Parlow Cone being elected for a four-year term in the position she inherited when Cordeiro resigned in 2020.
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.