March 10 – A huge political row is brewing after Kosovo threatened to boycott their World Cup qualifier against Spain later this month if they are not allowed to display their flag or play their national anthem before kick-off.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 10 – With what can only be described as bizarre timing verging on the foolhardy, Welsh football has been plunged into disarray with the news that Jonathan Ford is to leave his post as chief executive after 12 years.
March 10 – The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) will kick off its 2021 season with the NWSL Challenge Cup April 9.
March 10 – One of the longest reigns in international football management is coming to an end with the announcement that Joachim Loew is to step down as Germany’s head coach after the European Championship finals in June and July, bringing forward his previous plan to quit after the next World Cup.
March 10 – Once again Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus won’t win the Champions League. For the third time since the arrival of the Portuguese superstar, the Turin-based club have been eliminated in the round of 16 – at the hands of Porto this time, a setback for Juventus and its chairman and ECA boss Andrea Agnelli.
By Paul Nicholson
March 9 – Former CAF executive committee member and Liberian FA president Musa Bility has issued a warning to his African football colleagues over what he calls the “FIFA-fronted capitulation of CAF presidential candidates”.
March 9 – While the race for the CAF presidency pretty much over with three of the candidates challenging for the position having agreed deals to pull out in favour of South Africa’s Patrice Motsepe, the jostling for position on CAF’s executive committee and the FIFA Council is taking centre stage.
March 9 – The new format of the Champions League after 2024 could be agreed upon within a matter of weeks according to the boss of European Club Association, Andrea Agnelli.
March 9 – The 2021 edition of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations has been cancelled at the last minute by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), leaving hosts Morocco embarrassed on the eve of the governing body’s 43rd general assembly.
March 9 – UEFA have suspended Romanian fourth official Sebastian Coltescu until the end of the season for his role in a racism case last December.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 8 – The behind-the-scenes deal-making that for weeks has characterised the election for the top job in African football has resulted in three of the four candidates – Jacques Anouma of the Ivory Coast, Senegal’s Augustin Senghor and Ahmed Yahya of Mauritania – pulling out at the 11th hour in favour of giving South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, the preferred choice of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a clear run for the CAF presidency.
March 8 – Disgraced Confederation of African Football president Ahmad Ahmad has lost his appeal against his FIFA ban for corruption but has won a reduction in the length of that ban from five years to two.
March 8 – Joan Laporta was elected Barcelona president by a landslide on Sunday, taking charge of the club for a second spell but this time inheriting a financial crisis and the possible departure of Lionel Messi at the end of the season.
March 8 – Rangers’ first domestic Scottish title for a decade was marred by a serious breach of Covid rules on Sunday that prompted the intervention of the country’s political leader.
March 8 – South America’s World Cup qualifiers in March have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions, leaving continental governing body Conmebol with a headache to reschedule the fixtures in a heavily congested calendar.