March 6 – It may not carry the same clout as the Champions League or be as newsworthy as financial fair play or VAR but UEFA is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its Foundation for Children, using football as a tool to aid vulnerable kids, particularly in less-privileged parts of the world.
By Osasu Obayiuwana
March 5 – Constant Omari, first Vice-President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has told Insideworldfootball that “there is nothing wrong” in the expenditure of CAF’s funds to send several FA/Federation Presidents to the ‘Umrah’, the lesser Hadj, in Saudi Arabia.
By Samindra Kunti
March 5 – Portuguese police have raided 76 addresses, including the home of super-agent Jorge Mendes, as part of a nationwide investigation into money laundering and tax evasion in 2015.
By Paul Nicholson
March 5 – Controversial Swiss attorney general, Michael Lauber (pictured), who led the Swiss investigations into FIFA but mysteriously failed to remember or document meetings he held with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, has been sanctioned for disloyalty, lying and breaching his office’s code of conduct.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 5 – The head of the umbrella body representing Europe’s clubs repeated his concerns today about an increasingly congested international calendar, specifically targeting FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup which is due to get under way in 2021.
March 5 – The Serie A season will continue but behind closed doors after Italian authorities intensified their measures to curb the spread of the Coronavirus with a nationwide ban of fans at sporting events until April 3.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 5 – Former UEFA president Michel Platini, who has been free to work again in football from last October, has nevertheless suffered another blow to his reputation after losing his appeal at the European Court of Human Rights against his four-year ban from the game.
March 5 – Former Brazil and Barcelona star Ronaldinho is being investigated by police in Paraguay for allegedly using a false passport to enter the country.
March 4 – UEFA are considering tweaking their financial fair play regulations after Manchester City announced they were taking their fight to overturn a two-year ban for breaching the rules to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
By Paul Nicholson
March 4 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed commercial director Abdelmounaïm Bah as Acting General Secretary following the surprise resignation of fellow Moroccan Mouad Hajji yesterday.
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
March 4 – Reigning European champions Portugal will meet the world champions France, who renew their rivalry with Croatia, in what looks to be the Nations League’s ‘Group of Death’. An ambitious Sweden make up the fourth group team.
March 4 – Despite UEFA cautioning against over-reacting to the effects of the coronavirus on European football, the Champions League has been hit for the first time with Valencia’s forthcoming clash with Atalanta to be played behind closed doors.
March 4 – The full report into circumstances of the crash that killed Argentine forward Emiliano Sala and his pilot will be released on March 13 according to British and French media.
March 4 – The US third tier National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) league, which has just started its Spring season having completed an inaugural Fall season last year, will have a new team in 2021 with the New Jersey Teamsters Football Club (NJTFC).
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – Using language such as “sickened” and “death sentence”, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin pulled no punches today as he renewed his attack on racism and threats to the international calendar and UEFA’s competitions – issues that continue to be of grave concern to the administration of European football’s governing body.