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.
By Paul Nicholson
March 3 – Crisis-hit Confederation of African Football (CAF) has taken another blow with the resignation of Secretary General Mouad Hajji (pictured). Haji, a close confidant and supporter of CAF president Ahmad, had only been in the post since April 2019.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – UEFA’s top brass were forced on the defensive today as they closed ranks over contingency plans for Euro 2020 – or lack of them – as a result of the spread of the coronavirus.
March 3 – Swiss football authorities have suspended all matches in the country’s top two divisions because of the coronavirus, one of the strongest sporting reactions to date to try and combat the spread of the illness.