March 26 – England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) are seeking urgent talks with the Premier League and Football League over the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on players and clubs.
March 26 – As the fourth measure if its #SIGASTRIVES initiative the sports integrity body has called on technology companies to join the alliance.
March 24 – Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA has joined the SIGA community as a ‘Committed Supporter’. .
March 23 – Sports integrity body SIGA has listed on the European Union Transparency Register which makes information public on how the body governs itself as well as information on its financial structure.
March 20 – SIGA and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) have entered into a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to prevent corruption and other crimes in Sport.
March 19 – With the Premier League having announced that all matches are currently suspended until April 30, Manchester United have announced they will pay wages to their casual workforce whether games are played or not.
March 19 – Battling for sports integrity is not unlike the fight against coronavirus. You can’t see the enemy but you know that it is there and potentially can destroy everything you hold close. And you can’t let your guard down.
March 16 – Manchester City’s appeal against their two-year ban from European football for allegedly breaking financial fair play rules is suddenly up in the air as a result of the coronavirus.
March 12 – US Soccer has apologised after a backlash against statements in court documents this week that players on the men’s national team possess greater skill and have more demanding jobs than their female counterparts. The federation is also feeling the heat from sponsors.
March 12 – Former DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach (pictured) has made a surprise court appearance at the 2006 World Cup tax fraud trial – despite the advice of his doctor not to attend.
March 11 – Coronavirus fears have prompted SIGA to postpone its VI SIGA Sport Integrity Forum and general assembly, scheduled for 24-25 March in New York. The integrity group will now rearrange for a date in the Autumn.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 10 – The eagerly awaited trial of three of Germany’s most high-profile former football chiefs plus ex-FIFA Secretary General Urs Linsi linked to suspicions that Germany bought votes to obtain the 2006 World Cup has been adjourned after three of the four were absent from the courtroom near the Swiss-Italian border because of the coronavirus.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 6 – After a relatively quiet few months in the delicate debate over how European club football should be organised in the future, Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has re-stoked the flames of controversy by again making the case for the most prestigious clubs to be commercially prioritised.
By Paul Nicholson
March 6 – LaLiga has responded swiftly to a Madrid court ruling today that dismissed the league’s appeal against the RFEF’s decision not to authorise the Miami match between Girona and Barcelona that was going to be played January 26.
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.