By David Owen
March 26 – FIFA has yet to rule out buying shares in stock exchange-listed football clubs such as Italy’s Juventus and Manchester United of the Premier League as part of its updated approach to management of its financial assets.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
March 26 – Sport integrity group SIGA has appointed the British Standards Institute (BSI) to develop and operate its ratings system that will measure how fit-for-purpose sport governing are. It is the next major step in the organisation’s crusade to bring better governance to sport and provide real tools for governing bodies to battle corruption and raise integrity standards.
March 26 – A serious clash of heads involving Swiss international Fabian Schar has prompted calls for a UEFA investigation into why the defender was allowed to return to the pitch after being knocked unconscious last weekend in a Euro 2020 qualifier.
March 26 – The financial wrangling between Cardiff City and Nantes following the air crash that tragically killed Emiliano Sala continues to cast a dark shadow over the player’s untimely death.
March 26 – Another unsavoury incident of racism at an international fixture, another Balkan country responsible.
March 26 – All 16 teams for the expanded Concacaf Gold Cup have now been decided following the conclusion of the Concacaf Nations League qualifying round last weekend.
March 26 – The date for Chelsea’s appeal against being slapped with a two-window transfer ban has been set for April 11 after FIFA rejected suspending the ban until the appeal process was completed.
March 25 – Juventus’s women captured the imagination of the public as they drew a record 39,000 fans to their first ever home game at Turin’s Allianz Stadium in a top-of-the-table 1-0 win over Fiorentina.
March 25 – In one of the most savage penalties ever handed down in English football for financial mismanagement, second-tier Birmingham City have been hit with a nine-point deduction for excessive spending and have been plunged into the relegation dogfight as a result.
March 25 – India retained their SAFF women’s crown by defeating Nepal 3-1 in the final to win the tournament for a fifth consecutive time.
March 25 – Cameroon, South Africa, Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Benin were among the teams to seal their ticket for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in a weekend of frantic qualifying that confirmed a strong eastern African presence and a maiden participation for Burundi at the 24-team finals.
March 25 – Italy’s football federation (FIGC) signed an agreement with the Chinese government on Sunday to develop footballing ties between the two countries but stopped short of agreeing to play Serie A matches there.
March 25 – A female fan died Sunday during a stampede outside Zimbabwe’s National Sports Stadium in Harare, the latest tragedy at an African international fixture.
March 25 – The surge in support for AFC President Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa for his re-election campaign to the Asian Football Confederation presidency has reached almost tidal wave proportions with the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) being the latest to announce its “unanimous support” for his continued leadership.
March 25 – Football Association of Ireland (FAI) chief executive John Delaney has stepped aside from the role just 10 days before he was due to appear before a parliamentary committee to be questioned over a €100,000 loan he provided to his federation two years ago.