By Andrew Warshaw
March 15 – The head of Morocco’s 2026 bid team says his country is in it to win it and is not simply a stalking horse for the favoured rival North American candidate.
March 16 – UEFA has released ticketing detail for their showpiece Champions League final in Kiev Ukraine, on May 26.
By David Owen
March 16 – The sale of Ashley Williams and the recently-returned André Ayew allowed Swansea City to return to profit last season. A £36.9 million gain on player disposals turned a £23 million operating loss into a £13.4 million profit at the pre-tax level. This compared with a £14.6 million pre-tax loss the previous year.
March 16 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino will ask his Council on Friday in Bogota to approve a global women’s league that will strengthen the growth of the women’s game.
March 16 – Australian FA (FFA) chief executive David Gallop has confirmed that bidding for places in the expanded A-League will begin by the end of March, with 10 groups having already declared their intention to bid for the extra 2 places which will be on offer.
March 16 – FIFA’s ruling Council are expected to rubber-stamp video assistant referees being used at this summer’s World Cup at their meeting in Bogota today despite lingering opposition from within the game.
March 16 – The German Football Association has parted ways with national women’s team coach Steffi Jones, following a disappointing SheBelieves Cup in the United States. Horst Hrubesch (pictured) will succeed her on an interim basis.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 15 – Twenty-four hours after the Canadian government threw its support behind the country co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with the United States and Mexico, the bid suffered a blow with the news that Vancouver, one of North America’s most popular tourist venues, is being dropped as a candidate city.
March 15 – No British government ministers or members of the Royal Family will attend the World Cup finals in Russia this summer as part of the retaliation for the poisoning and attempted murder of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, Prime Minister Theresa May has announced.
By Samindra Kunti and Andrew Warshaw
March 15 – Having bowed to global pressure and finally banned former Brazilian FA boss Marco Polo Del Nero for 90 days, FIFA’s ethics committee has extended the suspension for a further 45 days while it continues to investigate his alleged role in taking bribes.
March 15 – Mauricio Pellegrino, the ninth manager to be sacked in the Premier League this season, is to be replaced at Southampton by Mark Hughes, the eighth Premier League manager to be sacked this term.
March 15 – Training your own talent is no guarantee of success at club level though the stats suggest that it gives a slight advantage. Players who spent at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21 in the club accounted for almost 25% of champion winning team squads, compared to only about 20% for all clubs surveyed.
March 15 – The use of match stats in broadcast and turning the betting experience into a more immersed entertainment activity will be discussed at the Betting on Football conference, March 20-23, at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium.
March 15 – France’s leading club, Paris Saint-Germain has signed an exclusive sponsorhip and licensing rights representation deal in both China and Hong Kong with Desports, one of Asia’s leading sports marketing agencies.
March 14 – New Balance has extended its kit supply deal with FC Porto through to the end of the 2024/25, a deal that will see it supply the current Portuguese league leaders for 10 years.