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.
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
March 14 – A FIFA delegation has landed in Greece to discuss the chaos of the weekend which has since seen the Greek Superleague suspended indefinitely by the Greek government. Separately the European Club Association has taken the unusual step of provisionally suspending PAOK following the unprecedented events in their match against league title rivals AEK Athens.
By Paul Nicholson
March 14 – It was good news and bad news from FIFA as the final round of ticketing for the Russia 2018 World Cup began. While 356,700 tickets were allocated in 24 hours, complaints poured in from fans unable to access the system.
March 14 – The three-way co-operation between Canada, Mexico and the US in the bid for the 2026 World Cup, is seeing new alliances formed at the top end of club football in their countries. Liga MX and Major League Soccer have agreed a long-term partnership that will see new club competition between the countries.
March 14 – With precision timing just as bid books are to be presented to FIFA, Canada’s government has officially thrown its support behind the North American bid for the 2026 World Cup.
March 14 – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will be taking “blood money” by working for Russian state-backed channel RT during the World Cup, according to a British member of parliament.
March 14 – FIFA has lifted the suspension of the Pakistani Football Federation (PFF). The decision was communicated to the PFF and follows on from a decision of the Lahore High Court ordering the handover of control of the PFF from a court-appointed administrator to the winners of the election held 20 June 2015.
March 14 – The English FA has received 15 club applications to join the expanded top two tiers of women’s competition. As many as four new full time professional teams could enter the Women’s Super League (WSL), taking the league to 14 teams.
March 14 – The Bundesliga is to introduce virtual advertising over its international broadcast feeds from the start of next season.
March 14 – Goals Soccer Centres, an operator of outdoor small-sided football centres, has announced year end profits to December 2017 of £6 million on revenue of £33 million.
March 13 – With just days to go before the two 2026 World Cup contenders have to hand in their bid books to FIFA, Moroccan officials have met with a key group of Asian nations to try and gain crucial support ahead of the vote in June.
March 13 – Greece’s Super League has been suspended “indefinitely” by the Greek government following the pitch intervention in a top of the table clash between PAOK and AEK Athens by Ivan Savvidis, owner of PAOK. Savvidis entered the field carrying a holstered handgun on his hip and allegedly threatened the referee after a 90th minute goal was disallowed.