After voting in VAR at IFAB, Scots now discuss whether they should bring it in at home
March 13 – The Scottish FA is to meet Scottish Premier League officials to discuss whether to implement video assistant referees.
West Ham mayhem plays out to a packed house
March 13 – West Ham’s London Stadium bubble has well and truly burst after the scenes last weekend where pitch invasions and a toxic atmosphere from an increasingly disaffected supporter base is turning the Premier League’s newest venue into its ugliest. Even so, the stadium was still packed to its 57,000 capacity.
Liverpool’s Salah adds €74.7m to his transfer value since season start
March 13 – Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah is now worth €74.7 million than he was on 1 September 2017, when the summer transfer window closed, according the latest stats by the CIES Football Observatory.
James Dostoyevsky: Gunning for the top. A new style of Greek football ownership
Carrying a gun into a football stadium is forbidden by Greek Law. Reaching for the gun in a threatening fashion takes this to the next level. Demanding the ref to change a decision at gun-point is an altogether novel approach to winning a title. But when PAOK of Thessaloniki scored an offside goal in the 90th minute to win the match, that’s exactly what happened. The goal was not given and the proverbial hit the fan.
Gun-slinging PAOK owner Savvidis threatens referee at Greek Super League clash
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
March 12 – Greek’s football chaos took an ugly turn for the worse on Sunday after gun-carrying PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis stormed on to the pitch to threaten a referee after a goal was disallowed in the top of the table clash with AEK Athens.
Tackling Matchfixing: Macedo de Medeiros and Van Seggelen call for more action
By Andrew Warshaw
March 12 – Football is losing the war against matchfixing despite the rhetoric put out by established bodies attempting to tackle the sport’s most critical issue.
David Owen: Premier League club boards should enjoy the good times while they can
The good news for Premier League club owners: top-tier English football has never been more profitable. The bad news: this is probably as good as it is going to get for at least the next five years – an age in terms of media technology.
Set for a hammering: West Ham lose control as pitch invasions leave club facing sanctions
March 12 – English Premier League club West Ham United face serious sanctions after a number of fans invaded the pitch during Saturday’s crushing home defeat by Burnley that sent the London club closer towards the relegation zone.
Belgian outreach: Monaco’s Cercle Brugges win promotion, Qatar’s Eupen secure status
March 12 – Cercle Brugge gained promotion to the Belgian top flight following a tense 3-1 play-off win against Beerschot Wilrijk. KAS Eupen prolonged their stay in the Pro League with a thumping 4-0 victory over Mouscron.
Rwanda pull out of bid to host 2019 U17 World Cup
March 12 – Rwanda have withdrawn their bid to host the 2019 U-17 World Cup, the country’s FA president confirmed.
Tackling Matchfixing: Football’s integrity leaders commit to killing a cancerous epidemic
By Andrew Warshaw
March 8 – One of the most significant summits dedicated solely to matchfixing in football painted a grim picture today of the extent of the issue as key speakers outlined how judiciary and integrity bodies are battling to deal with what has become a global epidemic.
Tackling Matchfixing: FIFA act to protect 2018 World Cup against fixers
By Andrew Warshaw
March 9 – FIFA are to hold a special training course ahead of the World Cup to make sure there is no temptation to fix matches.
Tackling matchfixing: Lower leagues remain soft targets for criminal match fixers
By Patrick Kelly-Burton
March 8 – Lower leagues in world football are at far greater risk of being rigged than the top divisions which enjoy most of the surveillance.
European campaign sparks king-sized jump in valuations of Leicester’s players
By David Owen
March 9 – Leicester’s Champions League adventure has combined with general inflation in player transfers to push the market value of Riyad Mahrez and the rest of the Foxes’ squad to above £300 million, according to the Thai-controlled club’s directors.
Brazilian politico promotes bill to make VAR compulsory
March 9 – Brazilian federal representative Edson Moreira has designed a bill that would make the use of the video referee compulsory in Brazil’s professional competitions. In February, Brazil’s elite clubs voted against the use of VAR.