Barca invest in their future with launch of Innovation Hub
March 23 – FC Barcelona have officially unveiled their Barça Innovation Hub (BIH) with the aim of positioning the club as the leader in sports knowledge, innovation and technology.
From dark to light. Brazil close in on Russia 2018, but Argentina have work to do
By Samindra Kunti
March 23 – South American giants Brazil and Uruguay face different obstacles in their crunch World Cup qualifiers as they seek to qualify for the 2018 Russia World Cup.
ILO keeps up pressure on Qatar on migrant workers’ travel rights
March 23 – The International Labour Organisation, one of the United Nations’ most highly regarded agencies, has decided to continue monitoring Qatar for human rights violations until November despite the Gulf state, organisers of the 2022 World Cup, insisting progress is being made.
Maradona tantrum referred upward as he tells Infantino he’s quitting
March 23 – Diego Maradona has reportedly threatened to resign as a FIFA global ambassador unless an Argentine rival is removed from his post in the national federation.
Ceferin forms an army to battle ‘doping, matchfixing, violence and corruption’
By Andrew Warshaw
March 22 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says he will stop at nothing to combat football’s most dangerous ills and will soon have an “army” of personnel to tackle the issues involved.
Manchester clubs join Barca, Real, Juve, PSG, Roma and Spurs for US extravaganza
By Paul Nicholson
March 22 – The US is set to become the land of Europe’s giant clubs at the end of July in a pre-season football extravaganza that conceivably could feature at least three of Europe’s Big 5 league champions.
AFC blacklists Timor-Leste players as faked passports declared ‘null and void’
March 22 – Nine of the Brazilian footballers that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) found were playing under fake Timor-Leste passports have had their passports declared ‘null and void’, according to information from the Ministry of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste provided to the AFC.
Seifert outlines international growth offensive for Bundesliga
March 22- Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert may have expressed concerns about the dominance of Bayern Munich in the German league, but that debate has not held back his bullish expectations and strategy for growth of the league, especially internationally.
£780 for a pair of unscalped tickets to the Champions League final
March 22 – Champions League final tickets are on sale and will set buyers back £390 for a Category 1 seat at the Cardiff venue on June 3. Bayern Munich fans who protested at the price of Arsenal away tickets, will be apoplectic at the cost if their team reaches the final.
Players’ Tribune targets Europe’s footballers with its content sales stories
March 22 – The Players’ Tribune, a US-based website set up for sportsmen and women to tell their personal stories and express their views, wants to pull in English Premier League players and other footballers across Europe.
AFC graduates more young officials as video ref training launches for upcoming club comps
March 22 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) completed its third accelerated learning course for referees in Japan on Monday. Designed to identify and speed up the development of refereeing talent in the region, the two-year programme aims to graduate more officials to FIFA standards.
Match-fixing scars South African football again as FIFA bans Ghanaian ref Lamptey
March 21 – South African football has been plunged into yet another scandal after Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey was banned for life by FIFA for “match manipulation”.
Meram pulls out of Iraq World Cup qualifiers fearing travel ban would prevent return to US
March 21 – Iraq wants United States-born striker Justin Meram to rethink his decision not to join up with the squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia.
AFC World Cup qualifiers on knife-edge as Aussies, Japan and Korea under threat
March 21 – With attention switching to World Cup qualifiers this week, the battle for a place at the Russia 2018 finals is no more competitive than in Asia where AFC qualification has reached the half way point. There are no runaway leaders and the traditional regional dominance of Australia, Japan and South Korea is under threat.
Inter Milan drives deeper into China with SWM sponsorship deal
March 21 – Italy’s Internazionale have signed car manufacturer SWM Motors as an official partner with the company’s SWM X7 becoming the Official Car of F.C. Internazionale for the Greater China area.