By Bernd Fisa
March 13 – The world’s football community will pay a further tribute on the next few days days to former Italian striker Stefano Borgonovo who in 2013 passed away at the age of 49 following a long battle with motor neurone disease also known as Lou Gehrig disease.
When Sepp Blatter celebrated his 80th birthday this week in the bosom of his ultra-loyal family, perhaps with more than a touch of resentment at seeing his contribution to the game all but ignored during last month’s presidential hand-over, the man who replaced him was just completing his first week in charge.
By Paul Nicholson
March 11 – Daily Fantasy Sports gaming giant DraftKings boosted its UK offering yesterday with the introduction of the Europa League and Liga MX to players.
By Samindra Kunti
March 11 – When Carlos Dunga, Brazil’s head coach, called up his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Paraguay respectively earlier this week, the interim president of the CBF, the Brazilian FA, Antonio Nunes (pictured) mockingly responded to a reporter’s question about Nunes’s possible cooperation with the parliamentary inquiry (CPI) into the business dealings of his organisation.
By Mark Baber
March 11 – As West Ham supporters pay their respects to the Upton Park/Boleyn Ground, the club’s Board has revealed that it is working to increase the capacity of their new home to 60,000.
March 11 – Italy national coach Antonio Conte is edging closer to taking over at Chelsea’s but hanging over him is a match-fixing debacle from his time at Siena.
March 11 – FIFA’s suspension of Kuwait, which caused the Gulf state to be banned from voting at the recent presidential election, has again hit the Asian World Cup qualifying campaign with the upcoming fixture against South Korea called off.
Reflecting on the way FIFA history is being rewritten with its new reform championing president, one wonders if two weeks ago football (we’ll soon be calling it soccer) had its WMD moment.
March 20 – For the first time on the continent, a South America football rightsholder has enlisted the services of a match-fixing detection service.
By David Owen
March 10 – Aston Villa, the Birmingham club marooned at the foot of the Premier League table, have reported a £27.8 million loss for the year to 31 May 2015. The deficit, which compares with a loss of just under £4 million the previous year, is the biggest among Premier League clubs yet to have reported, just ahead of Chelsea.
By Mark Baber
March 10 – A few hours after the news had leaked out prematurely, FC Barcelona announced officially that the winner of the international design competition for the refashioning of the Camp Nou is the Nikken Sekkei and Pascual i Ausió Arquitectes team.
By Paul Nicholson
March 10 – A sign that the broadcast sales of sports rights is shifting away from traditional platform sales to embrace the digital distribution options more fully can be seen from the partnership just announced by MP & Silva with Simplestream.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 10 – Francois Carrard, the former Olympic supremo who led the team that drafted FIFA’s much-trumpeted governance proposals, has given his backing to Gianni Infantino in ensuring the reform measures are implemented properly and not just left to fester.
By Samindra Kunti
March 10 – Coca-Cola and Olympique Lyonnais have signed a three-year supply deal pertaining to the French club’s new stadium Stade de Lyon.
March 10 – Zimbabwe has become embroiled in another match-fixing scandal after its national football association (ZIFA) provisionally suspended one of its own board members pending further investigation.