March 17 – Manchester United have launched their own on-line casino in partnership with the club’s online gaming and betting partner bwin. Played online and via an app, the 3D casino is set against the backdrop of Old Trafford.
“Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well.” Charles Spurgeon
Charles Spurgeon was the 19th Century preacher whose sermons taught millions of Victorian Londoners how to apply Christian virtues to life in an often-Hogarthian city. His mark was far from permanent: Spurgeon’s famous fondness for self-restraint has hardly left behind a city steeped in self-denial. He would no doubt be dismayed by a nation that has responded to the financial crisis by gorging itself on debt.
By David Owen
March 17 – FIFA has backed down over the inclusion of the Amazonian city of Manaus on the list of venues for the Rio 2016 Olympic football tournaments.
By Mark Baber
March 16 – The attempt by the Kenyan Football Federation (FKF) to put an end to the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) by taking matters to the civil courts was defeated comprehensively in the Kenyan High Court this morning as the Judge ruled the FKF does not have the capacity to sue.
March 16 – Barcelona may be holding on to their lead in La Liga but off the field the club have become ever more deeply embroiled in the Neymar tax fraud case.
By Mark Baber
March 16 – The release of a video clip by The Sun newspaper, showing England and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney apparently knocked out whilst engaged in a boxing match with former team-mate Phil Bardsley, is largely being treated as a private matter and a hook for various one-liners.
March 16 – Italian crisis club Parma, thumped again 4-1 at the weekend, have had two more points deducted by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for failing to pay their players’ salaries.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 16 – Brunei’s football federation has sought to play down reports that it will be supporting Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein against Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency.
March 16 – In a week when FIFA is due to announce the dates for the first ever winter World Cup in 2022, Sepp Blatter is keeping up the pressure on hosts Qatar to improve conditions for migrant workers.
By Paul Nicholson
March 16 – Manchester United continued their dominance of the Premier League Twitter chart for the fourth consecutive week, putting on more than 44,000 new followers, more than 7,000 more than nearest rivals Chelsea and Arsenal.
By Paul Nicholson
March 16 – The problem of racism in Russian football is getting the full attention of FIFA with CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb (pictured), who heads FIFA’s anti-racism and discrimination task force, saying that the problem needs to be tackled from the “dressing room out”.
By Mark Baber
March 13 – Kenyan Premier League officials have walked free from court after being cleared of the contempt of court charges brought against them by the Kenyan Football Federation and its President Sam Nyamweya. The ruling comes in spite of a remarkable letter being sent to the FKL by FIFA Deputy Secretary General Markus Kattner in which he explicitly scotched reports that FIFA had requested the withdrawal of the case.
March 13 – UEFA have re-ignited their attack on football’s lawmakers for making what they say is entirely the wrong call over how to solve the triple punishment rule.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 13 – Desperate players at Belarus’ FC Dinamo Brest have taken the unusual step of writing to state authorities pleading for them to pay their unpaid wages. Belarus’ top clubs are struggling to stay afloat financially and for the Dinamo Brest player, the crisis has reached breaking point.
March 13 – Theo Zwanziger’s imminent departure from the high echelons of FIFA is getting messier still. The former head of German football, who is stepping down from FIFA’s executive committee in May, has been using every opportunity to denounce the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar as well as having a go at Wolfgang Niersbach, his successor at the German FA and soon at FIFA too.