By Paul Nicholson
April 1 – Manchester City have quickly followed up the build of their new £200 million academy and training complex with the appointment of engineering company Laing O’Rourke to start work on the expansion of the Etihad Stadium from 47,670 capacity to 62,170.
April 1 – Brazil’s World Cup preparations have suffered yet another setback with the death of a third worker at the Sao Paulo stadium that is being rushed to readiness to host the opening match on June 12.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 1 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, German head of the European Club Association, admits he is disappointed by the decision to reject goalline technology in his country’s top two divisions.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 1 – In an unexpected twist to the debate over the 2022 World Cup, Japan has declared it would be ready to stage the tournament if FIFA strips Qatar of hosting rights – even though there is no indication that is likely to happen.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 1 – French football authorities are upholding a ban on female players wearing headscarves for religious purposes in defiance of the game’s lawmakers.
By Matt Scott
April 1 – Internazionale risks becoming embroiled in a share wrangle over disputed allegations one of the club’s new owners misappropriated $170 million from a listed company.
“Plus tard, je serai président du PSG!” Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy became France’s most unpopular president in history at the end of his tenure but his nose for a political wind remains pretty keen. It was inevitable that, with French joblessness at record levels, the incumbent Socialists would lose out to his UMP party in municipal elections on Saturday. Cue a clamour for his return to the Elysée palace,
April 1 – Port of Spain – In an unexpected turn of events, formerly disgraced Austin “Jack” Warner, the ex-president of CONCACAF, CFU, ex-VP of FIFA and several other football organisations around the world, has announced his comeback into international football.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 31 – Israeli football authorities have broken their silence over the hugely sensitive dispute with Palestine, insisting efforts are being stepped up to improve conditions for Palestinian players and officials in and out of the West Bank and Gaza.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
March 31 – AEK’s plan to build a new €65 million stadium has obtained the backing of Greece’s Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Yiannis Maniatis who signed a project proposal intended for the Greek parliament. The document needs a total of four ministerial signatures to be submitted, and the country’s interior minister, culture minister and finance minister have already promised to ink the proposal.
March 31 – Eritrea have pulled out of the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco for no apparent reason. They had been due to face South Sudan in the first round of the preliminary phase over two legs in April.
March 31 – Swedish football has been left in shock after a supporter of the Stockholm club Djurgarden died from head injuries sustained in an assault before his team’s season-opening fixture at Helsingborg.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 31 – Reaction continues to pour in to the establishment of the new Nations League tournament that looks set to become an integral part of European football from 2018.
By Paul Nicholson
March 30 – English Premier League club Southampton, continually reported to be selling its top players and for sale itself, has reported a financial loss of £7.1 million for 2012/13. Before taking into account transfer spending the club made an operational profit of £8.7 million in the period which bridged the club’s first and second seasons back in the Premier League.
By Tom Parsons
March 28 – Hyde FC playing in the Skrill Conference Premier haven’t exactly had a season to remember on the pitch but their presence on Social Media has been entertaining to follow. One tongue-in-cheek tweet read: “Hearing reports that Floyd Mayweather has made a $38 million bet on Hyde tonight. Come on The Tigers! #WinItForFloyd”.