By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 29 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter suddenly halted a much-lauded whistle blowing programme designed to weed out match-fixing and illegal gambling before it even got off the ground, it has emerged.
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 29 – The man charged with saving crisis-stricken English Championship club Portsmouth painted a bleak picture of all second tier teams by describing them as “a scene of carnage” in terms of their finances.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 29 – In an unprecedented move, FIFA has put its entire Executive Committee on its own organising body for the 2014 World Cup amid growing concern about Brazil’s ability – or lack of it – to stage the event.
By David Gold
March 29 – Honduras have booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) men’s Olympic football qualifiers.
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 28 – England is the only country among UEFA’s 53 members to be dragging its feet over thrashing out final details covering centralised media rights for national matches, according to the organisation’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino.
By David Gold
March 28 – Rainforests will come under the microscope today with Brazil due to vote on World Cup law once again.
By David Gold
March 28 – Football Federation Australia (FFA) chiefs have pledged to continue supporting the W-League – insisting they see “blue sky not storm clouds”, as speculation mounts over its future.
By David Gold
March 28 – Eight cities – Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Cape Town, Polokwane (pictured), Rustenburg and Nelspruit – have bid to host matches at next year’s African Nations Cup, hosted by South Africa.
By David Gold
March 28 – UEFA has placed 50,000 tickets on sale for the Women’s Champions League final, to be held at the Olympiastadion in Munich on May 17.
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex in Manchester
March 28 – Stuart Pearce, who is doubling up as Great Britain’s Olympic football coach as well as running the England senior team on an interim basis, says the tournament at this summer’s London Games will “galvanise the country” and showcase the sport at under-23 level.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 28 – The Football Association of Wales (FAW) are considering taking UEFA to Europe’s highest sporting court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), for barring their clubs, including Premier League Swansea City, from playing in the Welsh Cup in order to try and gain a berth in the Europa League.
By David Gold
March 27 – FIFA is meeting this week to discuss what sanctions, if any, to take against the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) after they missed a deadline to take control of domestic football in the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 27 – Asian football, which has not always spoken with one voice, moved towards a closer alliance today when FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (pictured left) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) acting President Zhang Jilong (right) signed a Collaboration Agreement between the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) and AFC.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 27 – The composition of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game’s lawmaking body comprising FIFA and the four British Home Associations, was the notable topic of discussion when FIFA’s Strategic Committee met at the start of a week-long series of key sessions ahead of Thursday’s (March 29) Executive Committee meeting.
By David Gold
March 27 – There was a major shock in Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) men’s Olympic football qualifiers as the hosts, the United States, were knocked out after a failing to beat El Salvador in their final group game.