By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
March 4 – Reigning European champions Portugal will meet the world champions France, who renew their rivalry with Croatia, in what looks to be the Nations League’s ‘Group of Death’. An ambitious Sweden make up the fourth group team.
March 4 – Despite UEFA cautioning against over-reacting to the effects of the coronavirus on European football, the Champions League has been hit for the first time with Valencia’s forthcoming clash with Atalanta to be played behind closed doors.
March 4 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has added his voice to the growing confusion over VAR saying something has to be done to make it more palatable to the average fan.
March 4 – The opening weekend of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season delivered record TV ratings across the US for a league that is pushing to take a bigger slice of the broadcast rights revenue cake.
March 4 – The full report into circumstances of the crash that killed Argentine forward Emiliano Sala and his pilot will be released on March 13 according to British and French media.
March 4 – The US third tier National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) league, which has just started its Spring season having completed an inaugural Fall season last year, will have a new team in 2021 with the New Jersey Teamsters Football Club (NJTFC).
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – Using language such as “sickened” and “death sentence”, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin pulled no punches today as he renewed his attack on racism and threats to the international calendar and UEFA’s competitions – issues that continue to be of grave concern to the administration of European football’s governing body.
By Paul Nicholson
March 3 – Crisis-hit Confederation of African Football (CAF) has taken another blow with the resignation of Secretary General Mouad Hajji (pictured). Haji, a close confidant and supporter of CAF president Ahmad, had only been in the post since April 2019.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – UEFA’s top brass were forced on the defensive today as they closed ranks over contingency plans for Euro 2020 – or lack of them – as a result of the spread of the coronavirus.
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
March 3 – The bidding race for the 2023 Women’s World Cup is shifting gear. On the eve of the UEFA Congress in the Dutch capital, the four bids pitched their tournament plans to the European governing body’s Executive Committee.
March 3 – Goals win matches, but you have to create the chances. Lionel Messi tops a ranking of players who create ‘big’ chances, making a significant goal opportunity every 90 minutes, according to data from the CIES Football Observatory looking at Europe’s Big 5 leagues.
March 3 – Swiss football authorities have suspended all matches in the country’s top two divisions because of the coronavirus, one of the strongest sporting reactions to date to try and combat the spread of the illness.
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
March 3 – Budapest will host the 2022 Europa League final, UEFA’s Executive Committee decided on Tuesday. The body also awarded various other European finals to Helsinki, Kazan, Turin and Eindhoven respectively.
March 3 – Former England striker Daniel Sturridge has been banned from football for four months and fined £150,000 for breaching betting rules.
March 3 – Malaysian Vincent Tan, owner of Cardiff, has reportedly sold half his stake in Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Los Angeles FC (LAFC), valuing the club at a league high $700 million.