Club Banned From Club World Cup

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KEY FIXTURES

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers: England vs Latvia, 19:45 / 15:45. The Three Lions are unbeaten in their last 32 World Cup qualifiers, the longest ongoing run of any European nation. Latvia, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last three World Cup qualifiers, having drawn 0-0 with Norway and beaten Gibraltar 3-1 to finish their unsuccessful 2022 campaign. See the full list of UEFA World Cup qualifiers here.

Results…

UEFA Nations League QF: France 2-0 Croatia (Agg 2-2) (France 5-4 on pens) | Germany 3-3 Italy (Agg 5-4) | Portugal 5-2 Denmark (Agg 5-3) | Spain 3-3 Netherlands (Agg 5-5 / Spain 5-4 on pens)
UEFA Nations League Play-offs: Full results (More)
CONCACAF Nations League Final & Third-Place: Mexico vs Panama | Canada vs United States (Decided after publication) (See results)
Women’s Super League: City 1-2 Chelsea (Report) | West Ham 2-0 Spurs | Leicester 3-2 Brighton | Villa 0-4 Man Utd (Table)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Sponsorship Gamble

A new report finds that two-thirds of Europe’s top clubs have betting sponsors despite a continent-wide crackdown. Almost 300 top-flight clubs have deals with betting firms this season, with many teams finding loopholes to circumvent the restrictions.

In countries where betting sponsors are prohibited from featuring on the front of shirts, like in Belgium and Italy, clubs display logos of gambling companies’ charitable foundations or news websites.

Meanwhile, while betting brands spent around $135m on shirt deals in the Premier League this season, clubs agreed in 2023 to ban front-of-shirt sponsorships from such brands beginning at the end of the 2025-26 season. Nevertheless, both Everton and Leicester City have been accused of promoting unlicensed gambling firms in the United Kingdom; an anti-gambling body has contacted the Gambling Commission to take action against these clubs. It’s unclear what the outcome of this action will be.

Germany’s Parliament FC

The German parliament’s football team, FC Bundestag, must now allow members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to join the squad, a Berlin court has ruled. FC Bundestag is a team made up of former and current members of the German parliament, which competes weekly in amateur competitions for charity.

The AfD’s second-place finish in last month’s federal elections prompted its members to push for representation in the parliament’s football team. “More than 20% of the population voted for us and want us to be represented in different offices in the parliament—and also in FC Bundestag,” said Malte Kaufmann, an AfD Bundestag member.

Bundestag FC banned AfD members from joining after last year’s revelations that AfD officials held secret meetings to discuss mass deportations.

See FC Bundestag (in purple jerseys) in action here.

Club World Cup Boot

Mexican side Club Leon have been removed from this summer’s Club World Cup after violating Fifa’s multi-club ownership rules. Leon was scheduled to face Chelsea in their opening fixture of the 32-team tournament. See everything you need to know about the tournament here.

Leon are majority owned by Grupo Pachuca, which also controls fellow Liga MX and Club World Cup side Pachuca. Fifa’s regulations state that “no individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in the competition”. Both clubs have rejected Fifa’s ruling and plan to appeal the ruling.

Costa Rican club Alajuelense, which demanded that Fifa enforce its multi-club rules, said last month it had taken the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The 30-time Costa Rican champions believe they should replace one of the Liga MX sides, based on their continental club ranking. Fifa have not announced who will fill Leon’s spot yet.

POLL

Do you think betting companies should be banned from sponsoring football clubs?

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ON THE BALL

Europe

> Trent Alexander-Arnold has reportedly (unconfirmed) rejected another offer of a new contract from Liverpool, Spanish outlet Marca claims (More) | Anthony Gordon has withdrawn from the England camp after sustaining an injury (More)

> Reading risk being expelled from the English Football League if their owner, Dai Yongge, does not sell the club before 5 April (More)

> Julian Alvarez says he watched his controversial penalty against Real Madrid a “thousand times” and doesn’t believe he touched it twice (More)

> Thiago Motta has been sacked as Juventus head coach as they sit fifth and 12 points behind leaders Inter–Igor Tudor replaces him (More)

> Real Madrid Femeni have beaten FC Barcelona for the first time in the club’s history (More)

> Chelsea Women came from behind to beat Man City 2-1 away from home and remain undefeated in the Women’s Super League (Report) | Rangers Women lifted the SWPL Cup for the third consecutive season after defeating record-winners Hibernian 5-0 (Highlights)

Americas

> Mexico and Panama will face off in the CONCACAF Nations League final on Sunday (Mar. 23) at 21:30 ET | Canada and the United States play a third-place match (decided after publication) (See Result)

> Philadelphia Union continue to lead the MLS Eastern Conference by two points following a 1-0 home win over St Louis (Highlights) | Vancouver Whitecaps lead the Western Conference by three points despite a 1-3 loss to Chicago (Highlights)

> US-Mexico bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup is exploring hosting matches in Costa Rica and Jamaica (More) | The number of bars in the United States dedicated to showing women’s sports is expected to quadruple this year (More)

Rest of the World

> Pokemon becomes the official partner of the Indian Super League (More)

> Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Gabon claimed a 2-1 win over Kenya to move two points clear of Ivory Coast in their World Cup qualification group (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Friday’s Poll: Do you think Thomas Tuchel will be more successful than Gareth Southgate as England manager?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 📈 Yes... (55%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 👎 Nope... (42%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (3%)

Your punditry takes:

📈 P.M: “[Tuchel] was right in his comments about Gareth Southgate. We underachieved and could have done a lot better if we had been more positive. We never had a Plan B if we took the lead, we just sat back and invited the opposition to score.”
👎 M.A: “More successful than Southgate means winning a World Cup or Euros. The absolute pinnacle of sport. It's unrealistic to expect that of anyone… Tuchel also has a temper, so this situation will end very badly based on his personality, the job, and English sports media.”
✍️ N.W: “I don't think he will stay in the job long enough to compare. He will leave after the '26 WC, with England going out in the QFs or Semis.”