Serie A side Inter Milan Owner Erick Thohir "has claimed that Italian football needs to open up in order not to fall behind other European Leagues." Thohir insisted that the Italian Football Federation "needs to be flexible, proposing the idea of playing games abroad." Thohir: "For the good of the game in Italy, it is necessary that some games are played at three kick-off times on Saturday and Sunday, so they can be watched all over the world. And maybe we could play some games abroad. Think how great it would be to play the first day of Serie A in New York" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 3/26). ... Britain's four home nations "will battle it out against each other for the FIFA vice-presidency after the Scottish FA signalled it will put forward a candidate next year." There "had been suggestions that the home nations would only put forward a single candidate on a rotation basis -- Wales are next in line." However, Scottish FA CEO Stewart Regan revealed that "it will put forward its own candidate" (PA, 3/26). ... A handful of countries who initially expressed interest in staging matches at the pan-European 2020 finals "have pulled out of the running." The multi-venue finals, brainchild of UEFA President Michel Platini, are to be staged across 13 cities, with an April 25 deadline for official dossiers to be submitted from interested parties and a final decision due to be taken by UEFA's top brass in September (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 3/26).
