The new season got underway in Latvia in early April. The top flight, the LMT Virsliga, now has ten clubs instead of the previous eight and the league format has also been modified. After the first phase, in which the ten clubs will play against each other home and away, the league will split into two. The top six teams will meet each other again on a home-and-away basis to determine the champions, leaving the bottom four clubs to fight relegation in another “mini-league”. The team that finishes at the bottom of this mini-league will be relegated to the second division, leaving the team that finishes third in the “relegation league” to face a play-off against the runners-up from division two.
March also saw the start of the new season in Kazakhstan and the reintroduction of the Super Cup after 14 years. The Super Cup, which was the curtain-raiser for the new season, was won by reigning league champions FC Aktobe. The top flight has also been renamed as the Premier League. There are currently sixteen clubs in the division, although their number will be reduced to 14 for 2009, which means that four clubs will be relegated at the end of the current season.
In Denmark, futsal took centre stage during the country’s winter break with the launch of an official national championship. Following the conclusion of the preliminary phase, six teams took part in the final competition over two days. IF Albertslund won the first-ever men’s title and Fortuna Hjorring claimed the equivalent honour in the women’s game.
The Swedish football association is this year celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1958 FIFA World Cup™, a competition it hosted and finished as runners-up to Brazil. To mark the occasion, the Museum of Sport in Stockholm will host a special exhibition and Sweden will play a gala match against France in Gothenburg on 20 August.

New Zealand have qualified for the Beijing Olympics 2008 in both the Men’s and Women’s Football Tournaments after winning their respective OFC qualifiers. The OFC Men’s Football Tournament in Fiji was contested in a round-robin format by the Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea and the New Zealand side went undefeated to claim their first ever Olympic berth. Papua New Guinea hosted New Zealand in a one-off fixture for the OFC Women’s Olympic qualifier in Port Moresby and the Kiwis triumphed 2-0 to book their place at the games in front of a live television audience – the first ever for a women’s match in Papua New Guinea.
Preparations are well underway in New Caledonia for the visit of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning winning side in May. The side will play in a jubilee match in Noumea in honour of FIFA/OFC ambas¬sador Christian Karembeu. The match is being held in conjunction with the OFC congress, which will be attended by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.
Auckland City beat Tahitian champions AS Manu Ura 1 -0 in Papeete to set up an exciting final-round match with Waitakere United in Group A of the OFC O-League. The winner of Group A will progress to meet the Solomon Islands champions Kossa FC in the OFC O-League final. AS Manu Ura top Tahiti’s Division Federale following a spell of good form in the OFC O-League. Kossa FC defeated Fijian champions Ba 2-0 in Group B of the OFC O-League in front of 13,000 fans at the Lawson Tama stadium thanks to goals from James Naka and an own goal by the usually reliable Malakai Kainihewe. AS Mont Dore sit atop New Caledonia’s Super Ligue play-offs after two matches while JS Baco are bottom of the four team group. Minor premiership winners AS Magenta struggled to a 2-2 draw with Kirikitr – the outer islands champions – in what was considered a big upset. Jose Hmae, Michel Hmae and Pierre Wajoka continue to show good form for Magenta but the Super Ligue title is wide open with four rounds remaining. Waitakere United have one hand on the NZFC minor premiership after an impressive run of form. Waitakere only need one point from their final-round match with Otago to be guaranteed the title and a home fixture for the NZFC Grand Final.

Ricardo Terra Teixeira, President of the Brazilian football association since 17 January 1989, is set to continue in his post until 2015. Teixeira was reelected for a new term (2008-2012) at the assembly on 16 July 2007, but had already stated that his presidential mandate would be extended until after the 2014 World Cup should Brazil be appointed host nation. And that was exactly what happened.
The Peruvian football association (FPF) continues to focus on its infrastructure. The restructured and expanded gym¬nasium for its national players was inaugurated at its base at VIDENA (Villa Deportiva Nacional) on 24 March. The gymnasium, which has been extended from 60m2 to 160m2, is equipped with 28 state-of-the-art machines from world-leading Italian manufacturers which will be used for weight training, rehabilitation and endurance training. President of the FPF Manuel Burga emphasised that the gymnasium’s doors are also open to the country’s clubs.
The Ecuador football association’s Institute of Football Technology, a long-held ambition of Ecuadorian football, began teaching on 1 April. The institute is the country’s first training centre targeted specifically at coaches. The new director of the training centre is the Argentinian coach, Roberto Domingo Rogel, who enjoyed a long career as a player for Boca Juniors and the Argentinian national team, among others, and as coach of Velez Sarsfield and San Lorenzo. The training institute for coaches has been approved by the National Council of Polytechnic Universities as a Higher Institute of Football Technology and has been authorised to award higher-level qualifications. It is housed in the association’s magnificent headquarters in Guayaquil.