UK Tennis chiefs offered £500k by WTA to let Russians back into Grand Slam February 20, 2023 The governing body of women’s tennis the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) have offered to retrospectively reduce a £1m fine, imposed on the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) last year, if Russians and Belarusians are allowed to compete in LTA competitions this year. Athletes from the two countries were controversially denied entry to the Wimbledon Championships as [...]
MLR’s Utah Warriors CEO: Rugby needs to put commercialism first February 20, 2023 If you were looking for a nation to grab something traditional by the horns and zhuzh it up, it would be the United States wouldn’t it? Well, now rugby is entering the rodeo ring to have that treatment. Because last month, Major League Rugby (MLR) franchise Utah Warriors announced a partnership with five-time European champions [...]
Manchester United bidders want public statement from Glazers to show they are serious about selling the club February 20, 2023 Manchester United suitors want the Glazer family to go public with their plans for the club and quell concerns that they are not serious about a possible £5bn sale. British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar both confirmed submitting bids to buy the Premier League club last week, [...]
Saudi Arabia wants its own Formula 1 team, says country’s motorsport chief February 20, 2023 Saudi Arabia’s motorsport chief has entertained the idea of a Formula 1 team owned by the Middle Eastern Kingdom in the future. Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, chairman Saudi Motorsport Company, said the commercial history between the country and Formula 1 lends itself to the country owning a team. “We have a lot of [...]
Former City lawyer tasked with reviewing demise of Wasps and Worcester Warriors in Premiership Rugby financial review February 20, 2023 Legal heavyweight Sir Nigel Boardman, a former partner at City law firm Slaughter and May, has been appointed to lead a review of the financial crisis engulfing Premiership Rugby. Boardman, 72, led the government inquiry into the Greensill Capital lobbying row in 2021 and last year called time on a near-50-year stint with the Magic [...]
Glazer family could walk away from Manchester United sale, bidders fear February 19, 2023 Manchester United bidders believe the club’s owners, the Glazer family, could walk away from a £5bn sale of the Premier League club. Three parties are known to have submitted proposals to the Glazers’ bankers – British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe; the son of the former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani; and [...]
Barcelona and Manchester United are both on the way back up but the Premier League club is on a much surer footing February 16, 2023 Some fixtures just feel like they belong in the Champions League and Barcelona versus Manchester United is one of them. Tonight, however, they will meet in Uefa’s second-tier competition, the Europa League, in the first leg of a play-off tie to reach the last 16. It is a sign of how far both teams have [...]
Ed Warner: The European Super League isn’t dead yet – and it’s because of the Premier League February 16, 2023 “Laughable”, “all hot air”, “flimsy”, a “walking corpse”. So has English football, on a mostly unattributable basis, dismissed the attempt to breathe new life into the European Super League concept which unraveled so swiftly and spectacularly two years ago. But sat on this side of the English Channel, we would say that, wouldn’t we? Is [...]
Barcelona deny wrongdoing after £1m referee payments allegations emerge on eve of Manchester United tie February 15, 2023 Barcelona have strenuously denied any wrongdoing on the eve of their Europa League meeting with Manchester United after it emerged they paid a referees’ chief more than £1m. Spanish media reported that the club’s payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira were being investigated by local prosecutors over possible tax irregularities. Barca said the fees paid [...]
Worcester FAIL to meet conditions and miss out on place in Championship February 15, 2023 Worcester Warriors have failed to meet the conditions of entry for the Championship and will therefore not take their place in England’s second tier next season. The former Premiership rugby club’s new owners – the Atlas Consortium – failed the RFU fit and proper test over their refusal to pay rugby creditors in December but [...]