Everton FC registers £120m loss after pandemic impact and suspension of Usmanov support March 29, 2022 Everton Football Club registered a £120.9m loss in 2021, meaning it’s almost £400m down over the last four years. The beleaguered Merseyside club attributed its loss to the pandemic as it published annual accounts this week, against the backdrop of severed sponsorship with a sanctioned Russian oligarch. It said there were £170m losses despite a [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: Throw out the formbook and chance well drawn Blissful Star March 29, 2022 FORMBOOK students will tell you the second division of the Hap Mun Bay Handicap (2.45pm) over six furlongs is a match between the Zac Purton-ridden Thunderstrike and Joao Moreira’s mount Fiery Diamond. Both jockeys are riding at their peak of their powers at present, with Purton currently leading his arch-rival by 95 winners to 92 [...]
Hong Kong Racing Tips: Lightning can strike twice for Majestic Shum and Teetan March 29, 2022 PUNTERS didn’t find it easy at Sha Tin last Sunday when three out of four odds-on favourites were sunk, leaving the majority of multiple and exotic wagers consigned to the litterbins and bettors left stony-faced. It’s likely not to get any easier today with Sha Tin hosting an eight-race programme on the all-weather surface, something [...]
Opinion: Crypto brands’ sporting land-grab is only just beginning March 29, 2022 As Lionel Messi and Fifa become the latest to do huge deals with cryptocurrency and blockchain-related brands, sports sponsorship expert Henry Nash of Octagon assesses the major new player in the market. I suspect I wasn’t alone in thinking the Nielsen 2022 Global Sports Marketing Report would be a story of Covid’s brutal impact on [...]
Spanish football’s LaLiga backs financial fair play shake-up as “major step forwards” March 29, 2022 Spanish football chiefs LaLiga have welcomed the proposed overhaul of European football’s financial fair play rules. New regulations set to be phased in from next year will see clubs’ spending on wages, transfers and agents’ fees capped at 70 per cent of their income but a greater tolerance for loss-making clubs. LaLiga, which represents the [...]
European football club chiefs defend controversial changes to Champions League qualification March 29, 2022 European football club chiefs have defended proposals to give more Champions League places to historically successful teams, saying they are “fair, add value and make sense”. The changes are set to take effect from 2024, when the competition’s group stage expands from 32 to a single 36-team league. Under plans approved by leading clubs, two [...]
Mystery surrounds Roman Abramovich poisoning in Kyiv but seen as ‘firm warning’ to Chelsea owner as fresh details emerge March 29, 2022 The suspected poisoning of Russian billionaire and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich was not intended to kill him and the two Ukrainian representatives, the lead Russia investigator with investigative news outlet Bellingcat has said. Christo Grozev told Times Radio the “most plausible” explanation for the alleged poisoning was that it was a warning to Abramovich. [...]
Jacksonville Jaguars returning to Wembley Stadium for three more years March 29, 2022 NFL team the Jacksonville Jaguars have committed to playing a game at Wembley Stadium for the next three years. The Jags have played in London every year since 2013 except 2020, when fixtures were cancelled because of Covid-19. The Florida-based franchise switched to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year but will return to Wembley this [...]
Who replaces Root if he moves on as England Test captain? March 28, 2022 There’s a growing sense of inevitability about England cricket captain Joe Root stepping down from his role. It might not be today or tomorrow, it may not be next week or beyond, but following another Test series defeat in the Caribbean there’s a general consensus that the day is coming. Root has won more matches [...]
Roman Abramovich ‘poisoned’ during Russia-Ukraine peace talks March 28, 2022 Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich reportedly suffered the symptoms of poisoning when he attended peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.