Manchester United: Are the football finance kings in danger of becoming a busted flush with an ageing business model? September 14, 2016 Earlier this week, Manchester United announced a staggering £515m in revenues. I tip my hat to their commercial team, because whilst the TV money flowing through from the Premier League represents a significant chunk of this you have to admire how they have built competitive advantage on others. When you consider that their EBITDA figure is [...]
Paris Saint-Germain 1, Arsenal 1; Alexis Sanchez rescues Gunners as Arsene Wenger hints at his additional maturity point proven September 14, 2016 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger revelled in the resilience of his side after the Gunners weathered a Paris Saint-Germain storm to escape from the Parc de Princes with a potentially pivotal Champions League point. PSG had copious amounts of chances to bury the Gunners but failed to add to Edinson Cavani’s first-minute opener, with the Uruguayan [...]
Russian hackers condemned as private medical files of Serena Williams and Simone Biles leaked September 13, 2016 The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have condemned a group of Russian hackers who call themselves the “Fancy Bears” after they accessed and leaked medical data for Rio 2016 stars such as Serena Williams and Simone Biles. The hackers published what they said were the therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) – [...]
Why Tottenham and West Ham’s stadium experiments could count against them – and what decided the Manchester derby September 13, 2016 It would be a very different mood at Tottenham going into their opening Champions League game against Monaco on Wednesday if they had not beaten Stoke so soundly on Saturday. A draw or defeat would have compounded concerns about a hangover from last season’s failed Premier League title challenge and a slow start this term, [...]
Georgie Hermitage shrugs off pressure and expectation to land her second gold of Paralympic Games September 13, 2016 Great Britain’s Georgie Hermitage insists winning her second gold medal of the Paralympic Games was all the more satisfying given the expectation heaped upon her shoulders before Tuesday's T37 400m final. The 27-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, made light work of the stifling Rio heat to storm home in a world record time of 1.00.43, [...]
Who will be Uefa’s next president? Aleksander Ceferin and Michael Van Praag fight over future of European football in bids to replace Michel Platini September 13, 2016 The future path of European football will become clearer on Wednesday after governing body Uefa elects a new president to replace the disgraced Michel Platini. Slovenian lawyer Aleksander Ceferin and Dutch administrator Michael Van Praag are duking it out at the 12th Extraordinary Congress in Athens for the potentially poisoned chalice of leading Uefa as [...]
Eric Dier backs Tottenham to thrive on Wembley setting for Champions League adventure – unlike north London rivals Arsenal September 13, 2016 Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier believes that playing their European home games at Wembley Stadium will work better for them than it did for north London rivals Arsenal. Staging Champions League fixtures at the national stadium was seen as a gamble that backfired for the Gunners, whose two seasons there – 1998-99 and 1999-2000 – both [...]
The Football Pools sale: Sportech plans disposal of betting game for nearly £100m to Burlywood Capital September 13, 2016 The Football Pools, the 93-year-old sports lottery, is being sold by owners Sportech to investment fund Burlywood Capital for just shy of £100m. Burlywood Capital, a venture capital firm focused on gaming and gambling, plans to list a new company created for the Football Pools on the AIM exchange. Shares in Sportech have jumped by 9.3 [...]
Pool joy for ParalympicsGB as Sascha Kindred and Ellie Simmonds both set new record in gold medal-winning swims September 13, 2016 Great Britain enjoyed a stunning evening in the pool as Sascha Kindred and Ellie Simmonds both won gold on day five of the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro last night. Kindred, competing at his final Games, won a 13th medal and will end his 22-year career as a seven-time Parlaympic champion after setting a [...]
Sunderland 0, Everton 3: I need to be a serial killer, insists hat-trick hero Romelu Lukaku September 12, 2016 Everton striker Romelu Lukaku insists he needs to develop into a penalty box serial killer after ending his goal drought with a destructive hat-trick as his side hammered winless Sunderland. Lukaku brought a 13-match barren spell to a close as the Toffees recorded a third straight Premier League victory and their best start to a top-flight [...]