New Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin issues immediate warning to big clubs over Champions League reform and Financial Fair Play September 14, 2016 New Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has vowed that European football's governing body will take the fight to big clubs over the allocation of Champions League places and beef up financial fair play (FFP) rules. Ceferin, the little-known head of Slovenian football, comprehensively defeated Dutchman Michael van Praag 42-13 in Wednesday's vote to decide who would replace the disgraced [...]
BBC v Russia: Russian Embassy clashes with reporter over US athletes’ data leak September 14, 2016 Don't poke the bear. Especially not on Twitter. And especially not over doping in sport. You won't get away without an argument. The BBC's home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford and the UK's Russian Embassy were engaged in an unlikely and bizarre social media spat over doping in sport that culminated in the latter being accused of [...]
Aleksander Ceferin elected new Uefa president — here’s where he stands on the key issues facing European football September 14, 2016 Uefa has elected slovenian lawyer Aleksander Ceferin as its new president to replace the disgraced Michel Platini. The 48-year-old will take control of European football's governing body until 2019, after routing rival Michael van Praag by 42 votes to 13 at the election in Athens. Read more: Uefa urged to consider alternative format to liven up low-scoring European [...]
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 [...]