Mike Ashley is unlikely to sell Newcastle even if they’re relegated – a sports business professor explains May 18, 2015 Relegation to the Championship could be a blessing in disguise for Newcastle United fans should their team lose and Hull City win this Sunday, former chairman Freddy Shepherd has said – because it could be what finally forces the deeply unpopular Mike Ashley to hand over the club to anyone who'll take it. Read more: Newcastle [...]
Qatar accused of being a “slave state” as pressure campaign on Fifa sponsors is launched May 18, 2015 Qatar has been accused of being a "slave state" at the launch of a campaign from international workers unions, pressure groups and the sportswear company Skins demanding Fifa's sponsors challenge human rights abuses at World Cup construction sites in the gulf state. Figures from Skins, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the UK's Trade Union [...]
Wimbledon Championships serve up a profit May 17, 2015 The All England Tennis Club, the ultimate owner of the Wimbledon Championships, reported a 48 per cent rise in operating profit to £56.1m in the year to 31 July 2014. Most of the income came from the Championships which delivered turnover of £169.7m – 99 per cent of its total. It signed TV rights contracts [...]
How to build in a wow factor: One rugby-mad VP at Marriott is serious about using fun to strengthen its brand May 17, 2015 Until the late 1990s, Osama Hirzalla had barely seen a game of rugby. The vice-president of brand marketing and e-commerce at Marriott International was educated in the USA, and it wasn’t until he first experienced the Dubai 7s that he witnessed the sport, got the bug, and became so obsessed by it that he now [...]
Premier League: Wenger: Let’s finish the job and seal third May 17, 2015 MANCHESTER UNITED 1 ARSENAL 1 ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has urged his side to finish the job in midweek after all but securing a third-place Premier League finish thanks to a late equaliser at closest rivals Manchester United yesterday. An own goal from United substitute Tyler Blackett cancelled out Ander Herrera’s first-half opener for the [...]
Premier League: Toure double cements City’s runners-up spot May 17, 2015 SWANSEA CITY 2 MANCHESTER CITY 4 MANCHESTER City manager Manuel Pellegrini has vowed his side will come back stronger next season after tightening their grip on second place in a six-goal thriller at Swansea. City went two up through Yaya Toure and James Milner only to be pegged back by Gylfi Sigurdsson and Bafetimbi Gomis [...]
Summer transfer targets: Who Arsenal and Manchester United need to buy in the window May 17, 2015 Arsenal and Manchester United showed yesterday that they both need strengthening if they are to truly challenge Chelsea next season, but the two clubs will have to take fundamentally different approaches. For the Gunners, summer business ought to focus on making one or two high-class additions in certain key positions to improve what is [...]
Union calls for better education following Livermore cocaine test May 17, 2015 FOOTBALLERS’ union the PFA has called for a renewed drive to educate players on the consequences of recreational drug use after a spate of high-profile positive tests. Hull midfielder Jake Livermore faces a possible two-year ban after testing positive for cocaine, while Sheffield United and Wolves also suspended players last week. “They probably do not [...]
Broad says sorry for absence from sponsor function May 17, 2015 ENGLAND seamer Stuart Broad has apologised to cricket bosses for missing a sponsor’s event ahead of the two-Test series against New Zealand, which starts on Thursday. Broad is reported to have been unable to fulfil the commitment following a night out with former England team-mate Matt Prior, having only returned to his hotel at 7am [...]
Records tumble as Rory McIlroy claims Quail Hollow win May 17, 2015 WORLD No1 Rory McIlroy carded a final-round 69 to storm to a record-breaking victory at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina last night. Four-time Major winner McIlroy failed to repeat the heroics of his stunning round of 61 on Saturday but finished on a staggering 21 under par for the tournament, [...]