European Super League 2.0: Organisers reveal plans for vastly expanded breakaway competition February 9, 2023 European Super League organisers say they are ready to resurrect plans for the breakaway competition in an expanded format featuring as many as 80 teams. The new version of the European Super League would have multiple divisions and, unlike in its initial incarnation, no permanent members. All clubs taking part would have to qualify via [...]
Qatar interested in buying Manchester United – but bidders won’t be PSG owners Qatar Sports Investments February 9, 2023 The Qatar Investment Authority is interested in buying a stake in Manchester United and has not ruled out a full takeover. QIA, which owns Harrods as well as significant shareholdings in Heathrow Airport and Sainsbury’s, has not made an offer for United yet. But it is one of the Qatari parties mulling an offer to [...]
Ed Warner: Rugby union could learn from the NFL model on Super Bowl LVII weekend February 9, 2023 For all the relentless commercial growth of the Premier League, IPL and F1, the NFL remains the sporting brand to beat. Super Bowl LVII will be watched by more than 200m people worldwide on Sunday. The matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles has its stories, but in truth the identity of [...]
Pressure grows over potential £42m deal between South Africa and Tottenham February 8, 2023 The South African government is under increasing pressure to scrap a proposed sponsorship deal worth over £40m with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. The proposed three-year deal is worth 900m South African rand (£42.5m) and has been criticised by the parliament’s tourism committee. Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu told the committee that she had no knowledge [...]
FC Barcelona: Regulators tighten loophole and cut Spanish giants’ spending power February 8, 2023 FC Barcelona are facing a setback to their on-field resurgence in the form of a crackdown on their exploitation of so-called “economic levers”, City A.M. can reveal. The Spanish club, on course to end their four-year wait for another LaLiga title, have attracted the attention of domestic and European regulators with their innovative capital-raising. Last [...]
Manchester City hire £10,000-an-hour Boris Johnson Partygate barrister to fight Premier League charges February 8, 2023 Manchester City have hired the barrister who advised Boris Johnson over Partygate, Lord Pannick KC, to defend them against more than 100 charges brought by the Premier League. Pannick is one of the country’s leading barristers and can command fees of £10,000 an hour – equivalent to City top earner Kevin de Bruyne’s £400,000 salary, [...]
Juventus: Why Italian football’s latest scandal has sent its most successful club tumbling down Serie A – and what it means for Tottenham Hotspur and plans for a European Super League February 7, 2023 While Manchester City are facing claims they systematically broke financial rules, Juventus have already been docked points for their own scandal in Serie A – and it might be about to get worse. Heard the one about the serial domestic champions brought to heel over allegations of systematic abuse of financial regulations? Except this isn’t [...]
Why PwC’s Global Sports Survey is good news for the owners of Manchester United and Liverpool February 7, 2023 From Chelsea’s record-breaking spending on new footballers to debate over the future of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup in tennis and the arbitration between legacy tours and LIV Golf, private equity and sovereign wealth have been intertwined with some of sport’s biggest stories so far in 2023. The trend is only set [...]
Why have Manchester City been charged by the Premier League? What punishment can they face? Will it affect the title race or fellow big-spenders Chelsea? February 6, 2023 The Premier League hit Manchester City with an unprecedented volume of charges for alleged breaches of financial rules on Monday, but what happens next? What punishment could City face if found guilty? And what does it mean for the title race, and other big-spending clubs such as Chelsea? Read on to find out. What has [...]
Manchester City’s most successful era now has an asterisk after Premier League hit them with over 100 charges February 6, 2023 Manchester City are facing the threat of expulsion from the Premier League after the English champions were accused of the biggest financial scandal in the competition’s history. City were yesterday charged with more than 100 alleged rule breaches dating back to 2009, including falsely reporting income and the salaries of players and managers, and failing [...]