3pm blackout: Broadcasters open to talks over scrapping UK’s ban on showing live football on Saturday afternoon February 21, 2023 English football’s 3pm blackout could come under further pressure after broadcasters indicated a willingness to discuss scrapping the ban on televising live games on a Saturday afternoon. Executives in charge of TNT Sports, the new joint venture between BT Group and Warner Bros Discovery, say they will consider showing Saturday afternoon fixtures if league chiefs [...]
Manchester United bidders want public statement from Glazers to show they are serious about selling the club February 20, 2023 Manchester United suitors want the Glazer family to go public with their plans for the club and quell concerns that they are not serious about a possible £5bn sale. British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar both confirmed submitting bids to buy the Premier League club last week, [...]
Glazer family could walk away from Manchester United sale, bidders fear February 19, 2023 Manchester United bidders believe the club’s owners, the Glazer family, could walk away from a £5bn sale of the Premier League club. Three parties are known to have submitted proposals to the Glazers’ bankers – British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe; the son of the former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani; and [...]
Bukayo Saka needs more protection from referees or Arsenal could suffer another Eduardo February 19, 2023 It was in the third minute of first-half stoppage time that Bukayo Saka snapped. The Arsenal winger had been kicked from pillar to post by left-back Alex Moreno for 47 minutes and when Saka was floored by yet another over-zealous challenge, he turned and shoved the tackler, Philippe Coutinho. The reaction was as inevitable as [...]
Barcelona and Manchester United are both on the way back up but the Premier League club is on a much surer footing February 16, 2023 Some fixtures just feel like they belong in the Champions League and Barcelona versus Manchester United is one of them. Tonight, however, they will meet in Uefa’s second-tier competition, the Europa League, in the first leg of a play-off tie to reach the last 16. It is a sign of how far both teams have [...]
Ed Warner: The European Super League isn’t dead yet – and it’s because of the Premier League February 16, 2023 “Laughable”, “all hot air”, “flimsy”, a “walking corpse”. So has English football, on a mostly unattributable basis, dismissed the attempt to breathe new life into the European Super League concept which unraveled so swiftly and spectacularly two years ago. But sat on this side of the English Channel, we would say that, wouldn’t we? Is [...]
Barcelona deny wrongdoing after £1m referee payments allegations emerge on eve of Manchester United tie February 15, 2023 Barcelona have strenuously denied any wrongdoing on the eve of their Europa League meeting with Manchester United after it emerged they paid a referees’ chief more than £1m. Spanish media reported that the club’s payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira were being investigated by local prosecutors over possible tax irregularities. Barca said the fees paid [...]
Everton investment blow as MSP Sports Capital switches focus to £3.1bn Tottenham Hotspur takeover February 15, 2023 Everton’s hopes of securing investment have suffered a blow after US private equity fund MSP Sports Capital reportedly turned its attention to a takeover of Tottenham Hotspur. MSP held talks about buying a minority stake from Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, who is seeking investment to help the cash-strapped club fund its new stadium build. [...]
Castore co-founder Tom Beahon on shelving IPO plans, bucking the Brexit trend by expanding in Europe, and the Andy Murray-backed sports brand’s first shoe launch February 15, 2023 At a time when Brexit has caused some British businesses to retreat from Europe, fast-growing premium sportswear brand Castore is eager to buck the trend. The company, founded by former City boys Tom and Phil Beahon and which counts Andy Murray among its investors, has opened a distribution centre in the Netherlands and is increasingly [...]
Manchester United sale: Saudi Arabia and US consortium set to rival Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatar in £5bn takeover battle February 14, 2023 Suitors from Saudi Arabia and the US are set to go up against Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a Qatari bid in the battle to buy Manchester United, City A.M. understands. The bank handling the sale, the Raine Group, has set a deadline of Friday for offers to be made to United’s owners, the Glazer family. [...]