Ahead of the Game: British Horseracing Authority accused of ‘selling out sport’ December 11, 2024 Campaign group Clean Up Gambling has switched horses and is backing racing in the sport’s push to be regulated separately from online casinos and slots. Clean Up Gambling, which is funded by multimillionaire Labour donor Derek Webb and run by former party official Matt Zarb-Cousin, has called for racing to be exempt from affordability checks [...]
Exclusive: Forest, Chelsea and Inter players join £1.1m boot firm Sokito’s funding round December 11, 2024 Players from clubs such as Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Inter Milan have joined a £1.1m funding round for eco-friendly football boot firm Sokito. A total of 60 players, 44 of whom are new investors, have joined the roster of investors from leagues including the Premier League, MLS and the Bundesliga. Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah is on [...]
Former Sunak spokesperson lands Chelsea comms job December 10, 2024 Chelsea have hired Rishi Sunak’s former spokesperson, Nerissa Chesterfield, to be their new head of communications. Chesterfield worked with Sunak when he was Prime Minister and in his previous role as Chancellor. It was during this time that the UK government sanctioned Roman Abramovich, forcing him to sell Chelsea. Confirmation of her appointment as director [...]
European football to rebel over winter World Cup in Saudi Arabia December 10, 2024 European football leagues are set to rebel against plans to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup in Saudi Arabia in the winter. The Middle Eastern kingdom is set to be officially confirmed as hosts for the 2034 edition of the World Cup on Wednesday at a Fifa congress meeting. The move could see Saudi Arabia [...]
Credit ratings agency tips more top football clubs to ‘do a Tottenham’ December 10, 2024 More European football clubs will follow Tottenham Hotspur’s lead by investing in stadiums as broadcast revenues plateau, credit ratings agency Morningstar DBRS has forecast. After decades of strong growth, most top leagues have seen a fall or only marginal increases in the value of their TV contracts – the source of the majority of their [...]
Khan’s Global Fighters’ Union wants TV cash to fund ‘Fair Fight’ mission December 10, 2024 Amir Khan’s Global Fighters’ Union has called for broadcasting revenue to fund better working standards for boxers, mixed martial artists and other competitors in combat sports. The Global Fighters’ Union is seeking a similar arrangement to the Professional Footballers’ Association, which receives a £25m annual subsidy from the Premier League’s TV contracts. Khan’s union, which [...]
Premier League referee Coote sacked after X-rated Klopp diatribe December 9, 2024 Premier League referee David Coote has been sacked by officials’ body PGMOL after an investigation found him to be “in serious breach” of his contract. It comes four weeks after he was suspended following the emergence of a video in which Coote made highly derogatory remarks about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Days later further [...]
‘One or two errors’: Ratcliffe comments shed light on Ashworth departure December 8, 2024 Manchester United are searching for a new sporting director after splitting from Dan Ashworth, the man who was supposed to be a key architect of the team’s revival. United waited for almost half a year to prise Ashworth from his contract at Newcastle United but have dispensed with him midway through his first full season. [...]
Top footballers spend 87 per cent of time working, study finds December 6, 2024 Fresh concerns have been raised about player burnout ahead of next year’s Club World Cup after a new study found that top professional footballers typically spend 80 per cent of their time working. Drawing on data that it compiled for global players’ union Fifpro, independent consultancy Football Benchmark says that, for some individuals, the number [...]
Show football’s 3pm blackout the red card and women’s game will benefit December 6, 2024 While men’s football works out whether to scrap the 3pm blackout, women’s matches offer a perfect test case, argues Anna Reynolds. Imagine being barred from watching your favourite TV programme at a certain time of the day. That’s the current situation in football, where games scheduled for Saturday at 3pm are restricted from being broadcast [...]