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 [...]
Top sports lawyer says City case should be held in public December 3, 2024 The KC responsible for helping Leicester City find a loophole in the Premier League Profit and Sustainability rules Nick de Marco has said that such cases – including Manchester City’s battle of 115 alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play rules – should be held in public. De Marco aided the Foxes in arguing to an [...]
Fans group vows to fight plans to scrap football’s 3pm blackout December 3, 2024 The Football Supporters’ Association will resist moves to scrap the 3pm blackout that prevents Saturday afternoon matches being broadcast live in the UK. Following reports that senior figures in the game believe it could be ditched when the next round of TV deals end in 2029, the FSA warned that doing so risked harming clubs [...]
Why Brentford ticket news has shamed Ratcliffe and Manchester United December 3, 2024 Brentford have cast Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s price increases at Manchester United in an even less flattering light by slashing the cost of away tickets for young fans to just £10. The Premier League club’s pledge not only affects junior Brentford fans attending their away games but also under-18s making the trip to west London to [...]