FA chairman Greg Clarke quits after sparking racism row with ‘coloured footballers’ comment November 10, 2020 Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has stepped down after attracting widespread criticism for referring to “coloured footballers”. Clarke made the remarks during a gaffe-laden appearance before MPs at a select committee hearing this morning. He attracted further derision for suggesting Asians and Afro-Caribbeans had “different career interests” and that homosexuality was “a life choice”. Clarke [...]
Five substitutions and fixture congestion: Won’t somebody think of the rich Premier League superclubs? November 9, 2020 It was a good weekend for sales of tiny violins in football’s moneyed north-west heartlands, as familiar debates about five substitutes and fixture scheduling bobbed to the surface. On Sunday, Pep Guardiola revealed he and Jurgen Klopp enjoyed a touchline grumble about the cap on mid-game changes after Manchester City and Liverpool’s draw. Twenty-four hours [...]
Serena’s coach: Tennis is long, slow and too clean November 6, 2020 Tennis may have virtually ground to a halt this year, but one of the world’s most celebrated coaches, Patrick Mouratoglou, has rarely been busier. Mouratoglou, like his clients Serena Williams, Coco Gauff and Stefanos Tsitsipas, has had to adjust to life without much of the usual circuit. His academy on the French Riviera also suffered [...]
The Week In Sportbiz: Premier League set to axe pay-per-view (for now), Formula E gets cosier with Extreme E, and Gosper gives US his World Cup vote November 6, 2020 Less than a month after its introduction, Premier League clubs are expected to ditch their unpopular pay-per-view service. Since debuting on 17 October, half of all games have been restricted to those willing to pay £14.95 a time. Fans groups protested the extra charges by successfully urging people to donate thousands of pounds to food [...]
The definitive live sport TV guide you need to make it through lockdown 2 November 5, 2020 Lockdowns are rubbish, but lockdowns with a stacked sporting calendar to watch are slightly less rubbish. And as England battens down the hatches until 3 December, at last sport fans have a feast of action to get us through. The Masters, the Autumn Nations Cup, the ATP Tour Finals and an England cricket tour are [...]
Premier League, EFL and FA chiefs to be grilled by MPs over Project Big Picture and bailout impasse November 5, 2020 MPs have demanded to grill Premier League, English Football League and Football Association chiefs over Project Big Picture. A Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee wants to quiz Richard Masters, Rick Parry and Greg Clarke next week. The session is focused on a failure to agree a rescue package for clubs outside the [...]
Billionaire-backed International Swimming League threatened with legal action over unpaid fees November 3, 2020 The star-studded International Swimming League has been threatened with legal action by a British digital agency over unpaid fees. LiveWire Sport, whose clients also include the Premier League, Wimbledon and the Jockey Club, says it is owed a six-figure sum by the ISL. The ISL, whose swimmers include Britain’s Adam Peaty and fellow Olympic champions [...]
Pride tinged with sadness for devoted AFC Wimbledon fans locked out of Plough Lane homecoming party November 3, 2020 This isn’t how AFC Wimbledon’s long-awaited first match back at Plough Lane was meant to be. The return of football to this corner of Merton on Tuesday evening, when Doncaster Rovers visit the Dons in League One, should have been a huge party for supporters. Instead, the only fans present will be the cardboard cut-outs [...]
Manchester United and Arsenal leave Premier League looking like a one-horse race November 2, 2020 For a moment back then, there was an intoxicating sense of possibility about this Premier League season. Liverpool’s aura of invincibility looked to have been shredded by a seven-goal humiliation at Aston Villa. Villa, like Everton, were riding high and reviving memories of past glories with swashbuckling displays. After three years of duopoly, the league [...]
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on missing football, black managers getting less time, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea and dabbling in property October 30, 2020 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is bellowing instructions at a plumber amid the chaos of a building site as he answers the phone to City A.M.. The former Chelsea, Leeds and Holland striker and, more recently, promising manager is overseeing works at what will be a new family home for the Hasselbainks. When the 48-year-old is not [...]