Saudi Arabia set to strengthen Fifa ties with deal to sponsor Women’s World Cup January 31, 2023 Saudi Arabia is set to make further inroads into sport by becoming a sponsor of the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup. Visit Saudi, the country’s state-owned tourism arm, is expected to become one of the main commercial partners of the tournament, which takes place in Australian and New Zealand in July and August. Saudi Arabia [...]
Chelsea ready to make World Cup star Premier League’s most expensive signing ever – and take spending past half a billion pounds under Todd Boehly January 30, 2023 Chelsea are attempting to make World Cup winning Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez the Premier League’s most expensive signing in a £105m transfer deadline day deal. The Blues have revived their interest in the Benfica player, 21, as the end of the January transfer window, at 11pm on Tuesday, approaches. If completed, the move would eclipse [...]
FA Cup: Fifth round draw and when ties are played January 30, 2023 There are eight ties in the fifth round of this year’s FA Cup with defending champions Liverpool not in the running. The ties will be played in the week commencing 27 February. The pick of the ties is the potential match up between Wrexham and Tottenham Hotspur, should the Welsh side win their replay against [...]
Premier League criticised by Football Supporters Association over NFT partnership with Serena Williams and Lionel Messi-backed company January 30, 2023 Football supporters groups have criticised the Premier League for entering the NFT market in a £120m deal with fantasy gaming and digital collectibles platform Sorare. After more than a year of deliberations, English football’s top division today announced a four-year contract with the French company, which is backed by sports stars including Lionel Messi, Kylian [...]
Premier League’s first NFT partnership explained: Inside the £120m deal with Sorare January 30, 2023 The Premier League has taken its first step into the NFT market by agreeing a deal with fantasy gaming and digital collectible platform Sorare. After more than a year of deliberations, English football’s top division has signed a four-year contract worth around £30m annually which includes an option to take equity in the French company. [...]
Derby County: Why West Ham United should fear a giant killing at the hands of resurgent Rams’ dad’s army January 30, 2023 It’s only six months since Derby County’s nightmare ended but already they are starting to dream big again. The former champions of England and founding members of the Football League spent two years with their existence in the balance – nine months of it languishing in administration, which they only exited after being relegated to [...]
Explained: Why replays are back in the 2022-23 FA Cup but face an uncertain future January 27, 2023 FA Cup replays were one of the casualties of the pandemic but they are back in football’s oldest knockout competition in 2022-23. The congested calendars caused by Covid-19 delays to English football’s normal schedule caused the Football Association to shelve replays in the last two seasons. Instead, all ties were decided on the day, going [...]
English football transfer spending tops £1.7bn in 2022 January 26, 2023 Clubs in England spent three times more than any other country on men’s international transfer business last year, Fifa data has revealed. A total of £1.78 was spent in transfers in 2022, over £1bn more than the second placed side Italy, who spent £543m. A total of 12.5 per cent of the total £5.24bn spent [...]
Oleksandr Zinchenko: Why Manchester City’s loss has been Arsenal’s gain January 26, 2023 When Oleksandr Zinchenko came off the bench at half-time in Manchester City’s final Premier League game of last season, he swung the title race decisively in their favour by helping them to win from two goals down against Aston Villa. It could be argued that he’s doing a similar thing this year at Arsenal, where [...]
Sponsors departing the England crease opens up chance for a new wave of commercial interest while the Test team are on a high January 26, 2023 They say bad news comes in threes. For the England and Wales Cricket Board, the announcement last week that three of its major sponsors would not be renewing their deals looked on the surface like a significant challenge for its commercial team. Yet, for the nation’s second most popular sport, there are plenty of reasons [...]