Why athletics needs a silver bullet in the form of private investment September 30, 2021 The results are just in, and they don’t make for easy reading. World Athletics posted a small financial surplus in 2020, but only because Russia coughed up a fine for its doping misdemeanours. W hat’s worrying is the long steady decline in the reserves of track and field’s governing body. For the sake of the [...]
Nuno Espirito Santo and the search for Tottenham Hotspur’s DNA September 30, 2021 “I feel we lost sight of some key priorities and what’s truly in our DNA,” wrote Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy in a letter to supporters in May. Levy’s note of contrition was a reference to the club’s decision to join the European Super League breakaway project, which had quickly collapsed a few weeks earlier. [...]
Juventus v Chelsea: Fallen Old Lady setting out on road to recovery September 29, 2021 Juventus have endured a more turbulent year than most clubs yet there ought to be some spring back in the step of the Old Lady when they face Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday. Over the last few days, the most successful team in the history of Italian football have recorded significant victories off [...]
Moeen Ali’s entitled to chase the franchise dream September 28, 2021 On Monday morning, England spinner Moeen Ali announced he would be stepping away from Test match cricket but would continue to play the game’s white-ball formats. Some traditionalists might condemn Moeen for turning his back on the oldest and longest form in favour of so-called disco cricket, but onlookers should pause for thought before judging [...]
Paris Saint-Germain boast bigger stars but Man City have found better way to spend their billions September 27, 2021 The subplots will be as numerous as the superstars when Paris Saint-Germain host Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. It’s Qatar v Abu Dhabi in the battle of the state-backed modern-day mega-clubs. Mauricio Pochettino v Pep Guardiola. El Cashico, if you absolutely must. Fitness permitting, and perhaps most intriguingly of all, it [...]
Brighton can go top of Premier League with Palace win September 27, 2021 Brighton and Hove Albion have not finished a Premier League season above 15th position, but tonight they could go top. The Seagulls face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park this evening knowing three points will take them above Liverpool into first. Brighton’s five year Premier League spell has seen them finish in the bottom quarter in [...]
Arsenal 3, Tottenham 1: Gunners find feet as Spurs slip September 26, 2021 Form is supposed to go out of the window when it comes to a derby, but apparently no one told Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Both teams came into this match on very different trajectories – Arsenal improving after a woeful start to the Premier League, Spurs regressing after a good one – and their paths [...]
DAZN in talks to buy BT Sport September 22, 2021 Sports streaming service DAZN is in late stage conversations to buy BT’s sports business, according to the Financial Times which first reported the news. The chairman of DAZN, Kevin Mayer, reportedly told an industry conference that he would “love to have EPL [English Premier League] ultimately,” and was “possibly” interested in BT Sport. The TV [...]
Football NFT platform Sorare raises $680m in Series B funding round September 21, 2021 Sorare, an NFT-based fantasy football game, has raised $680m (£497m) in Europe’s biggest ever Series B funding round. On the Sorare platform users buy, sell and exchange digital football cards, representing players, to build a fantasy team. Each card is an NFT meaning that it is unique and ownership is verifiable on a blockchain. “Sorare’s [...]
Premier League NFTs: Sorare aiming to launch digital fantasy football trading cards collection following similar deal with Spain’s LaLiga September 21, 2021 French technology start-up Sorare is hoping to launch a range of NFTs comprising digital fantasy football trading cards with the Premier League. The company, which has raised £500m from investors including SoftBank, has emerged as a major player in sport’s growing blockchain economy and recently struck a deal with Spain’s LaLiga. “We have had conversations, [...]