Kemi Badenoch urged to ‘walk away’ from Gulf trade deal over human rights concerns UK POLITICS Kemi Badenoch has been urged to “walk away” from “worrying” trade negotiations with Gulf states due to concerns about human and labour rights abuses. The UK has “absolutely no reason” to discuss trade with states where “human, women’s and LGBT rights and workers’ rights abuses are so widespread”, union boss Paul Nowak said. Amnesty International [...]
Fifa unveil funky branding ahead of Canada-US-Mexico World Cup in 2026 snazzy Fifa has unveiled its branding for the 2026 World Cup, due to be held in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The main logo features the famous World Cup trophy, most recently won by Argentina in Qatar last year, in front of the number 26. Major sporting events always stir debate when it comes to [...]
Qatar show interest in hosting 2025 Rugby League World Cup into the mix Recent Fifa World Cup hosts Qatar have expressed their interest in hosting the 2025 Rugby League World Cup, the International Rugby League (IRL) chairman has stated. The Gulf state, whose Qatar Islamic Bank chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani is bidding to purchase Manchester United – could step in after the original hosts France pulled [...]
Qatari bidder Sheikh Jassim rules out Manchester United move for Lionel Messi May 10, 2023 Manchester United will not make any attempt to sign Lionel Messi on a free transfer this summer if Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani buys the club. Messi, 35, is due to leave Paris Saint-Germain next month when his contract with the Qatar-owned French champions expires. His availability has sparked a €1bn scramble for his [...]
Manchester United bidders heading for Old Trafford talks this week March 15, 2023 Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest men and a hopeful buyer of Premier League outfit Manchester United, is set to appear at Old Trafford tomorrow to receive a presentation on the potential sale of the club. In addition to Ratcliffe’s appearance tomorrow, representatives of Shaikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani – the man behind [...]
Why Fifa’s 2026 World Cup U-turn risks a fresh player welfare row March 14, 2023 Fifa is set to risk a new player welfare row by redesigning the format of the next men’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, according to reports. Football’s world governing body had planned to divide the 48 teams at the expanded 2026 tournament into 16 groups of three, in order to allay fears [...]
Survey reveals shocking impact on footballer injuries of Qatar World Cup March 9, 2023 More than half of footballers who took part in a major new study say they were exposed to increased risk of injury by the scheduling of last year’s World Cup in Qatar. Some 54 per cent of players surveyed by professional footballers’ union Fifpro in January reported an injury or felt more likely to suffer [...]
Turkey earthquake: Qatar to send 10,000 mobile homes from World Cup to help victims February 14, 2023 Qatar plans to send 10,000 cabins and caravans from last year’s World Cup to provide shelter for survivors of the Turkish earthquakes, officials said. The gas-rich Gulf nation says it had always planned to donate the mobile homes. They were needed to help house some of the 1.4 million fans who descended on the small [...]
Qatar interested in buying Manchester United – but bidders won’t be PSG owners Qatar Sports Investments February 9, 2023 The Qatar Investment Authority is interested in buying a stake in Manchester United and has not ruled out a full takeover. QIA, which owns Harrods as well as significant shareholdings in Heathrow Airport and Sainsbury’s, has not made an offer for United yet. But it is one of the Qatari parties mulling an offer to [...]
Fox scores strong results as World Cup broadcasts draw in advertisers February 8, 2023 Last year’s men’s world cup helped Murdoch-owned media giant Fox increase revenues by four per cent. The broadcaster said revenue in the final quarter of 2022 was up to $4.61bn (£3.82bn) from $4.44bn (£3.68bn) in the same quarter in 2021. The FIFA World Cup which took place in Doha in December pulled the majority of [...]