Sports

Chelsea Sanctions Spark Fresh Debate Over Football Finance

Published

2 years ago

March 23, 2022

Editor

The chaos engulfing Chelsea following sanctions imposed on Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has sparked fresh debate over the sources of money that fuel Europe’s richest league.

The Premier League club had their assets frozen after Abramovich was targeted by the British government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leaving them to cope with a ban on ticket sales and merchandise.

An expedited sale of the European champions will soon bring the curtain down on 19 years of nearly unbroken success under their 55-year-old owner, who has overseen five Premier League titles and two Champions League triumphs.

Chelsea’s first home game since the sanctions were imposed was against Newcastle, whose own ownership model is also in the spotlight after a controversial takeover in October by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Rights group Amnesty raised concerns over the purchase, saying it was an attempt to “sportswash” the Gulf kingdom’s human rights record.

Reflecting the intensified focus on off-field issues, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe was forced to field questions after the Chelsea game about scores of executions in Saudi Arabia instead of incidents during the match.

Newcastle are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City, who have become the dominant force in the Premier League over the past decade on the back of huge investment.

Yet the UAE’s decision to abstain from voting on a UN Security Council resolution to condemn Russian “aggression” towards Ukraine and a recent meeting between City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad — an ally of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin — have led to a renewed focus on City.

Opposition Labour lawmaker Chris Bryant said it would be “good to see the back of” Sheikh Mansour as City owner, while the government criticised his meeting with Assad, saying it undermined prospects for a lasting peace in Syria.

Sports business expert Simon Chadwick told AFP that despite the unease about who is funding Premier League clubs, it is difficult to foresee meaningful change in the short-term, with billionaires from across the globe lining up to buy Chelsea.

“European football can wean itself off money from Russia, China and Saudi Arabia but what’s left? If they leave, who replaces them?” said Chadwick, global professor of sport at Emlyon Business School.

“If we take the example of Chelsea, one of the options for replacing an outgoing Russian is a consortium of an American and Swiss billionaire, so for British football fans the situation is not going to change.”

– Turning point? –
The British government acknowledges the need for a shake-up, publishing a fan-led review into governance of the sport in November.

Recommendations include the creation of a new independent regulator for English football and new owners’ and directors’ tests to ensure “only good custodians” can run clubs.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said earlier this month that the league’s owners’ and directors’ test was under review, with sports minister Nigel Huddleston arguing it needs to be more “robust”.

Huddleston told a committee of lawmakers last week he believes the English game is at a “turning point”.

“The fan-led review is pivotally important,” he said, with the full government response due in the coming weeks. “We recognise there are failures in the structure and governance of English football.”

Questions around ownership and sponsorship models are not unique to the English top flight.

Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain are storming towards an eighth French league title in 10 years, while the Spanish football federation has attracted criticism for taking its Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.

In Germany, Schalke cut ties with state-owned Russian energy giant Gazprom, but Bayern Munich has stood by a sponsorship deal with Qatar despite a fan uprising that disrupted the club’s annual general meeting in November.

Football clubs and the Premier League are under fire for apparently neglecting to ask searching questions about where their money comes from as they chase silverware in a hyper-competitive industry.

Chelsea find themselves caught up in geopolitical currents that extend far beyond football but whether the sport has the appetite for fundamental change remains to be seen.

AFP

Sports

WAFU B U17 Championship: CAF Declares Nigeria 100% Clean

Published

3 days ago

May 14, 2024

Editor

The Confederation of African Football today declared that all 20 players presented by Nigeria for the WAFU B U17 Championship starting in Accra, Ghana on Wednesday have passed the examination in flying colours.

The declaration of eligibility of all the 20 players is testimony that the tests conducted on the players by the Nigeria Football Federation before the team’s departure were perfect, and sets the tone for the country to have a full squad to defend the title she won last year, also in Ghana.

An ecstatic Head Coach Manu Garba said: “We are happy about the results. Having the whole squad to prosecute the tournament somewhat puts our minds at rest.

The Eaglets begin their defence of the title when they confront their counterparts from Burkina Faso at the University Stadium on Thursday, 16th May with kickoff set for 3pm Ghana time (4pm Nigeria time), before matches against Niger Republic on Sunday, 19th May (6pm Ghana, 7pm Nigeria) and Togo on Wednesday, 22nd May (4pm Ghana, 5pm Nigeria).

The match against Niger Republic will also hold at the University Stadium while the clash with Togo will take place at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Sports

Crystal Palace Thrash Man Utd 4-0 To Leave Ten Hag’s Future In Doubt

Published

2 weeks ago

May 6, 2024

Editor

Manchester United are at risk of failing to qualify for Europe next season after a dismal 4-0 thrashing at Crystal Palace left the Red Devils eighth in the Premier League.

Michael Olise scored twice, either side of goals from the in-form Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell, as the Eagles’ resurgence since the appointment of Oliver Glasner as manager continues.

The time for a change of boss at Old Trafford could be coming soon as Erik ten Hag fails to arrest a slide in his second season in charge.

United have only been absent from European competition once since the 1989-90 season.

That came after finishing seventh in David Moyes’ sole campaign 10 years ago and the Scot was sacked with four games of the season to go.

United have never come lower than seventh in the Premier League era but are staring that possibility in the face with title-chasing Arsenal to come at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Ten Hag has routinely cited injury problems as mitigation for his side’s struggles.

The Dutchman was forced to cobble together a makeshift backline as Casemiro deputised out of position at centre-back, alongside 36-year-old Jonny Evans.

Captain Bruno Fernandes was also absent as his proud record of never missing a club game in his career due to injury came to an end.

But there was little excuse for the lack of fight or quality on show from a United side, whose sole Premier League win in their last seven games came against relegated Sheffield United.

Palace are unbeaten in their last five as former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Glasner’s project takes shape.

The south London club will have to ward off interest in Olise and Eberechi Eze if they are to kick on to even better things under the Austrian next season.

Olise has attracted interest from United, Manchester City and Chelsea and showed why as he eased through the middle of the visitors’ defence before firing low past Andre Onana.

United failed to muster even a single shot on target in the first half but were unfortunate not to level against the run of play.

Casemiro’s looping header dropped into the net after Rasmus Hojlund clashed with Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson and was harshly penalised for a push.

But a two-goal half-time lead was the least Palace’s superiority deserved.

Mateta has been a man transformed under Glasner and hammered home his ninth goal in 11 games after skipping past the leaden-footed Evans with ease.

There was no response from United after the break on a night which could be the final straw for the club’s new leadership group when deciding Ten Hag’s future.

Some heroics from Onana briefly kept the scoreline down as he saved from Eze, Will Hughes and Mitchell in quick succession.

But he was powerless to deny Mitchell a rare goal from close range as United were cut open from a set-piece.

Onana was then caught out by the power of Olise’s strike that flew past the Cameroonian.

The margin of the defeat took United’s goal difference to -3 which tells the tale of a sorry season for the 20-time English champions.

The FA Cup final against Manchester City offers Ten Hag one last shot at redemption, should he survive in charge until on May 25.

However, based on this evidence, United fans will fear double-chasing City could run riot at Wembley to inflict the ultimate humiliation.

AFP

Sports

Bayer Leverkusen Extend Unbeaten Run To 48 Games With Win At Frankfurt

Published

2 weeks ago

May 5, 2024

Editor

Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen extended their season-long unbeaten run to 48 games with a 5-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

With Xabi Alonso forced to watch from the stands due to a yellow card suspension, Leverkusen turned on the style, winning with goals from Granit Xhaka, Patrik Schick, Jeremie Frimpong and penalties from Exequiel Palacios and Victor Boniface.

Alonso left midfield lynchpin Florian Wirtz, who turned 21 on Friday, out of the squad with Thursday’s second Champions League semi-final against Roma in mind, but Leverkusen had no problems in attack.

Xhaka opened the scoring with a long-range effort, before Frankfurt equalised through Hugo Ekitike, who scored for the third game in succession.

Schick headed Bayer Leverkusen back in front just before half-time and World Cup winner Palacios scored a third from the penalty spot on the 58-minute mark.

The floodgates opened in the final stages, with Frimpong scoring just five minutes after coming on and then won a penalty with three minutes remaining.

Boniface converted the spot kick for Leverkusen’s first win in Frankfurt for six years.

Bayer Leverkusen, who are unbeaten in 48 across all competitions, need to avoid defeat in two remaining league matches to become the first team to go unbeaten through a Bundesliga season.

Alonso’s side have a 2-0 advantage ahead of Thursday’s second Europa League semi-final leg at home and are through to the final of the German Cup, keeping their dreams of an incredible unbeaten treble alive.

– Union on the edge –

Earlier on Sunday, Bochum won 4-3 at Union Berlin, pushing the hosts closer to the drop just months after they were playing in the Champions League.

In the top division since 2019, Union Berlin finished fourth last season and were playing Champions League football against Real Madrid as recently as December.

Having built their success on home form, a lethargic Union were 3-0 down by half-time thanks to a Maximilian Wittek brace and a goal from former Berliner Keven Schlotterbeck.

Coach Nenad Bjelica made three changes at the break and they had their desired impact immediately.

Yorbe Vertessen and Chris Bedia, both of whom came off the bench, scored in a three-minute period to cut the deficit to one.

With Union on the march and looking for an equaliser, Bochum scored again, Philipp Hofmann heading in from close range.

The home side gave their fans hope again just four minutes later, Benedict Hollerbach again cutting the deficit to just a goal.

Union fought but could not score the equaliser and now sit just two points clear of Mainz in the relegation playoff spot.

Mainz play at promoted Heidenheim later on Sunday and could leapfrog Union into safety.

Leeds loanee Brenden Aaronson, one of three Union players to be subbed on at half-time, criticised his team’s first-half performance.

“It was one of those days when we didn’t show up and that’s all there is to it.

“We need to band together and fight like we did in the second-half. That’s what we need to take away from this game.”

Bochum moved five clear of the drop with two games remaining this season.