Archive Archives - Page 136 of 722 - Inside World Football

Fitch report rates football infrastructure as a low(er) risk place for investor cash

Fitch Ratings

By Paul Nicholson
April 22 – Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings has highlighted the current strength of the sports market in its Infra-Read market briefing newsletter issued from its US offices. The newsletter examines the health of a number of infrastructure sectors but leads its editorial with a focus on sports saying that the explosive growth in sports media rights is driving revenue, flexibility and stability.

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Liverpool sign Standard Chartered for another 3-year £90m deal

Standard Chartered

April 22 – Liverpool may have under-achieved on the field this season after finishing runner-up in the Premier League last term but their brand shows little sign of being adversely affected. The club has signed a three-year extension to their main sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered.

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West Ham promise to cut ticket prices when new TV deal kicks in

West Ham tickets

April 22 – West Ham United have become the first English top-flight club to announce they will reduce season ticket prices as a result of the Premier League’s eye-watering new bumper television deal.

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NGOs call for FIFA candidates to make human rights a priority issue

Qatari construction workers

By Andrew Warshaw
April 22 – A coalition of non-governmental organisations has written to FIFA President Sepp Blatter and the three candidates bidding for his job urging them to make tackling human rights a priority as soon as the May 29 election is over – especially when it comes to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

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Mutko hints at clampdown on foreign ‘mercenaries’ to boost World Cup hopes

Vitaly Mutko11

By David Owen at the SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit in Sochi
April 21 – Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s Sports Minister, has hinted at an impending clampdown on the number of foreign players permitted to be fielded by Russian clubs, while indicating that the country’s President harbours doubts over how the national team will perform at the 2018 World Cup.

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Inside Editorial: New world order

When CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb addressed his constituent federations for the first time at the confederation’s annual congress in the Bahamas last week, his speech was all about business, reflection on their progress to date, and setting goals for the next four year cycle. It was about setting the agenda and outlining the challenges. Three hours later, having been elected unopposed for a second term as president, he gave quite a different speech.

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Club fears as Argentina losing control of its violent fans

Argentina fan violence

April 21 – Argentina is losing the battle against football hooliganism , according to the president of one of its top clubs. Fans of first division Huracan clashed with police last weekend and an officer was hit in the face by a stone, the latest in a series of violent incidents.

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Beitar Jerusalem ordered to end racist ban on Arab players

Guy Levi

By Mark Baber
April 21 – The Israeli Equal Employment Opportunities Commission has demanded that Beitar Jerusalem retract statements the team’s coach made against Arab players joining the team in a move which highlights the failure of the Israeli Football Federation (IFA) to eliminate racist and apartheid practices within its own leagues, just five weeks before FIFA’s annual conference and the debate on the motion to suspend the IFA over its racist policies towards Palestinians.

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Bayern break into US with Beckenbauer spearheading MSN content deal

MSN and Beckenbauer

April 21 – Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have agreed a new media partnership with MSN for the broadcasting and publication of the club’s content in the USA.

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Blatter meets Putin and says 2018 will not be derailed by political grandstanding

Putin and Blatter

By Andrew Warshaw
April 21 – Sepp Blatter has a habit of deliberately saying the appropriate thing depending on his hosts at the time. So it was no surprise that the FIFA president sweet-talked Russian president Vladimir Putin when he visited Sochi for SportAccord.

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CSKA Ultras step up abuse and force players to strip off shirts

apostol popov

By Alexander Krassimirov
April 21 – CSKA Sofia Ultras have taken extreme measures after the team suffered loss. Yesterday CSKA lost to Lokomotiv Sofia and after the game the fans summoned the players to one of the stands of Bulgarska armia stadium.

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UEFA will back Israel against Palestinian suspension demands, says IFA

Ofer Eini

By Andrew Warshaw
April 21 – UEFA president Michel Platini has promised Israel he will do everything he can to stave off a Palestinian bid to suspend them from FIFA, according to Israeli media reports.

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Artistic venue selected for FIFA banquet and preliminary World Cup draw

Konstantinovsky Palace

By David Owen at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi
April 21 – A highly cultured venue has been chosen for the FIFA banquet coinciding with the Preliminary Draw for the 2018 World Cup. Russia 2018 chief executive Alexey Sorokin has told Insideworldfootball that the banquet is to be held at the Russian museum of fine arts in St Petersburg. The draw itself – the first official event of the World Cup – has been scheduled for this coming July 25 at the restored 17th century Konstantinovsky Palace.

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Blatter sides firmly with IOC’s Bach as SportAccord head goes on offensive

SportAccord

By David Owen at the SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit in Sochi
April 21 – FIFA President Joseph Blatter has sided firmly with Thomas Bach, his International Olympic Committee (IOC) counterpart, as the IOC boss came under withering attack from SportAccord’s Marius Vizer in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday.

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Real and Barca thump Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea in Euro Twitter league

By Paul Nicholson
April 20 – Real Madrid and Barcelona are not just giants on the pitch, they are social media monsters off it. The two Spanish clubs head Insideworldfootball’s European club ranking in terms of followers, with the English Premier League’s Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea in 3rd, 4th and 5th place respectively.