David Owen: Why the new TV deal promises to strengthen English grip on Champions League

David Owen

The latest Premier League television deal may have given some BT and British Sky Broadcasting shareholders the jitters.

But the alarm-bells will have been ringing much, much louder in non-English citadels of European footballing excellence from Barcelona to Munich.

The new tide of money that the £3 billion ($4.7 billion/€3.7 billion) settlement will send flooding into English Premier League club coffers from the 2013-2014 season should do much to restore the competitive advantage of English clubs in the top European competitions.

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Croatia receive first formal charge of racism at Euro 2012

Croatian fans_Euro_2012

By Andrew Warshaw in Warsaw

June 16 – In its clearest message to date of zero tolerance when it comes to discrimination, UEFA made its first formal charges of racism at Euro 2012 today, opening a case against the Croatian Football Association after receiving reports that fans made monkey chants directed at Manchester City’s Italian striker Mario Balotelli.

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