Scudamore’s final show of class
With his announcement to resign, Richard Scudamore has demonstrated once again a certain class and intelligence: he leaves at a time when the Premier League is in the best of health, successful and solid to the core.
Amazon breaks into the football business with Premier League livestreaming deal
By Paul Nicholson
June 7 – The final Premier League TV rights packages for the UK have been awarded with Amazon swooping in with a groundbreaking deal that breaks Sky and BT’s grip on the broadcast of live games in the UK.
Money is the ‘new’ World Cup reality as United 2026 bid leaders make final powerplay
By Andrew Warshaw
June 7 – The questions came thick and fast. How do you justify an apparent discrepancy in your projected figures? To what extent will Donald Trump’s global unpopularity work against you? Is your bid simply about budgets rather than passion and pedigree?
Israeli fury at Argentina pull out, claiming players were threatened by terrorists
By Andrew Warshaw
June 7 – The tit-for-tat row over the cancellation of Argentina’s friendly with Israel this coming Saturday has intensified with the Israelis demanding FIFA investigate what it said were threats against Argentina players and laying the blame squarely at the feet of the Palestinian authorities.
Mamic flees as Croatian court sentences him to 6.5 years over Modric and Kovacic deals
June 7 – A Croatian court has sentenced the former boss of Dinamo Zagreb, Zdravko Mamic (pictured right with brother Zoran), to six-and-a-half years in prison for tax evasion and siphoning off profits from player transfers, allegedly including that of Luka Modric to Tottenham Hotspur and Mateo Kovacic to Inter.
Russian racism: Southgate’s England show unity as Rose asks family to stay away
June 7 – England manager Gareth Southgate (pictured) says his squad have a plan to deal with any outbreaks of discrimination at the World Cup after fullback Danny Rose said he had told his family not to come to Russia for fear of racism.
Fisht Stadium given post World Cup lifeline with move of Dinamo St Petersburg to Sochi
June 7 – Dinamo St Petersburg will move to the Fisht Stadium in Sochi next season as the World Cup venue seeks to shed its tag of white elephant.
European club game hits €25.5bn value with Premier League driving the growth
June 7 – The European football market in 2016/17 was worth a record €25.5 billion with the Big 5 leagues accounting for €14.7 billion.
Spurs and England’s Kane is world’s most valuable player, Neymar is second
June 7 – Neymar may hold the record as the most expensive transfer in football history, but he isn’t the most valuable player in the world. Tottenham’s Harry Kane holds that position, valued €3.7 million higher than the Brazilian money machine, according to a new ranking of the Top 100 players in Europe’s Big 5 leagues.
Man City enters Chinese esports market with team in Tencent’s Online Star League
June 7 – Manchester City, one of the first English Premier League clubs to embrace esports with the signing of professional gamers to play under the club banner in tournaments, have taken a step deeper into the competitive video gaming sector with the set up of an EA Sports FIFA Online team in Beijing, China.
Ramos says Salah could have played on in CL final with an injection
June 6 – Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, whose arm wrestle on Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah put the Egyptian striker out of the Champions League final, has hit back at widespread criticism of his action and says Salah could have played on instead of leaving the field in tears.
Russia 2018: FIFA files criminal law suit against ticketing website Viagogo
June 6 – FIFA has filed a criminal complaint in Switzerland against the ticket website Viagogo on the eve of the World Cup as part of a crackdown on unauthorised sales.
European clubs provide 74% of World Cup players, just 35 of 736 come from South American clubs
June 6 – When European clubs complain about their highly paid players being stretched to the limit by too much international competition, they often receive scant sympathy.
Green Card innovation wins fans as Conifa World Cup closes in on final
By Andrew Warshaw
June 6 – It has taken a tournament for unaffiliated nations, stateless peoples, breakaway diasporas, indigenous communities and ethnic minorities to launch what is being hailed as one of football’s most refreshing innovations to cut down on dissent and improve respect for officials.
Israel burned after Argentina bows to pressure and cancels World Cup warm-up in Jersualem
By Samindra Kunti
June 6 – Argentina has cancelled a World Cup warm-up match with Israel following political pressure from Palestine. The cancellation of the highly controversial friendly has thrown Argentina’s World Cup preparations further into disarray.