Football's Magic Money Tree

[Chester Perry]

LA Galaxy have long been exploiters of commercial opportunity when signing a star player - the signing of the biggest star of Mexican football in the last decade was a bit of a no-brainer for them - they still made it work though

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/javi ... la-galaxy/

[Chester Perry]

The DFL have launched the rights packages for the domestic Bundesliga right's tenders

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/dfl- ... der-nears/

notice that the protests from the fans and their refusal to watch has seem the removal of Monday Night Football

[Chester Perry]

When we played them in Athens we saw the shenanigans that Olympiakos would use to win - seems that they have been at it again in their own league - though there is much more to this story

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/gree ... e-dispute/

[Chester Perry]

Is this because FIFA really really do not like England, or that they really really want China to host their tournament or is it about money - From the Telegraph

Fifa open to hosting 2030 World Cup across two continents in blow to England bid hopes
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has outlined a priority of growing football globally so that more countries can win the men's World Cup
By - Jeremy Wilson, Chief Sports Reporter - 3 February 2020 • 8:28pm

England's bid to stage the 2030 men's World Cup could be complicated by Fifa's willingness to listen to the radical idea of hosting what would be their Centennial tournament across two continents.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has said that he is ready to shake up football’s competition structures and outlined a priority of growing football globally so that more countries could win the men's World Cup.

Asked whether the 2026 tournament in the United States and Mexico could even be followed up in 2030 with bigger distances across two continents, he said: “I respect the will of the people. If the will of the people will be to change, to be more open, be more inclusive of different parts of the world at the same time maybe we should do it. We still have time. The decision for 2030 will be taken in 2024. For me, as Fifa president, the more bidders we have the happier I am.”

The Football Association has the support of the new Conservative government to host the tournament for the first time since 1966 while Morocco and a joint bid by Argentina and Uruguay have also been strongly mooted.

Speaking at the annual AIPS congress in Budapest, Infantino also predicted that Qatar would be ready to stage the 2022 World Cup in a timescale ahead of any previous host. Fifa is also interested in exploring both whether the women’s World Cup should be staged every two years and an inaugural women's Club World Cup.

With Fifa to introduce a new 24-team men's Club World Cup in the summer of 2021, Infantino was adamant that it was for football to collectively address problems of fixture congestion and he wants to discuss a new calendar that allows space for club, continental and greater world competition. “We are not on a business of first come first served,” he said. “There are world clubs - they have a fan base around the world. There is a demand.”

Infantino also outlined his expectation that all referees and competitions globally would introduce the three-step protocol for dealing with racist behaviour inside stadiums.

“It is our responsibility to fight racism,” he said. “The referee can stop the match, interrupt the match or abandon the match. And every referee should be doing that. It is starting to be applied but only in a few countries. I will propose that we make these rules universal. If they are not, Fifa can intervene directly like Wada for doping in a country or federation and make these rules universal.”

Infantino wants life bans for any supporter who is caught behaving in a racist way. He also said that regulation would be introduced for agents, who are currently threatening legal action over proposals to cap their earnings from an individual deal.

[Chester Perry]

I have said it numerous times - but here @FootballLaw explains why shirt sales do not cover the cost of a major transfer

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B8EOezhD4C ... p54na0fu5y

[Chester Perry]

Bit of a conflict in messaging here - The bookmakers say they are considering a voluntary no shirt sponsorship

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51377202

Richard Masters new boss at the Premier League - betting shirt sponsorship here to stay

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... rd-masters

[Chester Perry]

Imagine this in this country - The Chinese FA has removed 9 clubs from the league for the coming season for failing to pay (or prove that they have paid) all staff in full for the previous season

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/chin ... pay-wages/

[Chester Perry]

TIFO football on why the Premier League should stat it's own OTT service (you know like the Spanish, German, Italian and French Leagues already have)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5jqCh3Eiq0

all the upsides none of the downsides

[Chester Perry]

for those who believe that Burnley FC being careful with the finances is a new thing

https://twitter.com/martinwestby/status ... 6841383936

NB I cannot imagine that any real Burnley fan would think otherwise but it wouldn't do to be presumtuous

[Chester Perry]

FFP - or more specifically Profit and Sustainibility - rules are really starting to bite in the Championship and it is causing mayhem - from the Telegraph

The Championship at war: Fear, feuds and lost points
Several clubs are at risk of deductions as EFL spending limits spark uproar
By - John Percy - 5 February 2020 • 8:23pm

Points deductions, huge fines, stadium sales, rival clubs at each other’s throats: welcome to the mad, bad world of the Championship in 2020. English football’s second tier has always been a place of desperation, with the Premier League’s untold riches tantalisingly in sight, but there is a different emotion now engulfing boardrooms up and down the country: fear.

The cause? The English Football League’s new profitability and sustainability rules, previously known as Financial Fair Play, which – far from being mere bureaucratic box-ticking – are now causing out and out civil war.

In its simplest terms, those rules, introduced in the 2016-17 season, were designed to limit financial losses and control spending, with clubs permitted to lose £39 million over three years.

Birmingham City were the first club to suffer punishment last season, when they were docked nine points for exceeding those losses; this year Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County are facing potential sanctions. Both clubs strenuously deny the charges.

Stoke City are one Championship club who are “dismayed” at the situation, following their relegation from the Premier League in 2018. The feeling within their boardroom is that they could be punished in the future for showing ambition: while the owners – the Coates family – could easily underwrite any financial losses, they are effectively barred from doing so.

Tony Scholes, Stoke’s chief executive, told Telegraph Sport: “We’ve found it sad and quite unseemly that clubs are attacking each other over a set of rules which appear to be ill-conceived. The situation is a mess and it needs sorting out quickly.

“The rules do absolutely nothing to address the key issues, which are sustainability at clubs or the cliff edge between the Premier League and the rest. In fact, they make it worse.

“The battles should take place on the pitch, but clubs are trying to win them away from the pitch to get points deductions for rivals.

“There is hypocrisy everywhere and what the situation needs is for clubs to be honest about the objective and prepared to compromise to reach the solution.

“From our point of view at Stoke, we have a set of local owners who are prepared to invest in their local club in a manner which doesn’t jeopardise the future. But the rules that are in place block that happening.”

Yet there are many other clubs who operate differently to Stoke, who have a wage bill of around £40 million. Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Millwall have been particularly vocal in demanding that any clubs who break the regulations, or find alleged “loopholes” such as the sales of stadiums, should be punished.

They are not alone: last year 16 from 24 Championship clubs voted against raising spending limits and it would require a 75 per cent majority vote for change to be enforced.

Steve Kavanagh, Millwall’s chief executive, said: “The rules are there for a reason. The desire to get out of the Championship is high, but we can’t have the future of clubs and communities put at risk by unsustainable spending.

“It’s not about the sustainability of individual clubs, it’s about the sustainability of football. Look at Bury, the rules are there so that doesn’t happen. The rules need focusing and some direction, but that’s obviously difficult when a lot of clubs don’t want them in the first place.

“Having a situation where clubs are allowed to sell their grounds to help them comply with P & S, and spend more money on players, cannot be good for the game. It doesn’t make any sense, it’s completely illogical.”

The fear over potential future punishment was laid bare in the January transfer window: only 25 permanent transfers were completed in the Championship last month, with the £4 million paid by Bristol City to Burnley for striker Nahki Wells the biggest fee. The second priciest deal was West Bromwich Albion’s £800,000 signing of Hull City’s Kamil Grosicki.

On deadline day there were 21 loan deals, as clubs reined in spending. “The clubs are now terrified of spending and the owners are all fighting each other,” observed one leading agent. “It’s a graveyard and they are all trying to get their numbers down.”

So what could happen next? Sheffield Wednesday have filed a claim against the EFL for acting “unlawfully” over the Hillsborough sale charge.

They were charged with misconduct over alleged accounting manoeuvres of their ground to owner Dejphon Chansiri. The club dispute it, but sources claim there could be serious repercussions if they are found guilty, including a possible 21-point deduction. Chansiri, financial director John Redgate and former chief executive Katrien Meire have also been charged individually with misconduct.

Birmingham are due to attend a hearing later this month after being hit with a second charge for failing to adhere to a business plan imposed by the EFL. They could suffer another points deduction, though it may be no more than three.

Derby were charged in January following a review of the sale of Pride Park to the club’s owner, Mel Morris, and will appear in front of a disciplinary panel later this season.

Morris has pledged to “strongly contest” the charge as the sale of fixed assets was previously allowed in the rules when the ground was sold in June 2018.

Derby are also working hard to lower their cost base: this summer they will slash nearly £10 million off their wage bill due to players coming out of contract.

Meanwhile, Championship clubs will hold a meeting later this month in yet another attempt to thrash out a resolution, with the intention of amending the rules before next season.

The future is uncertain, and with two clubs facing possible points deductions this season, the integrity of the Championship is arguably at stake. The civil war could yet become even more bloody.

[Chester Perry]

Olympic Marseille have released a pitiful set of financial results for the 2018/19 season

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/oly ... us.twitter

seems that the French league is becoming another billionaires playground = PSG, Nice, Monaco, Marseilles (off the top of my head - Olympic Lyonnais is a bit different with the relationship with the hedge fund as previously posted

[Royboyclaret]

for those who believe that Burnley FC being careful with the finances is a new thing

https://twitter.com/martinwestby/status ... 6841383936

NB I cannot imagine that any real Burnley fan would think otherwise but it wouldn't do to be presumtuous

Certainly not a new concept at Burnley, in fact at that time Bob Lord was perhaps the master when it came to manipulating the market. It was needed to a degree as, even back then, matchday receipts were insufficient to provide a decent bottom line on the P&L account each season.

That particular season some big names departed including Willie Irvine (to Preston), Andy Lochhead (Leicester), Gordon Harris (Sunderland) and Harry Thomson (Blackpool). But probably Willie Morgan at £120,000 to Man Utd contributed most to that net figure quoted in the link.

[Chester Perry]

Porto's manager under investigation for fraud/money laundering by the Portuguese tax authorities

https://twitter.com/mjshrimper/status/1 ... 5516813312

notice the link to Jorge Mendes whom this thread has posted links on from time to time

[Chester Perry]

The financial results for 2018/19 at the franchise show that is an experiment that has still to pay off

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 2246631424


EDIT - As @AndyhHolt puts it

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/12 ... 5405877251

[Chester Perry]

The Price of Football podcast - Everton, great interview regarding catering costs at Football Clubs and which club cannot afford to sell it's players

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t ... 0464758049

[Chester Perry]

Against League 3 have launched the results of their 2019 ownership survey - a bit late but good to read

full results
https://www.againstleague3.co.uk/2020/0 ... l-results/
best owners
https://www.againstleague3.co.uk/2020/0 ... st-owners/
worst owners
https://www.againstleague3.co.uk/2020/0 ... st-owners/

I had plugged this on the board - so while our responses are up on the previous year slightly disappointed with the overall number

EDIT - it looks like they have totally ignored the Man City responses from Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Ferran Soriano

[Chester Perry]

The summer Premier League Transfer window is to realign with Europe and close on the 1st of September

https://twitter.com/martynziegler/statu ... 1755367425

[Chester Perry]

I posted a little while ago that the Premier League had issued it's first tender for the next rights cycle and that unusually it was for a 6 year period - in the Nordic region - well we have a winner - just do not know how much they have agreed to pay as yet

https://www.nentgroup.com/news/press-re ... year]=2020

commented on this before - Given that we are just past halfway in the first season of the current 3 year cycle it does seem a little strange to be selling off the next 2 cycles already - is it hedging or guaranteeing the best price in a mature market

EDIT - More detail - the tender was for a 3 or 6 year bid - so looks like the Premier League are testing the water for fixing income over a longer period

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/nent ... s-nordics/

raises more questions as to the thinking - is it as much for the stability of the broadcasting partner, is it to stabilise or boost revenues in specific regions all interesting stuff

[Chester Perry]

@uglygame hits the sweet spot as far as that Against League 3 ownership survey goes

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1225346578849914881

@AndyhHolt picks up on the theme and says it is the crux of the future for the game

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/12 ... 2542651398

timely for him as he had said as much earlier in the day - before he was announced as the winner of the survey (again)

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/12 ... 0563219456

[Chester Perry]

This may interest some of you - The Twohudredpercent podcast is doing a 20 part series "An Echo of Glory" on the history of Football in England and Wales from the very early days of pre-codification to the present day

http://twohundredpercent.net/podcast/

their previous 20 parter based on the Brian Clough quip about "Winning at Dominoes" was very good too

[Chester Perry]

Really interesting decision coming from CAS regarding the Franchise structure (no promotion relegation ) for the MLS

https://twitter.com/tariqpanja/status/1 ... 1123682304

does this mean that if a new league was created anywhere in the world - it's members could be invited and they would be no promotion relegation and it could still enter teams into FIFA, UEFA, AFC, CAF, AFC and CONMEBOL competitions - this will have the ECA and it's ilk in a bit of a lather.

Think British League, Nordic League, Benelux league - do not believe it could be done as a closed English Premier League

[Chester Perry]

FSG show what Liverpool may have to face in it's near future

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... 19256.html

is this what is meant by Investors in sport ownership?

[Royboyclaret]

The financial results for 2018/19 at the franchise show that is an experiment that has still to pay off

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 2246631424


EDIT - As @AndyhHolt puts it

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/12 ... 5405877251

Challenging financial times ahead for clubs like MK Dons with an Operating Loss figure as high as Turnover.

Always interesting to compare certain aspects of lower league accounts with ours, and in this case their matchday receipts are just over £2m, some 50% of their total Income of £4.1m. That compares to our matchday Income of £5.6m (only just over twice that of MK Dons). But there the similarity ends in that our total Income was £139m compared to their modest £4.1m. "There but for the grace of God" and TV broadcast income springs to mind.

[Chester Perry]

FIFAPRO - the players union - is gearing up for it's challenge to the games administrators over the relentless increase in games and competition

https://fifpro.org/en/industry/is-the-p ... eak-enough

compare to the NFL where the owners are trying again to get a 17th (regular season) game - they have been doing so for decades and have always been blocked by the players

[Chester Perry]

The stories of clubs being savaged by ruthless speculators for the development value of the land they sit on are far too frequent - hopefully this piece of investigation by a local journalist will thwart the machinations that are destroying Basingstoke

https://twitter.com/journokatie/status/ ... 1095241728

[Chester Perry]

Why do so many journalists believe that fragmentation of the pyramid is the best for the game - here Louise Taylor from the Guardian argues for the Championship to break-away from the EFL to go it alone in the world

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... all-league

[Chester Perry]

Wow - some pricing detail coming through on that 6 year Nordic Deal - a 20%+ increase that will bring in over £330m+ a season or over £2billion+ for the length of the deal

https://twitter.com/martynziegler/statu ... 8203547649

to put that into some context that is around 23% of the total current cycle overseas rights from just one tender - The interesting one for me will be the US one which is due to be renewed in the next cycle as NBC's 6 year deal comes to an end - that deal saw them effectively double the value of the deal paying $160m+ a year

[Chester Perry]

@UglyGame airs his disappointment/disgust at that Louise Taylor article in the Guardian above

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1225543657572458497

[Chester Perry]

Against League 3 also express their disappointment with that Guardian article

https://twitter.com/AgainstLeague3/stat ... 9909124096

should add that the comments at the bottom of the article a pretty scathing too

[Tricky Trevor]

A possible way around FFP.
If I were a billionaire fan willing to invest for a loss. I buy the clubs ticketing rights for home games. Say for £50m. I then sell season tickets and ground sales for a reasonable amount. I’ve lost but the club win.
The club has £50m in the bank up front.
Don’t tell Stoke or Derby.

[Chester Perry]

that may well be possible in the EFL not sure about the Premier League - initial deal would likely be investigated given that so few clubs currently generate that kind of income from matchday - Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Man United, Man City and Liverpool (anyone spot a trend) all do with City at the bottom of that group and Liverpool just above

[Chester Perry]

This is something that has become increasingly obvious to me since I started this thread - and must be fought for the sake of us all - @UglyGame with the cause of the games ills

"Among an increasing number of clubs at the top of English football, an unspoken understanding is emerging that, for them to grow as they want to, the number of full time clubs must shrink. They are pursuing ideas whose predictable consequences will include the death of clubs."

you would argue that it is also the raison d'etre of the ECA too

[Chester Perry]

which makes this seem still so on the button (apart from the use of Premiership- which I still hate with a vengeance though I am weirdly comfortable with Prem)

https://twitter.com/DrEdBridges/status/ ... 38113?s=20

[Chester Perry]

So who do you think are the best paid managers in football? - I have to say this explains a lot about why Simeone has never been poached (or sacked)

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/1225745481692786688

have to say I am surprised that at the bottom of that list is a guy who has won the Champions League every year he has managed a team in it

[Chester Perry]

I have posted about the cost of managerial sackings in football a number of times - this article in the Independent looks into just what happens and how quickly the clubs themselves move on - It can be a cold and brutal business

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... 22326.html

[Chester Perry]

In a season when LiVARpool is dominating headlines and social media discussion - the FA does little to convince that they have being given a leg-up at the very least - as they decided not to pursue the investigation over the spying on Manchester City

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... 23596.html

[Chester Perry]

Swansea post their 2018/19 financial results that show the cost of relegation from the Premier League even when you have relegation clauses and parachute money - @KieranMagguire has a look

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4072945664

the accounts are still to be made public at companies house - in the meantime

Club Statement
https://www.swanseacity.com/news/swanse ... t-accounts
Chairman's comments
https://www.swanseacity.com/news/update-chairman-2

local news reaction
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/foo ... k-17708427

[Chester Perry]

This tweet from @SportingIntel shows just how much those rights won in the Nordic region have exploded

https://twitter.com/sportingintel/statu ... 7954302989

they must have been few grins at that Premier League Shareholders meeting yesterday - and like I said the USA deal is up for grabs in the next cycle if that follows the same path of growth 50% of current cycle value for overseas rights will be achieved in just 2 territories

[Chester Perry]

It happens in both Italy and France but most definitely not here (and I have a fair bit of sympathy for that) - The salaries of all Ligue 1 players are released

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... bappe.html

[Chester Perry]

This is a strange one - Sam Hammam is suing Cardiff for £15m seemingly he thinks honorary president gives him more power/influence thn he has experienced - seems more an issue of face than anything

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/foo ... m-17694098

[Chester Perry]

new data for web interactions with football clubs has been published (well the biggest ones at least)

https://twitter.com/Lu_Class_/status/12 ... 6993157126

why is this important - because these clubs are now finding ways to monetise that social media/web relationship

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/barc ... -strategy/

[Chester Perry]

This is interesting - the proclivity of Emirates sponsorship and a UEFA rule force an interesting shirt sponsorship match=up in the Europa League

https://twitter.com/Lu_Class_/status/12 ... 2835756032

[Chester Perry]

Simon Chadwick on why it is unlikely Saudi Arabia will buy an English Football team

https://www.policyforum.net/why-saudi-a ... ball-team/

[Chester Perry]

A podcast looking at football finance for northern clubs - nothing on us really - some scary information re Middlesbrough and their fixed costs and a supposed football finance specialist that doesn't understand the finances of Brentford - still a lot of very good stuff in it and a fair bit of common sense and an ultimately depressing outlook from Simon Chadwick

https://twitter.com/dubasfisher/status/ ... 8154840065

[Chester Perry]

An informative article in City AM outling the dividing lines for FIFA and Agents over the proposed regulations to be introduced in 2021

https://www.cityam.com/agents-row-in-ex ... proposals/

[Chester Perry]

@KieranMaguire reveals The Price of VAR - In the FA cup at least = not sure too many of those clubs want to have that again - poor Shrewsbury lose an estimated £500k because Liverpool sent their team on holiday, have to pay for a system that controversially (to some) ruled a goal out and then get dumped out by the youth team

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4474618881

[Chester Perry]

It is only a few days since CAF voted not to continue with FIFA's assistance in getting their house in order - at the time there was some surprise that the PWC report of their investigation wasn't made public - now we know why it wasn't as it has been leaked - you could speculate as to who has leaked it the key thing is there are a number of officials who have treated CAF like a personal ATM - @TariqPanja in the New York Times reveals the details

Audit Finds Suspicious Financial Dealings in African Soccer
An investigation into the Confederation of African Football uncovered information suggesting that tens of millions of dollars had been misappropriated.

By Tariq Panja - Feb. 8, 2020, 10:49 a.m. ET

An audit of the governing body for soccer in Africa has uncovered millions of dollars of financial irregularities, a development that threatens to bring down its leadership after more than a year of turmoil at the troubled organization.

The board of the governing body, the Confederation of African Football, or C.A.F., agreed last year to an independent review of its operations amid accusations of financial wrongdoing made by a group of former senior executives at the Cairo-based organization. Its president, Ahmad Ahmad, is also the subject of an ethics inquiry by soccer’s global governing body, FIFA, and by the authorities in France.

A 55-page report by the accountancy firm PWC, hired to audit the confederation, paints an ugly picture that is likely to lead to demands for swift action against the confederation’s leadership. The auditors found problems across the board, including with the dispensation of millions of dollars of soccer development funds sent to the African soccer body by FIFA.

The report also cited payments for gifts and, in at least one instance, for organizing a funeral.

“I have been left shocked and dismayed, though my fears have now been vindicated,” said Musa Bility, a former head of soccer in Liberia who had called for the audit in May before he was banned by FIFA for misappropriating soccer funds, allegations that he has denied.

The report provided yet another reminder of the challenges for good governance facing global soccer, which was rocked in 2015 when the United States filed a sweeping indictment that laid out in vivid detail accusations of decades of corruption and wrongdoing by some of the sport’s most senior administrators.

The executive summary of the PWC report, which was obtained by The New York Times, outlines a slew of troubling information. The report’s authors wrote that, “Potential elements of mismanagement and possible abuse of power were found in key areas of finance and operations of C.A.F.”

The report said that FIFA had remitted a total of $51 million to the African governing body from 2015 to 2018 and that since then, about $24 million of that amount had been disbursed by African soccer officials. In reviewing 40 payments totaling $10 million, auditors found that just five of the payments, adding up to $1.6 million, had sufficient documentation to confirm what the money would be spent on. The rest lacked information that in some cases made it impossible to identify the beneficiaries of the funds.

The auditors wrote that they were stymied in doing their work in many cases because the records “are unreliable and not trustworthy due to several manual adjustments.”

FIFA has so far declined to comment.

The revelations come a week after FIFA announced that a mission led by its secretary general, Fatma Samoura, intended to restore order at African soccer’s governing body, had been completed and that the administrator would be returning to its headquarters in Zurich.

“FIFA is happy that the joint effort made with C.A.F. was done and delivered within the initial proposed time frame and reiterates its commitment to be at the disposal of African football to assist in the process of raising its level to the top of the world,” FIFA said at the time.

Mr. Ahmad, the C.A.F. president, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. He is already facing an uncertain future amid an ethics investigation that started last year over claims of financial mismanagement and accusations of sexual harassment. He has denied any wrongdoing.

He was also questioned by French financial crimes prosecutors in Paris last summer over a payment to an equipment company based there that is linked to one of his close friends. That investigation was continuing.

The details of those payments also appear in the audit report. Flows of money connected to transactions between C.A.F. and bank accounts in the Gulf linked to the owner of the French company Tactical Steel were deemed by PWC to be “highly suspicious” and “may potentially indicate a kickback arrangement between parties involved or a case of tax evasion through offshore payments.” Tactical Steel has denied any wrongdoing.

The new revelations come at a crucial time for FIFA and for its president, Gianni Infantino, who has devoted much of the past year to C.A.F., one of soccer’s six regional governing bodies. This past week in Morocco, Mr. Infantino outlined an action plan for Africa at a gathering of the continent’s soccer leaders.

“We have to develop African solutions to African problems,” Mr. Infantino said, detailing initiatives that included a $1 billion fund to develop the sport on the continent.

But it now seems clear that the past will have to be dealt with before FIFA can move forward with any major changes at the African confederation.

The details revealed in the audit are likely to lead to a flurry of new cases for FIFA’s ethics department, which has yet to deal with a number of longstanding investigations, including the one into Mr. Ahmad.

The ethics complaint at FIFA accuses him of misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars of federation money to make $20,000 payments into the private bank accounts of some African soccer leaders, to purchase a fleet of cars for his use in Madagascar and to enter into questionable contractual agreements, including the one with Tactical Steel.

Mr. Ahmad has blamed the case on disgruntled former employees.

This month, FIFA and C.A.F. announced a joint action plan to take significant power away from the African organization’s board, which is composed of soccer leaders from across the continent. The audit revealed that many of those same officials had received thousands of dollars in cash payments without a justifiable business case.

[edlass]

@KieranMaguire reveals The Price of VAR - In the FA cup at least = not sure too many of those clubs want to have that again - poor Shrewsbury lose an estimated £500k because Liverpool sent their team on holiday, have to pay for a system that controversially (to some) ruled a goal out and then get dumped out by the youth team

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4474618881

Peterborough's chairman confirms this and adds they only made £8k from our match.

https://twitter.com/DMAC102/status/1225 ... 41088?s=19

[Chester Perry]

Richard Masters says that the Premier League is ready to launch it's own OTT service in certain markets should the circumstances dictate

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... rts-rights

I read that as - "we expect a greater revenue share of your pay tv income or we will do it ourselves and cut you out if we need too"

[Chester Perry]

This article in the Mail about the same thing neatly sums much of what I have posted on this subject in the last few days

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... rvice.html