Man City, Real Madrid and Spurs top FIFA 2018 World Cup club payouts
By Paul Nicholson
December 5 – FIFA has released details of more than $209 million in payouts to clubs worldwide for use of their players at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Finance
Zamparini’s €10 sale of Palermo paves way for a new start, stadium and Serie A return
December 3 – Italian Serie B football club Palermo has been sold to an un-named London-based company for jut €10.
Zurich voters greenlight long-awaited new stadium complex despite opposition
November 28 – A slim majority of voters in Zurich has greenlighted the construction of a new 18,000 all-seat football stadium in the city.
Wolves, Mendes, Fosun and how the Premier League and English football is being gamed
By Paul Nicholson
November 23 – The controversial player signings that propelled Woverhampton Wanderers into and up the Premier League, and the influence of Portuguese agent Jorge Mende on the club have again been thrown into the spotlight after more emails from the Football Leaks cache were made public by Der Spiegel.
Beijing Guoan owner Sinobo Group builds in Europe with Slavia Prague stake
November 22 – Czech first division club SK Slavia Prague have sold a majority stake to China’s Sinobo Group, in a link that will see them work on a variety of initiatives with Sinobo’s Chinese Super League club Beijing Sinobo Guoan.
Player value downgrade pushes relegated Stoke financials into the red
By David Owen
November 21 – Stoke City, the main club in England’s traditional potteries region, nosedived into loss in its relegation season, after directors decided to write down the value of its playing squad.
Ceferin promises more robust FFP but refuses to be drawn on Man City or PSG
November 21 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has admitted that “weak” aspects of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules are potentially allowing clubs to exploit loopholes and says the system will be tightened up.
Man City explore options for expansion of Etihad to 63,000
November 21 -Manchester City have opened discussion with fan groups about the planned expansion of the club’s Etihad stadium from its current capacity of 55,000 to 63,000.
Scudamore’s £5m golden goodbye
November 16 – Richard Scudamore , the departing Premier League executive chairman, will receive a £5m goodbye gift paid by Premier League club when he hands over the CEO’s reins at the league to incoming chief executive Suanna Dinnage in December.
Man Utd first quarter revenues dip but club still predicting record year end
By Paul Nicholson
November 16 – Manchester United have seen a dip in their first quarter revenue to 30 September 2018, in comparison to the previous year, though the club say they are still on track to achieve record revenues of £615-630 million by the year end.
Kante refuses to take Chelsea cash off-shore, preferring to pay tax in UK
November 16 – Amidst all the negative publicity over the past fortnight prompted by the series of Football Leaks revelations reported by Der Spiegel and other media organisations, Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante is one high-profile player to have emerged with his reputation enhanced.
Man City lead on the pitch but Man Utd are spanking them off it
November 14 – Manchester City have usurped their cross town rivals United on the pitch in the ten years since acquisition by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008 – a point emphatically proved again last weekend with City’s 3-1 derby win. But off the pitch it is a different story.
AC Milan and Inter agree plan to work toward new shared stadium
November 14 – AC Milan and Internazionale, bitter rivals who share the same San Siro stadium, have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding underwriting their willingness to work together towards the construction of a new shared stadium.
Juve finance chief says playing a regular season game overseas makes money sense
November 13 – With the row over ground-breaking plans to play a top-flight La Liga fixture in the USA once a season showing little sign of receding, Italian giants Juventus have come out and said they too could be open to playing a regular season match outside of Italy.
UEFA says it will examine alleged PSG and Man City FFP breaches ‘case-by-case’
November 13 – UEFA will consider re-opening Financial Fair Play (FFP) investigations “on a case-by-case basis” if there is evidence of wrongdoing following the spate of allegations made against Manchester City and Paris St-Germain by Germany’s Der Spiegel.