UEFA is investigating the conduct of Liverpool fans over the two-legs of Liverpool’s Champions League quarterfinal fixture. UEFA has charged Liverpool under Article 16(2) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, which provides: However, all associations and clubs are liable for the following inappropriate behaviour on the part of their supporters and may be subject to disciplinary … Continue Reading
Norwich City Football Club has successfully issued a bond for £5,000,000. The five year, fixed term unsecured bond is intended to be ring-fenced to be invested in the club’s academy. The terms of the bond include a 8% annual interest rate that the club will pay to investors, of this 5% of the interest will be … Continue Reading
Planning disputes don’t often lead to the host of Match of the Day tweeting their outrage. However, the ongoing saga between Southwark Council and Meadow Residential LLP (“Meadow”), has drawn the ire of Gary Lineker and other prominent figures in the football world. At the centre of the dispute is non-league Dulwich Hamlets FC (“DHFC”). … Continue Reading
UEFA has today announced a raft of new changes to the regulations of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League for the start of the 2018/2019 season. Following February’s UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Bratislava and the decisions taken by the International Football Association Board (“IFAB”) on 3 March 2018 in Zurich, the following … Continue Reading
UEFA has announced that it will implement a number of changes to its UEFA Champions League competition, commencing from next season. The summary of the key changes are listed and explored further below: More teams will qualify directly for the group stage of the competition: 26 next season compared to 22 this season. The top … Continue Reading
On Wednesday evening, while the inclement weather brought about by The Beast from the East caused chaos to the United Kingdom’s basic transport infrastructure, another form of chaos was evident in North West London. At Wembley, Tottenham Hotspur played the replay of their FA Cup tie fifth round tie against Rochdale AFC in freezing conditions. … Continue Reading
In 2016, FIFA disbanded its anti-racism task force, citing that its work was complete ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. FIFA wrote that the task force “completely fulfilled its temporary mission”, which was to develop concrete solutions to fight discrimination in football and strengthen FIFA’s approach to the issue. Whilst FIFA declares that … Continue Reading
This article sets out a summary of several recent cases involving intermediaries and seeks to distill the lessons that can be adopted by intermediaries in what is, two years after the changes to the regulatory landscape, still an uncertain time for intermediaries. Introduction Football intermediaries (or football agents, as they were formerly known) are of … Continue Reading
Having won its group in the Champions League this season, Manchester United meet Sevilla in the last 16 stage of the Champions League. This round will be made up of two legs: the first match will be played at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium whilst the return leg will be played at Old Trafford. However, … Continue Reading
In 2015, it was announced that Nike had agreed an apparel deal with the NBA, beginning with the 2017-2018 season. At the time, Adam Silver, the NBA Commissioner, stated that: “This partnership with Nike represents a new paradigm in the structure of our global merchandising business. As our exclusive oncourt apparel provider, Nike will be … Continue Reading
Together with the usual transfer speculation this week’s football news has been dominated by the introduction of Video Assistant Referees (“VARs”) in England. VARs have slowly been introduced into the sphere of football. Rugby union has implemented television match officials (TMOs) since 2001, cricket has benefitted from Hawk-Eye since 2001 whilst the 2006 US Open … Continue Reading
We’ve seen Eric Cantona kung-fu kick an opposition supporter. We’ve seen Patrice Evra kick a supporter of his own team. Now we can add to the list another Frenchman, only this time it’s not a player but referee Tony Chapron, and it wasn’t a fan he kicked but a player. Football fans are accustomed to … Continue Reading
Andre Villas-Boas, the former football manager, has transcended the sport he knows so well, and stepped into the world of rally driving. On 29 November 2017, Villas-Boas announced his departure as manager of Shanghai SIPG FC to participate in the 40th edition of the Dakar Rally, driving with Team Overdrive. The Dakar Rally The Dakar … Continue Reading
The first of January saw the opening of the 2017/18 winter transfer window. Clubs have until 11pm on 31 January to conclude their business for this season. As ever, transfer windows bring with them much speculation about potential moves and the terms of new contracts signed by players. Speculation that Lionel Messi would leave Barcelona … Continue Reading
A Happy New Year to all our readers. The New Year is traditionally a time to get into shape and commit to new resolutions and it would appear the FA is no different by confirming that Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system technology would be utilised for the first time in last night’s FA Cup 3rd … Continue Reading
Last weekend’s Premier League fixture between Bournemouth and Southampton saw Bournemouth defender Adam Smith receive a controversial yellow card for simulation. Smith alleged that referee Jonathan Moss admitted he made a mistake and conceded he should in fact have awarded a penalty. Aside from the obvious implications that the decision may have had for the … Continue Reading
On 21 November 2017, Sports Shorts reported that the FA had issued its first charge of “Successful Deception of a Match Referee”, the recipient being Everton’s Oumar Niasse. The FA statement read: “It is alleged [Niasse] committed an act of simulation which led to a penalty being awarded in the fifth minute of the game.” … Continue Reading
Following earlier coverage on Sports Shorts about the introduction of the offence of “Successful Deception of a Match Referee” and details of the first charge, subsequently upheld by way of a two match ban, against Carlisle United’s Shaun Miller, the Premier League has its first ‘diving’ charge. The recipient is Everton’s Oumar Niasse. An FA … Continue Reading
Tonight sees the first of the play-off matches which will ultimately determine the final European representatives at the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018. The fans of Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Croatia, Greece, Sweden, Italy, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland will all be excitedly following their teams’ progress, hoping that they are able to … Continue Reading
UEFA today announced that former Manchester United player Patrice Evra has been charged with violent conduct and suspended for at least one game after he was sent-off for kicking a fan in the head before Marseille’s Europa League match against Vitoria Guimaraes. Evra is not the first French ex-Manchester United footballer to go in with … Continue Reading
It was reported on Tuesday 24 October 2017 that an arbitration panel has dismissed Queens Park Rangers’ claim that the English Football League’s 2012 Financial Fair Play Regulations (the “2012 Regulations”) were unlawful and that the sanction imposed by the Football League on QPR for its breach of those Regulations was disproportionate. A brief background … Continue Reading
As readers of Sports Shorts will remember, the FA council approved the retrospective “Successful Deception of a Match Official” offence earlier this year. You can read our thoughts on the subject here. While the offence has been in force since the start of the 2017/18 season, yesterday, Carlisle United’s Shaun Miller became the first player … Continue Reading
With only the FIFA World Cup play-off matches left to play, we are now close to knowing the final line up of teams that will appear in Russia in 2018. The final round of group qualification matches led to drama around the world. While Ireland’s 1-0 defeat of Wales meant that the Irish would qualify … Continue Reading
Picture the scene. It is the 109th minute in extra time of a decisive World Cup Qualifying Play Off. You are captaining your country against a team fuelled by the dream of reaching a World Cup in what would be extraordinary circumstances given the turmoil that the nation has faced throughout its campaign. You score … Continue Reading
