Chelsea have claimed that UK government sanctions imposed on former owner Roman Abramovich were a factor in a loss of £121.3 million for the 2021/22 financial year – and that their impact will continue to be felt by the club.

Abramovich was sanctioned on 10th March last year as the government sought to freeze the assets of individuals believed to have connections to Russia president Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine.

Chelsea were placed under a special licence that restricted their ability to sell tickets, accept event bookings and sign contracts with players. The restrictions remained in place until 30th May when a consortium led by the American businessman Todd Boehly completed its £4.25 billion takeover of the club.

In a statement summarising the 2021/22 financial results, Chelsea said the restrictions “collectively resulted in extraordinary expenses and loss of revenue.” The club added that “some of these limitations are also expected to have an impact on the financials in the following years due to the long-term impact from restrictions on entering into new contractual arrangements.”

Chelsea revealed that despite the sanctions, turnover for 2021/22 rose to £481.3 million, up from £434.9 million, driven largely by higher matchday and commercial revenue from the return of fans on matchdays.

Commercial income climbed to £177.1 million, “as the club benefited from a net increase in sponsorship revenue from new contracts and existing partner renewals,” the club added.

However, broadcasting revenue fell compared with the previous year due to lower UEFA Champions League distributions, as well as the higher income earned in 2020/21 following the postponement of games from 2019/20 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Higher costs

Chelsea said the higher total revenue was offset by increased operating expenses, including matchday and non-matchday costs that resulted from resumed operations and increased staff costs. This contributed to a loss before player impairments and one-off expenses of £26.6 million, and an overall net loss of £121.3 million.

The club added that it invested £118 million in the playing squad during the 2021/22 financial year, including existing player contract renegotiations, but made a profit on player trading of £123.2 million. That figure included the sales of Tammy Abraham to AS Roma, Marc Guehi to Crystal Palace, Fikayo Tomori to AC Milan, and Kurt Zouma to West Ham.

Juventus false accountinghearing adjourned to 10th May

The hearing into the Prisma case against Juventus has been adjourned until 10th May after the proceedings began in Turin on Monday, Reuters reports.

A judge is to examine whether former Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, 11 other people and the club itself should face trial over allegations of false accounting.

On the first day of a hearing behind closed doors, initial procedural issues were addressed before the case was adjourned. The hearing is expected to last several months, after which judge Marco Picco will decide whether to order a trial.

Last December, prosecutors requested to send all the defendants to trial after investigating the club's accounting and statements made to financial markets in three recent years.

Pandemic salaries

Turin prosecutors allege the club understated its financial losses for three seasons – 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21. They have been looking into the values ascribed to player transfers between clubs and whether, as stated, salaries were sacrificed during the Covid-19 pandemic or simply deferred.

Juventus have denied wrongdoing and said their accounting was in line with industry standards.

At the end of the first day of the hearing, Picco accepted a request by some minority shareholders to hold Juventus and auditing firm Ernst & Young liable to them for damages, should the club be found guilty.

FC Barcelona-Negreira case: Joan Laporta explains club’s actions in letters to stakeholders

FC Barcelona have begun sending letters written by president Joan Laporta to club members, sponsors and investors to address the Negreira case, according to Spanish media reports.

Laporta is due to give a press conference to explain the club’s actions over the payments made to former Spanish referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. There is no set date for the media event, but it is thought it may take place on 12th April after an external investigation commissioned by the club into the matter has been concluded.

In the meantime, it is understood Barcelona have sought to ease concerns among club stakeholders by sending letters penned by Laporta, in which he provides the club’s version of events, reiterates its innocence, and details the steps to be taken in order to defend themselves.

It is understood that the Spanish public prosecutor's office, as well as UEFA, the Spanish FA (RFEF) and LaLiga, will also receive a letter stating the club’s innocence.

Corruption charges

Earlier this month, the public prosecutor's office filed corruption charges against Barça, as well as former club presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, over allegations that Negreira received more than €7 million in payments from the club between 2001 and 2018 to influence match results.

Negreira, who was vice-president of the Spanish FA’s refereeing committee from 1993 to 2018, has denied ever favouring Barcelona in terms of refereeing decisions. Barcelona has said it paid an external consultant who supplied it with "technical reports related to professional refereeing" but has also denied wrongdoing.

Leading clubs have given their support to FIFA’s new Club World Cup with the world governing body also agreeing to increase their club compensation package by 70 per cent for each of the next two World Cups.

Clubs will receive payments of $355 million from FIFA to compensate for the use of the players at the World Cups in 2026 and 2030, up from the $209 million at the previous two tournaments.

Under the deal the European Club Association (ECA) will work on a joint venture with FIFA to commercialise the newly expanded Club World Cup.   The MoU also includes a renewed commitment by clubs to adhere to the international match calendar until 2030. The changes received the approval of the FIFA Council earlier this month. 

The development was hailed as a success by those who had worked on what were described by the European Club Association (ECA) president Nasser Al Khelaifi as “tough negotiations”.

“Never before have clubs had more revenue distribution. Never before have clubs had more say in shaping their financial future, both in Europe and globally,” said Al Khelaifi.

However the increments may only be in line with FIFA’s forecasted revenue increases and big clubs might end up taking less per tournament as the World Cup increases to 48 teams from 2026, diluting the amount paid per player. FIFA recently announced it forecast to increase its four year revenues to $11 billion for the cycle ending in 2026.

The deal, which follows months of wrangling between the ECA and FIFA, a period that saw its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) lapse, was jointly unveiled with FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the ECA’s biannual General Assembly in Budapest.

Flanked by the presidents of the African and Asian Football Confederations, Patrick Motsepe and Sheikh Salman – with the UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin seated on the other side of the room – Infantino said that it was a “significant day” for the “long term stability of football”.

“We are very happy to renew and strengthen our cooperation agreement with ECA, an important stakeholder representing clubs from all over Europe,” he said.

“To have the new International Match Calendar endorsed by ECA provides the necessary balance between club and national team football. We have exciting projects ahead, including the new FIFA Club World Cup in 2025 and the new FIFA Women`s Club World Cup. A close collaboration with clubs in Europe, and the rest of the world, will be essential for the success of those events.” 

Overcoming the impossible

Al Khelaifi acknowledged that he thought that such a deal was “impossible” a few months ago, a reference to talks that broke down at the World Cup when Infantino snubbed an ECA board meeting in Doha.

The ECA president also revealed that as part of the deal there was a proposed joint venture in which it “will discuss with FIFA for the commercialisation of the Club World Cup.” The Qatari believes the new 32 team competition “will also open up whole new revenue streams for global club competitions.”

“The new Club World Cup format will be excellent – bringing more exciting games and more solidarity for everyone throughout the football pyramid, including non-participating clubs, without clustering the calendar,” he added in his keynote speech.

ECA officials had said as late as last week that the MOU was unlikely to contain an undertaking to endorse Infantino’s expanded Club World Cup, which will encompass 32 teams from 2025. Officials had previously said their focus was on access and financial redistribution rather than the very existence of the concept itself.

However the rhetoric has over recent weeks also been discernibly different to 2018, when Infantino first mooted the idea and the ECA and UEFA moved to block the FIFA president’s plans - manoeuvres that were ultimately aided by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nevertheless, the extent of the collaboration was not anticipated. A senior official described the proposed joint venture as “a game changer” that brings commercial ties between the ECA and FIFA “in line with the agreement that we currently have with UEFA.”

Fine visitors

Also addressing the session were the IOC president, Thomas Bach, IFAB’s technical director David Elleray, and Billy Beane of Moneyball fame. The session was delayed after a local power cut interrupted Bach’s video address.

At a second session on Tuesday morning, ECA governance will be discussed. Amongst the issues to be addressed are representation among the wider organisation. ECA plans to allow women’s clubs as full members of the organisation, leading to the possibility that some leading clubs could have dual representation at the ECA table through their men’s and women’s teams.

ECA also plans to allow 90 “network” members to its base of 240 clubs. The network clubs will have access to ECA services, such as legal support, but as with its associate membership – which currently comprises around 60 per cent of its membership - will not have voting rights.

The move is seen as an attempt to see off the Union of European Clubs, which officially launches next month on a one member one vote platform.

Everton are facing the possibility of a points deduction or heavy fine after the Premier League charged the club with a breach of its financial fair play rules.

In a statement released on Friday, the Premier League said the charge relates to the 2021/22 season and that it has referred the case to an independent commission, but it did not reveal any details of the alleged breach.

The announcement follows an audit of all Premier League clubs’ financial records for 2021/22, which had to be provided by the start of this month.

Last May, Burnley and Leeds – who were in a relegation battle with Everton towards the end of last season – wrote to the Premier League to question whether the Merseyside club had broken FFP rules after they recorded losses of £371.8 million over the previous three years.

Impact of pandemic

The Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules allow for losses of no more than £105 million over three years – and clubs who break the rules can be fined or deducted points.

However, Covid-related losses, as well as costs relating to Everton’s new £550 million stadium being built at Bramley-Moore Dock, women’s team and community work, can be incurred without counting towards that.

Everton’s accounts for 2021/22 are due to be made public by this Friday. The club recorded a deficit of £120.9 million for 2020/21, of which £103 million was attributed by the club to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Toffees also reported losses of £139.9 million for 2019/20, £111.8 million for 2018/19 and £13.1 million for 2017/18.

In a defiant statement, Everton said: “The Club strongly contests the allegation of non-compliance and together with its independent team of experts is entirely confident that it remains compliant with all financial rules and regulations.

“Everton is prepared to robustly defend its position to the commission. The Club has, over several years, provided information to the Premier League in an open and transparent manner and has consciously chosen to act with the utmost good faith at all times.”

Urgent questions

Meanwhile, The Daily Mail has reported that the Premier League is facing urgent questions from top-flight clubs over its decision to charge Everton just nine months after insisting that they had no case to answer.

The newspaper understands that Premier League executives told the clubs at a shareholders' meeting last March that there were no concerns about potential breaches by Everton – and that at a subsequent meeting in the summer they were informed that the club would be permitted to sign players as they were working with the Premier League to ensure they were compliant.

There is said to be a feeling at some clubs that the timing of the Premier League charge is politically motivated, with chief executive Richard Masters due to appear before a parliamentary hearing on sports governance this Tuesday.

AFC Bournemouth post £55.5 million loss for 2021/22

AFC Bournemouth have reported a loss of £55.5 million for the 2021/22 financial year, when the club won promotion back to the Premier League by finishing second in the EFL Championship.

After earning a profit of £17 million the previous year, the club said the deficit occurred “as the club made a concerted effort to get back to the Premier League in its second season away.”

Turnover was £53.2 million, down from £71.7 million in 2020/21. Bournemouth said the decrease was mainly due to reduced parachute payments from the Premier League. The club received £62.1 million in parachute payments in 2020/21 and £37.8 million in 2021/22.

The Cherries added that “this decrease was offset by increased income from the return to full crowds and an active hospitality and events function after the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The club recorded an operating loss of £48.7 million, compared with a profit of £23.6 million in 2020/21, with player sales generating a gain of £6.9 million, down from £55.8 million the previous year. Much of the profit in 2020/21 came from player sales following relegation from the Premier League.

£103.2 million spent on players

The accounts also included figures for after the year end, which will be fully included in the 2022/23 accounts, a period during which American businessman Bill Foley purchased the club from Maxim Demin.

They show that Bournemouth spent £103.2 million on 10 players following promotion back to the top-flight, and that last month £30 million was committed to fund the development of the new training facility at Canford Magna.

Juventus losses ease to €29.5 million for H1 2022/23

Juventus have reported a loss of €29.5 million for the first half of the 2022/23 financial year, considerably lower than the €112.1 million deficit suffered during the same period the previous year.

Total revenues reached €276.2 million, up from €223.1 million for the first six months of 2021/22, while operating costs were €210.6 million, down from €235.6 million.

The Turin club said the improvement was driven in part by the return of spectators following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, but added that it was also due to “the revenue development and cost rationalisation initiatives put in place in the previous periods and carried on in the current one.”

Along with an increase in tickets sales of €15.2 million, the club earned €37.4 million more from player sales, while the amount spent on new signings was €30.3 million lower, with amortisation costs down by €9.4 million and those for players' rights management €8.5 million lower.

Net debt rises to €333 million

Despite the improved results, the club’s net debt position deteriorated significantly, with net debt rising from €153 million at the end of June to €333 million at the end of December.

Trion Reid, an analyst at investment bank Berenberg, said: “To put this into perspective, this is broadly in line with the net debt at the end of December 2019, yet the club has raised around €700 million via capital increases in the meantime.”

Juventus put the deterioration of the net financial position largely down to items deemed to be ‘non-recurring’, such as the purchase of the club’s HQ building and training centre, and the payment for transfers previously completed.

“There is a further €111 million due on historical transfers, such that net financial debt would be €444 million if these commitments were included,” Reid noted.

Cardiff City owner promises further legal action against Nantes over Emiliano Sala case

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has sought to put further pressure on FC Nantes as the bitter dispute over the transfer fee for Argentine striker Emiliano Sala, who died in a plane crash en route to the Welsh club in January 2019, rumbles on.

Cardiff have paid €7 million to Nantes as the first instalment of a fee the EFL Championship club were ordered to pay for Sala by FIFA’s Players' Status Committee. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected Cardiff’s appeal against that decision and confirmed that the transfer had been “finalised” before his death.

However, in an interview with L’Equipe, Tan said Cardiff are refusing to pay the rest of the €17 million fee and that he believes the French club should be held accountable for Sala’s death.

“I’m very angry,” he said. “We have no choice, we will not stop. This is only the beginning, not the end. We were never able to use the very promising player that we had bought. Emiliano Sala could have scored the few goals that could have saved us from relegation [from the Premier League]. This resulted in a £100 million loss, at least, for the club. Why should we pay for his entire transfer?”

The Cardiff owner points to the fact that Nantes negotiated with an unlicensed player agent, Willie McKay, for Sala’s transfer. It was McKay who organised Sala’s flight to Wales.

Swiss Federal Court

As a last resort, Cardiff have turned to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland to overturn the FIFA ruling. If the Federal Court sides with Cardiff, the matter will return to CAS. If not, the Welsh club are ready to sue Nantes in a French civil court. Cardiff want to obtain significant damages and compensation sums for the losses caused by Sala’s death.

Meanwhile, a preliminary investigation which opened following a complaint from Cardiff’s lawyers is still in progress. According to L’Équipe, the matter is now in the hands of the specialised interregional jurisdiction of Rennes, which can scrutinise the count of “illegal practice of the profession of sports agent.”

Nantes president Waldemar Kita’s lawyers have lamented Cardiff’s efforts, labelling them as “ridiculous and baseless hardline” and “a vain attempt to forget the decisions of FIFA and CAS unequivocally condemning Cardiff”.

Concerns are increasing among some parties involved in the potential sale of Manchester United that the Glazers might have “played them for months” and may not sell the club.

According to The Guardian, there are growing fears that instead of selling the club the American family would prefer to either push up the price to create leverage for a loan, or offload a minority stake to a hedge fund.

One insider told The Times there was concern that “this whole thing has been a huge pantomime”, with the bids “way below the Glazer family’s expectations”.

The concerns emerged as the US hedge fund and former AC Milan owner Elliott Management confirmed that it had made an offer for United, but only for a “small amount of common equity”.

That is understood to suggest that Elliot are only interested in the 31 per cent of non-Glazer shares that are traded on the NYSE, although they could target the members of the Glazer family that want to sell.

Claims of eight bidders

Meanwhile, doubts continue to emerge over claims that up to eight bidders are interested in the club, with Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Qatari consortium of Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani the only publicly-confirmed bidders.

There are said to be growing suspicions that Raine, the US bank running the sale, is trying to ramp up a bidding process that is not as competitive as made out and push potential suitors towards the upper end of the Glazers’ £5-6 billion valuation – significantly higher than Ratcliffe or the Qataris appear to want to pay.

On Thursday the Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zillacus was the latest to be linked with United, saying he would put up £3 billion for the club if fans were willing to put up the other half of a £6 billion bid. However, his move seems highly unlikely to succeed given he has yet to show proof of funds or make a bid.

Improved offers

The latest developments came after the sale process descended into farce on Wednesday night, when representatives for the Qataris and Ineos said that they had submitted improved offers – only for it to emerge that this was not the case.

Attempts were made to ease the sense of confusion when the rival bid groups insisted that it was still their intention to table offers of more than £5 billion. An offer from Ineos was expected on Thursday.

 

UEFA open investigation into FC Barcelona over Negreira case

UEFA have opened a disciplinary investigation into FC Barcelona over the controversial payments made by the club to former Spanish referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

A UEFA statement on Thursday read: “In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors have today been appointed to conduct an investigation regarding a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework by FC Barcelona in connection with the so-called ‘Caso Negreira’.”

UEFA disciplinary regulations state that measures that can be imposed on clubs range from “a warning, reprimand and fine to disqualification from competitions in progress and/or exclusion from future competitions and withdrawal of a title or an award.”

The move comes after the Spanish public prosecutor's office filed corruption charges against Barcelona, as well as former club presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, over allegations that Negreira received more than €7 million in payments from the club between 2001 and 2018 to influence match results.

Barcelona’s regional court said it would investigate Barça and the two former presidents over the crimes of corruption in sports, unfair administration and falsehood in documents.

LaLiga, the Spanish FA (RFEF) and rivals Real Madrid have all revealed their intention to join the complaint against the Catalan giants.

LaLiga cannot investigate

LaLiga has already confirmed it cannot investigate because the case relates to events that took place more than three years ago. However, UEFA would have the power to bring sporting sanctions as any offence would not be time-barred under its rules.

Negreira, who was vice-president of the Spanish FA’s refereeing committee from 1993 to 2018, has denied ever favouring Barcelona in terms of refereeing decisions. Barcelona has said it paid an external consultant who supplied it with "technical reports related to professional refereeing" but has also denied wrongdoing.

 

Huddersfield Town sold to American consortium amid administration fears

Huddersfield Town have confirmed that the club is to be taken over by an American consortium amid reports that the EFL Championship club were on the verge of administration and a points deduction that would have condemned them to relegation.

In a statement, Huddersfield said that chairman Dean Hoyle had agreed a deal with US investors to buy the entire club.

“We can confirm that Dean Hoyle has completed a deal to acquire the remaining 75% shareholding in Huddersfield Town from Pure Sports Consultancy. As a result, Dean Hoyle now owns 100% of the shares in the Football Club,” the statement read.

“Simultaneously, Mr Hoyle has exchanged contracts with a North American group on a sale of the 100% shareholding in Huddersfield Town. Completion is subject to legislative and governance procedures.”

Hoyle to write off £40 million

The Daily Mail has reported that under the terms of the deal Hoyle will write off around £40 million he is owed by the club which the new owners were unwilling to take on, preventing administration and an automatic 12-point deduction that would leave them 15 points from safety at the bottom of the table.

The report also said that Hoyle has agreed to continue funding Huddersfield until the end of the season at a cost of around £6 million while the takeover is finalised, on the proviso that he is repaid that sum by the new owners once it has been completed.

 

Apple considers bid to stream Premier League and EFL matches

Further speculation has emerged about the prospect of Apple shaking up the Premier League domestic broadcast rights market, with Bloomberg reporting that the tech giant is considering a bid.

According to the report, the rights under consideration would allow Apple to show games from the Premier League as well as the EFL in the UK.

Apple is looking to increase its live football coverage after its $2.5 billion 10-year contract to broadcast Major League Soccer matches began last month. Last year, Apple also began streaming Major League Baseball games after agreeing a $85m-per-season contract with the organisation.

Three-year deal

The Premier League’s current three-year deal with Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon expires in 2025, with the tender process for the next set of rights due to begin later this year. Amazon Prime has exclusive rights to two rounds of Premier League matches a season in a deal reportedly worth £30 million.

The next cycle for the EFL rights begins in 2024 and negotiations are said to usually take place a year or a year-and-a-half before the renewal of this cycle is due.

Some leading football clubs are only properly monetising “one per cent” of their overall global fanbase, missing out on tens of millions in potential annual revenue by not fully grasping the possibilities of their digital offering, a leading digital sports marketeer tells Off The Pitch.

In a wide-ranging interview, Neil Joyce, CEO and Co-Founder of The CLV Group, a consultancy which works with leading clubs, has described a type of “race for oil” – or “fan moneyball” – going on between early-adopter clubs to gain engagement and monetisation opportunities among their global fanbases, and says that sophisticated reward-based schemes could hold the key to driving fan engagement and loyalty.

“The income generated from fan partnerships and dramatically increased engagement will easily dwarf the financial rewards of playing in a controversial breakaway European Super League that fans have no appetite for, and which would almost definitely compromise the integrity of our national leagues,” says Joyce.

Joyce says that while the technology exists to identify fans by numerous marketing criteria, clubs have been slow to tailor their digital offerings to suit these market segments.

“There’s a real opportunity to revolutionise loyalty and reward fans with what they want, raising revenue in the process, but clubs need to increase the pace on how they invest and mobilise these opportunities,” says Joyce.

He says that clubs should be looking at a “next-generation” of loyalty schemes “akin to those of retailers and airlines where fans get the benefits they want, in an ecosystem they value, while clubs capture first-party data and drive new revenue streams.”

Missing billions

Over the past couple of years Joyce’s CLV Group have published reports that give tantalising insights into what clubs should be chasing in fan engagement and monetisation. Its 2021 report showed how what it terms “fanatical” fans – defined as loyal fans who attend at least 10 games per season – individually generate hundreds of times more revenue than “casual” fans – typically one who watches via TV from overseas. CLV’s research shows the overseas market to be so vast and untapped, that hundreds of millions are lost from these “casual” fanbases – in the case of the EPL “Big 6”, pushing on for £1 billion collectively.  

CLV’s latest report talks in terms of “Web 3.0, metaverse experiences, gamification and marketplaces”, as the heart of what it calls “Fan Moneyball”, which it acknowledges is “a far cry from selling scarves or hawking lottery tickets.”

It concludes: “For clubs who are prepared to embrace their digitally savvy generations of fans, there are big opportunities on offer.”

Lightbulb moment

“Web 3.0, and in particular token-based memberships, have the potential to form the backbone of next-generation loyalty schemes,” says Joyce, who refers to “mature NFL and NBA businesses” as providing examples of where this is happening.

When he sees a roll of my eyes, he says fan tokens have got a bad reputation because of their intrinsic link to cryptocurrencies. There is a role for crypto in sport, Joyce believes, but it shouldn’t be explicitly bound up with tokens, which he thinks should be reframed so that they have more of a reward-benefit appeal.

“Think of them like airline loyalty programmes,” he says. “Fans want discounts, or special rewards: a properly executed fan token programme can bring them those things.”

For me, this is a lightbulb moment: after supermarkets, hotels and airlines, my football club is probably the biggest source of discretionary spending each year. But while the former three give me discount vouchers, free nights and redeemable airmiles, my club gives me nothing. Wouldn’t it be nice to upgrade my seat to hospitality every once in a while, or get a free shirt?

“There’s a real opportunity to revolutionise loyalty and reward fans with what they want, raising revenue in the process, but clubs need to increase the pace on how they invest and mobilise these redefined fan experiences,” he says.

“Tapping into passion-based fan and consumer interests vs the more functional need and want based traditional programs is where the next wave of exciting customer engagement can take place.” 

The key is providing an ecosystem fans value, “while clubs capture first-party data and drive new revenue streams.”

Race for the States

The other area Joyce sees as being key to digital fan revenues is the race to get a hold in the US market. More than half of US sports fans also have a favourite soccer team, with up to 70 per cent of NBA fans confirming this. While this is all accepted wisdom, Joyce says a key to engagement is the “storytelling” and narrative creation around a team.

The most obvious example of this is Wrexham, which in its recent FA Cup tie with Sheffield United became the number one trending topic in the US on social media.  “The content and storytelling differentiation that the Hollywood impact of Ryan Reynolds and ‘Welcome To Wrexham’ has proven it can unlock monetary value and reach global fanbases,” he says.  

“Wrexham AFC has become a must-watch for soccer fans in the United States.”

He points to investment and recent appointments within larger European clubs to produce curated content for specific audiences that appeal to global audiences, not just the traditional club web, app and TV channels as evidence that some clubs are grasping this.

“The recognition that Gen Z consume small chunks of highlights of live games rather than the full game has been evidenced in the US through the NFL recently and provides strong data points for the European football teams to follow suit and generate content, insights and engaged fans that extend way beyond the limitations of the traditional TV ratings data that European clubs have traded upon within sponsors for decades,” he says.

Magic sauce

But engagement is one thing, and financial rewards may ultimately follow from this. But how do you turn these interested followers into paying consumers. What is the magic sauce?

Joyce smiles and shakes his head gently. CLV are engaged with two of the largest European clubs, including one from the EPL on their engagement programmes. It is like “a race for oil,” he says. “For football teams who grasp the potential of advanced techniques, they can unlock the trapped value across their fans and global followers. The race to win this off pitch battle is well and truly on.” In other words, he’s not going to reveal his secrets – at least not for now.

What he does do a few days later though, is email me an anonymised case study from an Esports franchise CLV worked with, which has “very strong parallels” to elite European football clubs, which are “only being able to identify and engage with 1-5 per cent of their overall fanbases – i.e matchday and ticket membership fans.”

What CLV did went beyond providing audience insights; instead they worked with the Esports brand to produce different digital content propositions, based around music and movies, that targeted specific parts of its following. They did this by looking beyond the traditional focus of likes, shares and views across the social media platforms and the TV ratings data. Instead, the focus “was on harnessing the unique passion-based engagement data” – transactional data, OTT consumption data, intent data and physical known identity data – to both identify the different audience groups to show revenue opportunity, level of engagement and potential value to sponsors and partners. 

This ultimately enabled them to convert 6 per cent of the brand’s hitherto unknown digital streaming audience to a direct subscription paying model, but the benefit went further it says.

The perception often is that a non-physically engaged fan will be less financially committed than one who goes to stadiums, but in this case study CLV found this to be the opposite. On average the ‘digital only fan’ spent 10 hours a week more than a physical fan engaging with the games and forums online, earning €7 per month more in revenue than the typical monthly subscriptions of a physical fan.

Perhaps some of this is specific to Esports, which, by their nature are predominantly consumed digitally and when played in live venues are done so in front of audiences counted in thousands and rarely more. However Joyce believes it shows “what is possible for football teams who want to unlock global non-matchday fans or audiences, by putting together fan based digital subscription propositions that extend way beyond a ticketing membership product that provides low levels of realised value.”

Huge rewards

This, he says, is at the heart of his “fan moneyball” – this ability he says his consultancy can provide clubs to “analyse fans’ interests, passions, current levels of spend and appetites to engage, spend and or influence” and then tailoring their offering “to fit their needs.”

Joyce is evangelical about the potential of his proposition – “With the potential revenue on offer… clubs could reduce or even eliminate the costs of tickets for match-going supporters,” is one view – and believes this sort of marketing will be increasingly mainstream sooner rather than later. CLV’s report contrasts how football clubs have taken on board data analytics for their on pitch work yet haven’t grasped the possibilities in a commercial sense. “When it comes to many of their own fans, some clubs find themselves almost completely in the dark” it says.   

“The opportunity is there and we’ve highlighted this many times before,” says Joyce. “But we can now pinpoint where those revenue streams are – whether its streaming, digital memberships and reward schemes or virtual experiences.

“The challenge for clubs is to fully grasp it. For those that do and are ahead of the game, the rewards will be huge.”

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe was set to offer more than £5 billion including debt for Manchester United ahead of Wednesday's 21:00 GMT deadline for second bids, according to The Financial Times.

Both the Ineos owner and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani were widely expected to make improved offers after the two parties, the only publicly-declared bidders, met with United officials this month.

Ineos want to buy the combined Glazer shareholding of around 69 per cent, but the Qatari group is targeting 100 per cent of the club.

BBC Sport understands that United officials met eight different potential investors over a 10-day period of high-level meetings, including Ratcliffe and representatives of Sheikh Jassim.

The amount of their initial bids have not been disclosed but reports suggested both were in the region of £4.5 billion, far below the £5-6 billion valuation that the Glazer family have established.

According to Bloomberg, the first bid from Sheikh Jassim was £4.5 billion, with the original offer from Ratcliffe less than that figure.

Ineos loan deal halted

Bloomberg also reported that Ratcliffe has already lined up financing from banks including Goldman Sachs for his offer.

Earlier this week, banks halted an €820 million loan deal for Ineos Enterprises, as markets assessed the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS. However, Ratcliffe’s team were said to remain confident about raising the money for a takeover of the Old Trafford club.

US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management is willing to provide financing on a deal for United, including one that involves the Glazers. Alternative asset managers Ares Management LLC and Oaktree Capital Group are also said to be open to offering funds to back new investment in the club.

Brighton post £24.1 million profit for 2021/22

Brighton & Hove Albion have reported a dramatic improvement in the club’s finances, posting a £24.1 million profit for the 2021/22 financial year after suffering a £53.4 million loss the previous year.

Turnover for 2021/22 was £174.5 million, up 19.6 per cent on the £145.9 million earned in 2020/21. Higher matchday income, a profit on player sales, and increased Premier League prize money were all key factors behind the increase.

The return of full-capacity crowds to the Amex Stadium after the Covid-19 pandemic saw matchday income rise by around £28 million.

On the pitch, Brighton ended the season ninth in the table their highest finish so far in the Premier League. The rise from 16th in 2020/21 brought around an extra £14 million of prize money.

Player trading moved to a profit of £8.8 million from a loss of £49.1 million the previous year and was boosted by the sales of defenders Ben White to Arsenal for £50 million and Dan Burn to Newcastle United for £13 million.

“More sustainable”

Deputy chairman and chief executive Paul Barber said: "These accounts make much better reading than the two previous seasons, in which we sustained overall losses of more than £110m.

“That took [owner Tony Bloom’s] investment over the £400 million mark but this move to a profit is a small step towards the club becoming more sustainable and less reliant on the chairman’s generous levels of investment.”

Premier League offers extra £30 million-a-year to EFL

The Premier League has offered to distribute an additional £30 million-a-year to the English Football League (EFL) in an attempt to agree a deal over future funding, according to Sky News.

It is understood that the top-flight told the EFL last week it was prepared to hand over £125 million extra every year, up from the £95 million-per-season it proposed in December.

If agreed, this new funding would be in addition to existing financial contributions totalling hundreds of millions of pounds a year made by the Premier League to the rest of the professional pyramid.

The revised proposal, tabled during a meeting of Premier League and EFL executives, follows months of talks about a so-called 'New Deal for Football'.

Any agreement between the two – with the FA also involved in the discussions – would include strict conditions on cost controls to avert future profligacy from lower-league clubs.

This could mean more of the money distributed by the Premier League being spent on items other than players' wages, such as infrastructure. It would also entail reforming the current system of parachute payments made by the top-flight to clubs relegated to the Championship.

Merit payments

A new distribution model would also be introduced, with merit payments being awarded to clubs based on their performance in the EFL.

It was unclear on Tuesday whether the Premier League's latest proposal would gain support from the EFL board, which is led by chairman Rick Parry and Trevor Birch, chief executive.

'Napoli fan' prosecutor steps aside from Prisma case against Juventus

One of three prosecutors accusing Juventus of financial misconduct in the Prisma investigation has left the case after the emergence of derogatory comments he made about the team, Reuters has reported.

In a video shot at a legal conference in Milan in 2019, a year before the inquiry into Juventus opened, Turin prosecutor Ciro Santoriello said: "I am a huge fan of Napoli. I hate Juventus.”

In what appears to be a light-hearted exchange, he added: "As a football fan I care about Napoli. As a prosecutor I am against Juventus, against robberies on the pitch.”

The Prisma case is centred around allegations that Juventus agreed a series of secret player payments during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. The club have denied wrongdoing and said their accounting was in line with industry standards.

The video, which has been recirculated widely on social media in recent months, angered Juventus supporters and raised questions over possible bias in probing the club. Santoriello has not questioned the authenticity of the video.

Pressures from media

A source told Reuters that Santoriello communicated his decision to Turin's chief prosecutor, saying he wanted to avoid any potential pressures from media on the trial after the video resurfaced.

Public prosecutors in Turin have requested that former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, 11 other people and the club itself stand trial over allegations of false accounting.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled to start on Monday to decide whether to send the defendants to trial or acquit them. It is understood that it will be attended by the other two prosecutors in charge of the investigation.

Wolves owner in talks over stake in Belgian club K.V. Oostende

Wolves owner Fosun has opened talks over a potential investment in Belgian club K.V. Oostende as it looks to expand its portfolio of football clubs in Europe, The Guardian reports.

It is understood that Fosun officials were due to meet representatives from Oostende’s owner Pacific Media Group (PMG) on Wednesday having expressed a serious interest in investing in the club.

PMG is believed to be open to selling its stake in Oostende that it purchased in April 2020 from previous owner Marc Coucke. Oostende had their professional license withdrawn by the Belgian FA that season because of their mounting debts.

It understood that there are fears of a similar situation arising if a buyer is not found soon. The club are currently fighting against relegation from the Belgian Pro League.

€10 million price tag

PMG is believed to have set a minimum price tag of €10 million for any interested buyers, although talks with Fosun are believed to be at a very early stage.

PMG – which is owned by Chien Lee and Paul Conway – also has stakes in several other European clubs, including Bundesliga 2 outfit Kaiserslautern, EFL League One side Barnsley and French third-tier club Nancy.

Manchester United could be sold for a world record fee for a sports team if the Glazer family accept one of the incoming bids for control of the club, The Daily Mail has reported.

Officials are said to be confident that offers of more than £5 billion will be put forward ahead of Wednesday's deadline, which would eclipse the $4.65 billion paid for the NFL's Denver Broncos last year.

United are understood to be expecting six bids, which would be a mix of full takeover and partial investment. At least two – those of Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe – are expected to go beyond £5 billion. Initial offers are thought to have been closer to £4.5 billion.

Ratcliffe has told the Wall Street Journal that he will not pay a “stupid” price. “How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It’s not related to how much it cost to build or how much it cost to paint,” he said.

“What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because then you regret it subsequently.” Ratcliffe, who already owns French club Nice, said his interest in United would be “purely in winning things”, and called the club a “community asset”.

Easter decision time

Those involved in the race to buy United believe another round of bids may be invited before a buyer is chosen, with Easter viewed as decision time. A further period of negotiation would then take place. It is understood that the Glazers are keen on a full sale but would take partial investment should their valuation not be met.

 

Bayern Munich renew Allianz partnership in €130 million deal up to 2033

Bayern Munich have renewed their sponsorship agreement with Allianz for another 10 years until 2033 in a deal reported to be worth €130 million.

The partnership dates back to 2000, with Allianz holding the naming rights of the Munich stadium that opened in 2005 and also being the shirt sponsors of the club’s women's team since 2013.

Allianz has also been a Bayern shareholder since 2014, with the same 8.33 per cent stake in the club as car maker Audi and sportswear brand Adidas.

According to German media reports, the new sponsorship deal is worth €13 million per year, up from around €8 million in the previous agreement. This brings it close to the value of Allianz’s deal with Juventus, which will be worth €14 million per year from 2023/24. As well as stadium naming rights the agreement with the Turin club also includes sponsorship of the men’s team’s training kit.

Financial coaching service

To coincide with the announcement of its new agreement with Bayern, Allianz launched a new financial coaching service called ‘Ready Coach,’ designed to give young professional female athletes greater financial literacy and confidence in financial dealings.

The Bayern women’s team will now receive permanent access to a personal financial coach and the service will also be available for use by other clubs.

 

DFB president Bernd Neuendorf demands more transparency from FIFA

Bernd Neuendorf, president of the German FA (DFB), has called for greater transparency from FIFA and a different attitude towards its members.

The DFB was one of the few national associations not to support Gianni Infantino in his re-election as FIFA president, which was confirmed at the governing body’s annual congress in Kigali, Rwanda last week when he won a new four-year term until 2027 after standing unopposed.

Speaking to Insideworldfootball on the sidelines of the congress, Neuendorf, who is running for a seat on the FIFA Council, said: “We asked so many questions over the past months. Those related to Qatar and the humanitarian legacy such as a migrant worker centre or the legacy fund that was promised as well in Qatar. We don’t see much progress there.

“This was also the question, is Saudi Arabia involved in the FIFA Women’s World Cup? Is there an engagement of Visit Saudi? We tried to find out, but there were no satisfying answers.”

Meeting with general secretary

Neuendorf said he demanded more transparency from the governing body when he met with FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura during the congress.

“FIFA established a subcommittee on human rights and social responsibility,” Neuendorf explained. “This came all of a sudden. It was established in December. We didn’t know anything about it beforehand. It was just by chance that we got to know it.

“This has to change at FIFA – these things should be communicated very openly to all the federations. FIFA has to think about their attitude towards the federations. There should be more transparency. That’s what I want.”

Chelsea are considering building a new stadium that could cost up to £2 billion and involve them playing away from Stamford Bridge for four years, according to The Daily Mail.

Possible temporary venues include Fulham’s Craven Cottage, Twickenham or Wembley. It is understood that Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has informally approached fellow American billionaire Shahid Khan, the Fulham owner, about using his club’s ground.

One possibility is playing the majority of league games at Craven Cottage, with Champions League and category A Premier League fixtures played at Wembley or Twickenham.

The project being considered by Chelsea to bulldoze the current ground and erect a new 60,000-capacity venue would need to overcome several hurdles. Railway and Tube lines, an underground river and an adjacent cemetery will pose challenges and could force the club to rotate the pitch 90 degrees to stay on the current site.

2030 target for completion

Rising material costs, and traffic and noise restrictions would push up the build price, which could reach £2 billion by the time it is hoped to be completed in 2030, a date independent experts say is optimistic.

However, the club’s owners do not regard the predicted cost as prohibitive. They have not set a fixed stadium budget, other than to put aside funds for both its rebuild and player transfers as part of Boehly’s £4.25 billion acquisition of the club last year.

Newcastle United owners in multi-club talks with 777 Partners

American investment firm 777 Partners has held talks with the owners of Newcastle United about making a potential investment in the Miami-based business as it considers raising new capital to back its growing portfolio of football clubs.

According to Bloomberg, 777 has had exploratory discussions with at least five parties about raising debt and equity, including PCP Capital Partners, the advisory firm of Newcastle director Amanda Staveley.

Staveley played a role in brokering the 2021 takeover of Newcastle by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. It is understood that any investment in 777 may include money from the sovereign wealth fund.

Hertha Berlinmajority stake

Earlier this month, 777 completed a deal to acquire a majority stake in German club Hertha Berlin, who became the seventh football club to strike an investment deal with the US firm, joining Genoa in Italy, Vasco da Gama in Brazil, Standard Liège in Belgium, Red Star in France, Sevilla in Spain and Melbourne Victory in Australia.

777 has also been considering taking a minority stake in Premier League club Everton. A source told Bloomberg that the firm is aiming to turn a profit by the 2023/24 season on revenue of €350 million across its group.

Wigan Athletic handed three-point penalty for failing to pay players in March

EFL Championship club Wigan Athletic have been deducted three points for failing to pay player salaries this month, breaching an agreement they had with the EFL in January, when they accepted a suspended penalty.

It is the fourth time Wigan have not paid their squad in the last nine months, having also failed to do so in June, July and October of last year.

Owner Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi, who fronted a takeover of Wigan in 2021 after they had gone into administration in the summer of 2020, will also be charged with misconduct and an independent disciplinary commission will deal with the case.

The EFL had established commitments which Wigan and Bahraini businessman Al-Jasmi had to meet in order to avoid a points deduction, under the terms of the agreed decision reached in January.

In addition to payment of player salaries, another key term was the payment of 125 per cent of forecasted player salaries into a designated club account, which has not occurred in this case.

Bottom of the table

Earlier this month, Wigan confirmed they would be late in paying wages and blamed delays on "recent liquidity issues", but described the club's financial state as "robust".

Wigan, who won the League One title last season, were already bottom of the Championship table before the points deduction, and are now eight points behind fourth-from-bottom Cardiff City and safety from relegation.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe drops another hint that he won’t seek second term

Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe has given another clear hint that he will not stand for re-election for a second term.

The South African mining magnate and billionaire rose to power in CAF and became its president with the backing of FIFA in March 2021. He said at the time that he would be a one-term president.

At the recent CAF Presidential Awards in Kigali, Rwanda, Motsepe told Insideworldfootball: “If you are a leader, a leader must be capable of being replaced at short notice. You don’t think about when you are going to step down, but the principle must be – if you are not there tomorrow, the organisation must continue and succeed. That is the principle.”

CAF has been suffering deep financial problems since the collapse of its billion-dollar broadcast contract with Lagardere back in 2019. With small cash reserves, the confederation has been ordered to pay $50 million to the French agency, while other projects backed by the current administration such as the Africa Super League have so far failed to take off.

“An even better job than you”

“You don’t judge a leader only by what happened when he was there,” said Motsepe, before referring to Nelson Mandela. “Part of my duty is that whoever takes over from me continues and you have to assume that the person who comes after you will do an even better job than you.”

He added: “There are certain fundamentals that we had to introduce which were non-negotiable – governance, ethics and transparency.” Motsepe would not be drawn on who his ideal successor would be.

Making a definitive entry into club football through a revived and expanded Club World Cup has been a multibillion obsession of the FIFA president Gianni Infantino for at least the past five years.

First, in April 2018, Japan’s SoftBank, likely with Saudi backing, fronted a consortium to put $25 billion into developing FIFA competitions, including a radical plan to create a 24-team Club World Cup.

That backing was scuppered the following October after intense opposition led by the UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, who threatened to lead a walk out of a FIFA Council meeting if proposals were voted through.

A pilot of an expanded 24 team Club World Cup was subsequently approved for 2021, which was slated to be held in China, with FIFA hiring the US financial advisory firm Raine Group to secure $1 billion backing. That ultimately fell too because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the plans never went away.

Last December it was announced that FIFA will launch a 32-team men’s Club World Cup in 2025. The announcement – without going into much detail – met predictable howls of opposition from the likes of the Premier League and LaLiga at the time, but the meat on the bones of the proposal was never served.

Until last week, when the FIFA Council – meeting in Kigali ahead of the FIFA Congress – approved the key principles of access and Infantino gave an insight into what sort of revenues they hoped to make from the tournament.

“We promise new record revenues for the next cycle of $11 billion,” he said of FIFA’s next financial cycle at a stormy post-Congress press conference, “And the new Club World Cup is not included in that figure, so it could increase by a couple of billion.”

“A couple of billion” means the tournament is likely to be bigger and far more lucrative than previously conceived. Indeed such numbers could move the dial on the economy of club football, especially for Europe’s richest teams, who will benefit the most. This is what it all means.

What was announced last week in Kigali?

The FIFA Council agreed “key principles of access” for the new competition last week. It had already announced how it was carving up qualification among confederations a month ago so this was rather less interesting than what Infantino said afterwards.

The idea that FIFA could generate as much as $2 billion from the new Club World Cup would have a huge impact on the club game globally and is far bigger than the sum the world governing body had sought when it was toying with the SotBank-backed plan in 2018.

The headline figure then was $25 billion, but that was for three editions of the club tournament as well as rights to a new competitive global league for national teams. Broken down, the figures were more modest – FIFA saw the CWC as generating less than $1 billion per revenue.

“The objective would be to reach global gross revenue projections of USD 650 m to USD 1 billion, which would be required to make it a successful project,” a FIFA document leaked to the New York Times reported then.

How will revenues be split?

Nobody knows. FIFA won’t say and is yet to consult with any stakeholders in the process.

In the World Cup it shares around 10 per cent of its revenues as prize money, although the bulk of its remaining income is shared among “the global football family”. The existing CWC pays out just $15 million.

Clubs, frankly, are going to want to see a lot more than that – but they are likely to receive it too.

Under the 2018 SoftBank plan FIFA proposed giving participants 75 percent of the tournament’s revenues. If they stuck to that a tournament worth $1 billion would generate average revenues of $23.44 million for each of the 32 competing clubs.

In reality it is likely to line the pockets of the richest clubs the most. At the last CWC winners Real Madrid earned ten times as much as seventh placed Auckland City and it seems difficult to imagine a scenario where a European club would accept parity with one from Oceania or Africa. So that ballpark figure is likely to be skewed significantly upwards for a European club, and possibly doubled if Infantino’s “couple of billion” revenue target is actually reached.

What about solidarity among non-competing clubs?

This is likely to be a key point of contention.

In the SoftBank proposal FIFA said it would provide leagues and non participating clubs with 5 per cent of revenue, which it said was sufficient “to maintain the competitive balance at club level and to produce better champions for future editions.” Such solidarity figures are roughly in line with what it pays to teams under its Club Solidarity Programme for the World Cup, and roughly what UEFA pays to non-participating clubs from its competitions.

But the CWC sums are likely to be far more polarising than the influx of Champions League money on say, the EPL or Ligue 1.

Firstly, a cap of two clubs per country will be applied with an exception in case more than two clubs from the same country win the confederation’s premier club competition over the four-year period. This means that a handful of clubs in each league are likely to take an enormous payday, while the remainder get nothing.

Second, the sheer size of the numbers involved are likely to have a vastly polarising effect on the majority of leagues. In most domestic leagues outside of Europe’s “Big 5”, annual club revenues are counted in tens of millions and sometimes even less.

“The potential to destroy competitive balance is enormous,” one club representative source told us.

Another senior figure in European football said it was difficult to make a full judgement without further detail from FIFA but said that they were “worried” about the amounts that could be distributed to the 12 European participating clubs.  “This could only further widening the gap with other clubs solely playing domestically. In other words it is a further attack to competitive balance in domestic league football.”

What are the politics of the situation?

As sure as light follows day, a statement from LaLiga decrying FIFA’s “malpractice of making unilateral decisions on the world football calendar” was in the inbox of every football journalist in Europe the morning after the announcement. The decisions, said the Spanish league, “do not take into account the competitive, sporting and economic impact”.

The European Leagues said it was “concerned” about the announcements made by FIFA saying they “were completely unaware”. They warned that such moves “results in a privilege for a few clubs while completely disregarding the big negative economic and sporting impact these decisions have on domestic leagues, most of their clubs, players, and fans.”

The European Club Association, which is hoping to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding with FIFA next week at its General Assembly in Budapest, has not commented publicly on the situation, but sources there have played down talk that FIFA is trying to strong arm them into agreeing to the new competition. The MOU “ratifies the relationship between us and gives a basis for further negotiation.”  

What happens next?

That’s anybody’s guess. Infantino has become notorious for making unilateral announcements and those at governing and representative bodies have tended to find out his plans along with the rest of us – either in a media release, or at one of his increasingly fractious and rare press conferences.

Canvassing opinion senior European football officials, there was a “wait and see” mentality in terms of just about every detail – location, timing, money, distribution mechanisms and even issues that appear to have been settled, like access.

There also a degree of fatalism among them. One club source told me: “It’s not ideal but there’s not a huge amount clubs can do, and they’ve got other concessions. Ultimately FIFA can basically push through anything these days so it’s more about forcing compromises where possible.”

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe are both set to make second bids to buy Manchester United after holding talks at Old Trafford last week, The Times reports.

Ratcliffe – accompanied by the former British Cycling and Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford, who now holds a senior sporting role within the Ineos set-up – was in Manchester for the second stage of the bidding process last Friday.

They were allowed a greater inspection of the club’s finances, a tour of the training facilities and Old Trafford, and made presentations to the Raine Group, the New York bank overseeing the potential sale.

The meetings came after the Qatari group held what were said to be positive talks with officials at Old Trafford last Thursday. Representatives acting for Sheikh Jassim had close to ten hours of cordial discussions and also visited the stadium and training ground.

The Qatari delegation comprised senior advisers representing Sheikh Jassim, including Shahzad Shahbaz, president of the Nine Two Foundation set up to purchase United, and Fady Bakhos, the Sheikh’s senior personal adviser.

Also with them was Sam Powers, global head of technology, media and telecoms at Bank of America, and Yasir Shah, a managing director with the same organisation.

Ten to 14 days

Raine is understood to have informed potential buyers that United want a second bid within ten to 14 days, although bidders remain unsure as to whether more than one group will then progress to the next stage.

The Glazer family are understood to want in the region of £6 billion. Ratcliffe’s group wants to take the Glazers’ 69 per cent majority stake, while Sheikh Jassim hopes to secure 100 per cent of the club with a debt-free purchase.

Chelsea step up push for Strasbourg stake after Ceferin hints at multi-club rule change

Chelsea have stepped up their interest in buying a stake in Ligue 1 club Strasbourg after it emerged that UEFA is considering allowing clubs with the same owner to play in the same European competition, according to The Guardian.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin told former Manchester United player Gary Neville’s The Overlap YouTube channel last week that a rethink of the existing multi-club ownership rules was needed. “We have to speak about these regulations and see what to do about it,” he said.

Strasbourg president Marc Keller confirmed earlier this month he was in talks with Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly over a full or partial sale of the French club and it is understood those discussions have intensified.

Boehly revealed last September that Chelsea “had talked about having a multi-club model” as a method of making sure “we can show pathways for our young superstars to get on to the Chelsea pitch while getting them real game time”.

Approaches rejected

Boehly is believed to have appointed Chelsea’s new president of business, Tom Glick, to take charge of the process, with approaches previously rejected by French clubs Lyon, Sochaux and Bordeaux.

Chelsea have also sounded out clubs in Belgium and Portugal, with Boehly believed to have consulted Jorge Mendes over which clubs to consider in the Portuguese agent’s homeland and held talks with Portimonense’s owners over potential investment.

Media: Sheffield United adopt ‘extraordinary’ cost-cutting measures to avoid administration

Sheffield United have introduced a series of “extraordinary” cost-cutting measures as they attempt to tackle a major financial crisis at the club and avoid entering administration as soon as this week, according to a report from The Daily Mail.

The newspaper understands that the club, who are currently in second place in the Championship, have failed to pay suppliers and turned off the undersoil heating at the training ground as part of desperate attempts to ensure they can afford to pay their players this month.

Under EFL rules any club entering administration before this Thursday is automatically docked 12 points this season, which would be a hammer blow to United's bid for a return to the Premier League.

The club were placed under a transfer embargo in January after failing to pay transfer fee instalments due to other clubs, with millions of pounds understood to be owed to Liverpool for striker Rhian Brewster and to Malmo for Bosnian defender Anel Ahmedhodzic.

It is believed United have been desperately attempting to get through the season without entering administration or being docked points for late payment of players ever since.

Grass fertiliser

United's cash crisis is said to have worsened in recent weeks, which has led to the club introducing the cost-saving measures, which are also said to include cutting back on the use of grass fertiliser on training pitches, restricting the use of specialist data and analysis software by club scouts, and cutting back on the use of casual workers and part-time office staff.

The South Yorkshire club are believed to be confident of being able to pay their players this month due to the economies they have put in place. The club is also subject to a £90 million takeover bid from Nigerian billionaire Dozy Mmobuosi, but the deal has stalled after the EFL raised questions over the source of his funding.

FC Barcelona-Negreira case: Laporta in spotlight over €750,000 payments to former referee’s son

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta is facing fresh scrutiny in connection with the Negreira case after it was reported that the club paid €750,000 to the son of the former Spanish referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira during his first spell as club president.

El Confidencial has published details of payments allegedly made to Javier Enriquez Romero via two companies – Nilsad and Soccercam – between 2004 and 2010 which totalled over €750,000 over those six years.

Until 2008, Enriquez formed part of the Spanish team’s coaching staff. However, the payments from Barcelona are said to have continued after he departed the Spain setup.

Enriquez Romero and the RFEF are under investigation for €440,000 billed to the Spanish Federation for “referee coaching”, but Negreira’s son is not yet under investigation over the corruption charges levelled against Barcelona. He was involved in the related companies, but as of yet, is not the focus of the anti-corruption investigation.

Influence match results

The Spanish public prosecutor's office has filed corruption charges against Barça, as well as former club presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, over allegations that Negreira received more than €7 million in payments from the club between 2001 and 2018 to influence match results.

Negreira, who was vice-president of the Spanish FA’s refereeing committee from 1993 to 2018, has denied ever favouring Barcelona in terms of refereeing decisions. Barcelona has said it paid an external consultant who supplied it with "technical reports related to professional refereeing" but has also denied wrongdoing.

Infantino confirms Visit Saudi will not sponsor Women's World Cup

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed that Visit Saudi will not now be a sponsor of the Women's World Cup following a backlash by players and co-hosts Australia and New Zealand over Saudi Arabia's human rights issues.

Speaking at a press conference after last week’s FIFA annual congress in Kigali, Rwanda, Infantino said: "Of course there were discussions with Visit Saudi and so on. At the end, these discussions didn't lead to a contract."

It was FIFA's first public comment more than six weeks after Australia and New Zealand wrote to the governing body protesting against reports of a sponsorship deal.

Infantino attempted to downplay the situation by describing it as “a storm in a teacup.” And he insisted "there wouldn't be anything bad in having sponsorships from Saudi Arabia.” He added: “We want to see how we can involve Saudi sponsors in women's football generally."

Sports minister backs decision

The decision not to agree a sponsorship deal for the Women's World Cup was welcomed by both Australia and New Zealand’s football federations, while Australia’s federal sports minister Anika Wells also backed the move.

“I’m thrilled because it allows us to concentrate on the opportunity and the possibilities of the Women’s World Cup,” Wells said, adding that she and her counterpart minister in New Zealand had been working with football and human rights organisations about the proposed Saudi sponsorship.