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☆ Manchester City’s $500 Million Payroll Is Largest in English Soccer History
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Manchester City, the Premier League’s dominant team for much of the past decade, announced on Wednesday it had spent more on player salaries last season than any team in British soccer history, paying out more than $500 million as it claimed English and European championships. Cup and its first Champions League title — completing a so-called treble that only one English team had previously managed to do. City now trails only Barcelona in how much it pays its players in salaries, but unlike that Spanish superteam City’s expenditure has not resulted in financial crisis. Instead, City also announced record revenues of 712.8 million pounds, or almost $900 million — another British record — for the year through June 2023. The club’s annual statement also boasted a profit of 80 million pounds, double what it reported a year earlier.

Persons: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nayhan, City, Pep Guardiola Organizations: Manchester City, League’s, United Arab Emirates, Premier League Locations: Manchester, Spanish, City, Barcelona

☆ Inside Man: How FIFA Guided the World Cup to Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Italian reaction to Mr. Infantino’s suggestion was at first “prudent and within a few hours negative,” said Pietro Benassi, who was the prime minister’s most senior diplomatic adviser. Three years later, Saudi Arabia would get its prize anyway. On Oct. 31, after an expedited process that caught its own members by surprise, FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup. To many in soccer, Mr. Infantino’s advocacy for Saudi Arabia was nothing new. In the years since his visit to Rome, he had also pitched the Saudis’ co-hosting idea to Greece; championed multimillion-dollar Saudi investments in soccer; and helped shepherd rules changes that all but assured the kingdom would wind up with the World Cup.

Persons: Conte, Jamal Khashoggi, Infantino’s, ”, Pietro Benassi, Infantino, ’ Organizations: Saudi, The Washington Post, FIFA Locations: Italy, Egypt, Italian, Cairo, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Rome, Greece, Saudi

☆ I.O.C. Says It Was Target of Elaborate ‘Fake News’ Campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

The International Olympic Committee issued an unusual statement on Thursday saying it had been targeted by “fake news posts” that it said contained “defamatory content, a fake narrative and false information.” The elaborate campaign included manufactured quotations from I.O.C. The film remains visible on other platforms, however, including the encrypted messaging and content platform Telegram. It was a separate post on Telegram that appears to have prompted the Olympic committee to issue its statement on Thursday. Text accompanying the fake news report said the I.O.C. included links to its website and all of its official social media channels in its statement on Thursday, and requested that news media members contact it to confirm the authenticity of information circulating about the organization on social media.

Persons: Tom Cruise, Israel —, Mark Adams, Thomas Bach, ” Mr, Bach, “ Organizations: Olympic, YouTube, Telegram, Olympic Committee, State Department, Palestinian Locations: Israel, Palestine, Paris, Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Iran, China, India, Munich

☆ Saudi Arabia Is Set to Be Sole Bidder for 2034 World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

FIFA’s move to speed up the bidding for 2034 surprised many, coming 11 years before the scheduled start of the tournament and a full three years before the 2034 host was supposed to be decided. FIFA also said only bidders from Asia and Oceania, two of soccer’s six regional confederations, could be considered for selection. Saudi Arabia, which had for years been public about its desire to host the World Cup, moved fast to secure the tournament after FIFA set the rules this month. In the face of that support, Australian officials concluded they would have been overmatched if they challenged Saudi Arabia to secure the votes of the majority of FIFA’s 211 federations. Saudi Arabia has signed agreements in the past year with scores of FIFA’s member nations, committing millions of dollars to projects across Asia and lavishing attention on Africa, where it signed an agreement with the regional governing body and sponsored a new tournament.

Persons: Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al Khalifa Organizations: FIFA, Saudi Locations: Asia, Oceania, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Australia, Africa, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabian

☆ FIFA Bars Former Spanish Soccer Chief for 3 Years
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Soccer’s global governing body on Monday barred Luis Rubiales, the former president of Spain’s soccer federation, from the sport for three years over his forcible kiss of a player after the Women’s World Cup final in August. It also led to accusations in the days that followed that Mr. Rubiales and others at the federation had pressured the player to say the kiss was consensual. Ms. Hermoso instead filed a criminal complaint of sexual assault, and Mr. Rubiales — who initially resisted calls to resign — was placed under a provisional 90-day suspension while FIFA, soccer’s governing body, investigated the episode. He quit as the head of Spain’s soccer federation less than a month after the final, under pressure from players who were refusing to take the field for the women’s national team. It did not provide further details on the findings but said that Mr. Rubiales could request them, at which point a so-called reasoned decision would be made public.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso, Hermoso, Rubiales —, — Organizations: Mr, FIFA, women’s

☆ Everton Sale Stalls Amid Questions About Buyer’s Financials
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The proposed sale of the Premier League soccer team Everton F.C. to a Miami-based holding company has stalled because the firm, 777 Partners, has failed to provide audited financial statements to a British government regulator that must approve the deal. The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, delivered its request to 777 Partners this month, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the approval process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. If the company does not provide the requested financials or an acceptable explanation, its proposed takeover of Everton — a deal involving hundreds of millions of dollars in assumed debt and a coveted place in the world’s richest soccer league — could fall apart. The missing documents are the most significant complication to date in the effort by 777 Partners to add Everton to the collection of high-profile but financially troubled teams it has acquired over the past two years.

Persons: Everton — Organizations: Premier League soccer, Everton F.C, Financial, Authority, Partners, Everton Locations: Miami, British

☆ Morocco Tops South Korea to Earn First World Cup Victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Image Morocco’s Nouhaila Benzina is the first player to compete in the Women’s World Cup while wearing a hijab. Credit... James Elsby/Associated PressNouhaila Benzina, a 25-year-old defender for a pioneering Morocco team appearing in its first World Cup, became the first player to wear a hijab in the tournament when she started her team’s 1-0 victory against South Korea on Sunday. Morocco’s presence at the Women’s World Cup already has yielded a string of notable moments. And its first victory was a monumental achievement that kept alive its hopes for something even bigger: a place in the knockout stages. Several players on the Moroccan squad were born or raised in France, but Benzina plays for a club team in Morocco.

Persons: James Elsby, Nouhaila, Benzina Organizations: South, North Locations: Morocco, South Korea, Arab

☆ Australia's Sam Kerr Expects to Play Against Canada
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Image Sam Kerr has missed Australia’s first two games at the World Cup. Kerr, who had carried her nation’s hopes on her shoulders entering the tournament, was stunningly ruled out of Australia’s first two games only an hour before its World Cup opener last week. On Saturday, she revealed that she had returned to training ahead of the Canada game, telling reporters in Brisbane that she’s “definitely going to be available” for the match in Melbourne. “The plan has always been the same — miss the first two games and then reassess,” Kerr said. Yet despite Kerr’s positive update, the extent of her availability for the Canada game remains unclear.

Persons: Sam Kerr, Australia’s, Bradley Kanaris, Saturday Kerr, Kerr, ” Kerr, “, Tony Gustavsson, ”, “ It’s, “ I’m Organizations: Canada, Australia, Ireland Locations: Australia, Canada, Brisbane, Melbourne, Nigeria

☆ Australian TV Deal Has World Cup Viewers Asking: Where Are the Games?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Women’s World Cup is by most estimates the biggest sporting event to be staged in Australia since the Sydney Olympics. But while viewers in Australia could watch all 64 games of the recent men’s World Cup played in Qatar on a free-to-air network, FIFA struck a deal for the broadcast rights to the Women’s World Cup — as it did when the tournament was played in France four years ago — with the cellphone operator Optus, which has placed the bulk of the matches on its pay television network. For viewers in Australia, that has meant the majority of games can only be watched via subscription, making it harder for viewers living in one of the tournament’s host countries to watch the tournament than it has been for fans in places like Europe and the United States. “It’s very disappointing to not have the coverage the women deserve,” said Beth Monkley, who was in Brisbane with her daughter this week to follow Australia’s team. And for some reason Australia has decided not to show all the games free to air.”

Persons: “, ”, Beth Monkley Organizations: Sydney Olympics, FIFA, Optus Locations: Australia, Qatar, France, Europe, United States, Brisbane

Those deals, though, pale into comparison with its most ambitious target yet: Kylian Mbappé. Over the weekend, one of the Saudi Professional League’s more prominent teams, Al Hilal, submitted an offer worth $332 million for the France striker to his current team, Paris St.-Germain. Should the deal go through, it would make Mbappé the most expensive player in the sport’s history by some distance, dwarfing the $263 million P.S.G. On Tuesday, it was reported by some news outlets that P.S.G. for a team in what was most recently ranked as soccer’s 58th strongest domestic league.

Persons: Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Al Hilal, Germain, ’, Nasser Al, Al Hilal’s, Fayza Lamari, Mbappé, Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Organizations: Saudi, France, Mbappé Locations: Saudi, Paris St

☆ From Norway, a Voice Unafraid to Call Out FIFA From the Inside
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lise Klaveness was only a few weeks into her post as the president of Norway’s soccer federation last year when she decided to start saying the quiet parts out loud. There had been talk of procedural matters, and updates on the financial details. Klaveness, one of the few women in soccer leadership, had other themes on her mind. Addressing matters that for years had dogged FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, she spoke about ethical questions, about migrant workers, about the rights of women and gay people. By the time Klaveness had finished about five minutes later, she had, in typically direct style, issued a challenge to FIFA itself.

Persons: Lise Klaveness, Klaveness strode, Klaveness Organizations: FIFA Locations: Qatar

☆ Can This Man Fix France’s Women’s Team?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The banner hangs just beneath the central staircase of the elegant hotel that has been taken over by the France women’s national team for the World Cup. The motivational words emblazoned across it are typical of the type of positive messaging teams rally around before major sporting tournaments. But for this French squad, and for Renard, its well-traveled coach, the words carry extra significance after a period many on the team would prefer to forget. “Only team spirit,” it reads, “can make you realize your dreams.”Renard used the phrase the first time he met the French squad earlier this year, only months before the World Cup. “We were missing unity," Renard said in an interview on a sunny terrace in front of the team’s base camp last week.

Persons: Hervé Renard, Renard, “, ” Renard, Corinne Diacre Organizations: France women’s

☆ Women’s World Cup Begins With Host Nations in Opening Games
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Andrew Das | The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

He moved through the building site, discharging the firearm as he went. Clearly, with the FIFA World Cup kicking off this evening, there are a lot of eyes on Auckland. Image Members of the Philippines Women’s World Cup team in Auckland on Thursday. New Zealand’s prime minister, Chris Hipkins, said the Women’s World Cup would proceed as planned. Even before then, gun ownership was relatively rare in New Zealand, and gun violence is considered unusual.

Persons: Chris Hipkins, Andrew Coster, Coster, ”, David Rowland, Abbie Parr, ” Mr, Hipkins, cordoning, Saeed Khan, Lise Klaveness, ” Halvor Lea, Maren Mjelde, Jacinda Ardern, Juliet Macur, Andrew Das, Yan Zhuang, Tariq Panja Organizations: Armed Offenders Squad, FIFA, New Zealand Herald, Police, ., Eden, United States, Vietnam, Norway, New Zealand Police, Associated Press, New Zealand, Agence France, Norway women’s Locations: New Zealand, Auckland, Queen, Auckland , New Zealand, Norway, Auckland’s, U.S, Australia, Ireland, Philippines, ”, Norwegian, Christchurch, North, Raurimu, Aramoana, Sydney

The cold calls and text messages started arriving on Jan Van Winckel’s phone a couple of months ago, and they have not stopped. They come at a rate of about 10 a day, he said, a steady stream of hope-you’re-wells and long-time-no-speaks from old acquaintances, archived contacts, friends of friends of friends. That is what makes him valuable to agents, brokers and executives pinging his phone, over and over, all asking for the same thing: an introduction to a Saudi club president, a connection to an official at the Saudi Pro League, the phone number of someone, anyone, who might be able to help them stake their claim in soccer’s new gold rush. In the first week of June, Saudi Arabia’s soccer authorities and its sovereign wealth fund announced an audacious plan to transform the game in the kingdom: The Public Investment Fund, they announced, would take control of four of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent teams, and hundreds of millions of dollars would be made available to buy some of the game’s biggest stars. And in that moment, even before the first checks were cut, the Pro League became one of the most appealing destinations in the world.

Persons: Jan Van Winckel’s, Van Winckel Organizations: United Arab, Saudi Pro League, Public Investment Fund, Saudi, Pro League Locations: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Saudi

☆ P.S.G. Says Mbappé Must Sign a New Deal or Leave the Club
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Tariq Panja | More About Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was at the unveiling of yet another new coach that Paris St.-Germain’s president made his first public statement on the future of his team’s best player. Kylian Mbappé, the marquee player for P.S.G. Such a scenario would leave the club in the unenviable situation of losing, without compensation, a player in whom it has invested more than $500 million in transfer fees, bonuses and wages. “We do not want him to leave for free in 2024,” al-Khelaifi said. But he needs to sign a new contract.

Persons: Kylian Mbappé, Nasser al, Khelaifi, Luis Enrique, Mbappé, ”, Kylian Organizations: Paris Locations: France

☆ The Mystery That Ended Two Women’s World Cup Dreams
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The scandal — a sudden and violent attack by a mystery man; accusations and denials; tabloid headlines — led to worldwide attention and, years later, a feature-length movie about Harding. But to Diallo, a 28-year-old French soccer player being led up a police station stairwell, the mention of her name — “Have you heard of Tonya Harding?” — produced only a blank stare. Now, in France, a generation later, the police suspected a similar motive in an attack on Kheira Hamraoui, Diallo’s teammate at the French club Paris St.-Germain. Prosecutors last September charged Diallo with aggravated assault in the attack on Hamraoui. Documents in the case and leaks to the French news media have accused Diallo of masterminding a premeditated attack.

Persons: Aminata Diallo, Tonya Harding, Harding, Diallo, ” —, Nancy Kerrigan, Germain, Hamraoui, Kerrigan, masterminding Organizations: Police, Paris St, French national Locations: Versailles, American, France, Diallo’s, women’s

☆ Proceeds of Chelsea Sale Have Yet to Reach Any Ukraine War Victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was the biggest price paid for a soccer team, and for a while the biggest price paid for a sports team anywhere in the world. And the enormous proceeds were to create what would be one of the biggest humanitarian charities ever established. But 13 months after the forced sale of Chelsea F.C. after the British government sanctioned its Russian oligarch owner, Roman Abramovich, the charity has yet to be established and not a cent of the $3.1 billion (2.5 billion pounds) has gone toward its intended purpose: providing aid to victims of the war in Ukraine. The government’s permission is required before any transfer of the money from a frozen bank account to the charity, to ensure that none of the money is funneled to Russia, or to Abramovich.

Persons: Roman Abramovich, Mike Penrose, Abramovich Organizations: Chelsea F.C, Russian, United Nations Children’s Fund Locations: Ukraine, Russia

☆ Lionel Messi, Saudi Arabia and the Deal That Paid Off for Both Sides
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Karim Zidan | Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Until now, the details of Messi’s contract with the tourism authority have been a closely held secret. It is not clear if the contract reviewed by The Times is the current version of the deal. The travel expenses and five-star accommodations were to be paid by the Saudi government for Messi and up to 20 family members and friends. Another $2 million for promoting Saudi Arabia on his social media accounts 10 times a year, separately from the promotion of his vacations to the kingdom. Few people were willing to discuss the terms of Messi’s deal.

Persons: Messi, Rodrigo, Pablo Negre Abello, Abello, Rayco García Cabrera, Ronaldo, Benzema, Garcia, “, ”, García, Messi didn’t, ” García Organizations: The Times, Saudi, Messi, Times Locations: Saudi, Saudi Arabia

“We can think about it.” His players, at that point, could “visualize” completing a domestic and European treble. Among English teams, though, only United can lay claim to the genuine article. In the first 54 years of European competition, four teams won the treble. Should City, as expected, beat Inter Milan on Saturday, it would make it six in the last 14 years. Cup carries more historical weight than other domestic cup competitions.

Persons: Pep Guardiola, ”, Guardiola, ure, twitter.com/xVn, Gil l Organizations: Manchester City, League, Premier League, Liverpool, European, Milk, UEFA, Europa League Locations: Real Madrid, Manchester

☆ Inter Milan, Facing Painful Reckoning, Tries to Live in the Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Rory Smith | Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Barely six weeks ago, Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar was lying in a hospital bed in France, recovering from spinal surgery. A lumbar issue had been bothering him for some time and, reluctantly, he had decided that endoscopic intervention was required. He had not played a second of competitive soccer since the early days of March, nor has he played since. His teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the veteran Armenian midfielder, has not played for three weeks after picking up an injury in Inter’s semifinal win against A.C. Milan. Still, there is a decent chance that he will be named in the starting lineup for the biggest game club soccer has to offer.

Persons: Milan Skriniar, — Skriniar, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mkhitaryan Organizations: Inter Milan, Milan, Internazionale, Champions League, Manchester City, A.C Locations: France, Inter’s, Milan

Karim Benzema, one of soccer’s best players and a fixture at the Spanish giant Real Madrid for more than a decade, has agreed to join the Saudi champion Al-Ittihad on a three-year contract that will make him the latest prize acquisition for a kingdom rapidly expanding its ambitions and influence in sports. The decision by Benzema, a 35-year-old French striker, to move to Saudi Arabia was confirmed by Al-Ittihad on Tuesday after days of rumors. Benzema’s arrival will come only months after a different Saudi club lured another star, the Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, with one of the richest contracts in soccer history. Among the other marquee players said to have been targeted by the Saudi league is Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in December in Qatar. The salaries offered to the players are some of the largest in sports history, according to interviews with agents, Saudi sports officials and consultants hired to execute the project.

Persons: Karim Benzema, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Organizations: Al, Saudi, Investment Fund Locations: Real Madrid, Saudi, Ittihad, Saudi Arabia, Portuguese, Argentina, Qatar

☆ Saudi Soccer League Creates Huge Fund to Sign Global Stars
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Tariq Panja | Ahmed Al Omran | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deals involved were private. League officials also did not respond to requests for comment about the plans. The project comes on the heels of a surprisingly strong performance by Saudi Arabia at last year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar. The team’s run included a stunning victory over the eventual champion, Argentina, which stoked pride on the Saudi streets and in the halls of power in Riyadh. The project’s goal is not so much to make the Saudi league an equal of century-old competitions like England’s Premier League or other top European competitions, but to increase Saudi influence in the sport, and perhaps boost its profile as it bids for the 2030 World Cup.

Persons: Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema, Garry Cook, Cook Organizations: Saudi, Real Madrid, British, Nike, Manchester City, United Arab Emirates, League, England’s Premier League Locations: Argentina, French, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Saudi, Riyadh

☆ Vinícius Júnior Charges Racism Is ‘Normal’ in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vinícius Júnior has had enough. This time, he took aim not only at his abusers but Spain itself. “It wasn’t the first time, nor the second, nor the third,” Vinícius Júnior wrote in a post on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. “Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it’s normal, the federation does too and the opponents encourage it.” Spain itself, he said, was becoming known in his native Brazil “as a country of racists.”On Sunday, Vinícius Júnior was met by fans chanting the word “mono” — monkey — even before he stepped off the Real Madrid bus outside the Mestalla stadium in Valencia.

☆ Champions League Live Updates: Manchester City vs. Real Madrid
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Tariq Panja | Andrew Das | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Cup and the Champions League. If it is found to have violated those rules, City could be stripped of a string of Premier League triumphs. But that inquiry — ongoing, and cloaked in the strictest secrecy — is specifically related to Premier League rules. That means there appears to be little risk that City would lose the Champions League title if it manages to finally win it. UEFA’s greater enmity these days is actually toward City’s opponent on Wednesday, Real Madrid, which remains a proponent of creating a Super League that would rival the Champions League.

☆ How Messi’s Marriage With P.S.G. Fell Apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The official parting won’t happen until his contract expires in a few weeks. But by Wednesday there was no doubt on the main points: Messi will never play for P.S.G. again, and both the player and the club are just fine with that. The ending will not have come as a surprise to either side. Theirs had always been a business relationship, one lacking the emotional weight of Messi’s previous tenure at Barcelona.

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