Football

Robert Sarver, the majority owner of NBA basketball franchise the Phoenix Suns, has failed in his latest efforts to acquire a European football club after his takeover bid for Spanish Liga team Levante was rejected.

Fifa has confirmed that its new reforms task force will be chaired by an “independent person from outside football” following criticism of the attempts by world football’s governing body to move on from a scandal-hit period.

Fifa has today (Monday) hailed a legal victory in its ongoing efforts to eradicate third-party ownership (TPO) of players as it emerged that Domenico Scala, the head of the auditing and compliance committee at world football’s governing body, has turned down the chance to chair its new reform taskforce.

Spanish Liga football team Real Madrid has agreed a partnership with e-commerce giant the Alibaba Group in a bid to further its presence in the Chinese market.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said world football’s governing body has passed a resolution offering its full backing to Russia’s staging of the 2018 World Cup amid ongoing investigations into the bidding process for the tournament and cut-backs in preparations for the event.

Melbourne will continue to host the Australian leg of the International Champions Cup (ICC) pre-season football tournament after agreeing a three-year contract extension.

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke has said he expects to leave his position when Sepp Blatter’s successor as president is elected, with the Frenchman adding that world football’s governing body will meet with its top commercial partners amid growing concern over the corruption scandal enveloping the world game.

South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-joon has said he will formally announce his candidacy for the Fifa presidency next month, while Visa has become the latest top-tier sponsor of world football’s governing body to call for an independent commission to reform the way the organisation is run.

A war of words broke out between the French Football Federation (FFF) and the French Football League (LFP) today (Thursday) after the former body annulled the latter’s plan to overhaul the promotion and relegation system in club football.

European football’s governing body Uefa has claimed a key victory in its ongoing efforts to enforce its Financial Fair Play (FFP) system after stating that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has thrown out a legal challenge against the measures.

Football Association of Thailand (FAT) president and former Fifa Executive Committee member, Worawi Makudi, has said he will appeal after being found guilty of forgery during his 2013 re-election campaign for his leadership position in Thai football.

Domenico Scala, the head of the auditing and compliance committee at Fifa, is reportedly set to chair the new reform taskforce at world football’s governing body after being backed by three confederation presidents.

South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) treasurer and Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) president Carlos Chavez has been jailed amid corruption allegations, while this year’s edition of the Superclassic of the Americas clash between Argentina and Brazil has been postponed in the wake of the ongoing investigation into corruption in world football.

The upper echelons of European football have continued to achieve strong revenue growth over the last few years, seemingly unaffected by the challenges faced by the wider economy. Deloitte’s Sports Business Group examines the financial performance and characteristics of Europe’s top leagues. By Austin Houlihan and Andy Shaffer, with extracts from the Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2015.

Audience ratings and trends for major events in 2014-15 including the Fifa World Cup, Winter Olympics, Tour de France and more, with data from Eurodata TV Worldwide.The Fifa World Cup 2014 generated the largest average audience for a major international sports event (as opposed to domestic leagues and competitions) in four of the five major European markets in 2014-15. 

South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-joon has admitted he is considering running for the presidency of Fifa and has slammed football’s governing body for allowing Sepp Blatter to remain at the helm until next February.