Qatar tightens grip on elite padel with takeover of rival Spanish-owned circuit August 24, 2023 Qatar Sports Investments, the owner of French football champions Paris Saint-Germain, has confirmed its takeover of the World Padel Tour. The move concludes around 18 months of wrangling over control of the fast-growing sport at elite level, following the launch of QSI’s rival Premier Padel circuit. It will see Premier Padel become the main tour [...]
Manchester City receive biggest payout for releasing players for 2022 World Cup July 15, 2023 Manchester City received $4.6m (£3.51m), the biggest payout of any club, for releasing players for last year’s World Cup in Qatar. City’s compensation from world governing body Fifa narrowly beat Barcelona’s $4.54m and the $4.33m paid to Bayern Munich. Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, who both received $3.84m, completed a top five monopolised by leading [...]
20,000 abusive social media posts made during Fifa World Cup, England v France with the highest proportion June 19, 2023 There were almost 20,000 abusive social media posts aimed at players, teams and officials during last year’s Fifa World Cup, according to a new report by the sport’s governing body and player union Fifpro released yesterday. The 19,600 abusive messages came from 12,600 accounts during the showpiece event held in Qatar last winter. Fifa went [...]
Ed Warner: What’s next for the losers in the rush to embrace sovereign wealth? June 15, 2023 Morning Wire columnist Ed Warner discusses the recent LIV Golf merger, the Saudi Arabia PIF deal and what comes next for the losers in the rush to embrace sovereign wealth. Elite runners focus on every step of every run. Us mere mortals seek displacement tricks to block out the pain. And so I found myself [...]
Kemi Badenoch urged to ‘walk away’ from Gulf trade deal over human rights concerns May 22, 2023 Kemi Badenoch has been urged to “walk away” from “worrying” trade negotiations with Gulf states due to concerns about human and labour rights abuses. The UK has “absolutely no reason” to discuss trade with states where “human, women’s and LGBT rights and workers’ rights abuses are so widespread”, union boss Paul Nowak said. Amnesty International [...]
Fifa unveil funky branding ahead of Canada-US-Mexico World Cup in 2026 May 18, 2023 Fifa has unveiled its branding for the 2026 World Cup, due to be held in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The main logo features the famous World Cup trophy, most recently won by Argentina in Qatar last year, in front of the number 26. Major sporting events always stir debate when it comes to [...]
Qatar show interest in hosting 2025 Rugby League World Cup May 17, 2023 Recent Fifa World Cup hosts Qatar have expressed their interest in hosting the 2025 Rugby League World Cup, the International Rugby League (IRL) chairman has stated. The Gulf state, whose Qatar Islamic Bank chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani is bidding to purchase Manchester United – could step in after the original hosts France pulled [...]
Qatari bidder Sheikh Jassim rules out Manchester United move for Lionel Messi May 10, 2023 Manchester United will not make any attempt to sign Lionel Messi on a free transfer this summer if Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani buys the club. Messi, 35, is due to leave Paris Saint-Germain next month when his contract with the Qatar-owned French champions expires. His availability has sparked a €1bn scramble for his [...]
Manchester United bidders heading for Old Trafford talks this week March 15, 2023 Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest men and a hopeful buyer of Premier League outfit Manchester United, is set to appear at Old Trafford tomorrow to receive a presentation on the potential sale of the club. In addition to Ratcliffe’s appearance tomorrow, representatives of Shaikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani – the man behind [...]
Why Fifa’s 2026 World Cup U-turn risks a fresh player welfare row March 14, 2023 Fifa is set to risk a new player welfare row by redesigning the format of the next men’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, according to reports. Football’s world governing body had planned to divide the 48 teams at the expanded 2026 tournament into 16 groups of three, in order to allay fears [...]