FC Barcelona offices searched by police ‘in connection with Barcagate scandal’ March 1, 2021 Catalan police searched the offices of FC Barcelona this morning, the football club have confirmed. Spanish media said the search related to last year’s Barcagate scandal, in which senior figures at the club were accused of ordering social media campaigns against enemies. Local reports also said former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and current chief [...]
Bellator: MMA promotion’s head of Europe David Green on its new deal with the BBC, wooing the UK and Ireland and why it has a strong female following February 26, 2021 Question Time. Antiques Roadshow. Songs of Praise. To that list you can now add cage-fighting organisation Bellator. This month the BBC became the home of the American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the UK, meaning it now sits alongside some of the most traditional shows in British broadcasting. While it might rile the “Disgusted [...]
Week in Sportbiz: The end of the Tiger Effect? Plus Olympic bid shake-up, drinks all round, Lord Coe’s scare and Eddie Jones’s debt to Van Gaal February 25, 2021 Tiger Woods survived a serious car crash this week, to the immense relief of the sporting world. But it might not be such good news for the fabled Tiger Effect, to the consternation of golf’s broadcasters and advertisers. While Woods may yet defy the odds once more and return to the sport he has redefined, [...]
Euro 2020 will happen this year and fans could follow their teams overseas, says European football’s Covid-19 chief February 24, 2021 Uefa’s Covid-19 tsar says there is no question of Euro 2020 being cancelled and that fans could yet be allowed to travel internationally to the games. The tournament was postponed last year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and rescheduled for 11 June to 11 July this year. “There is no way the Euros will [...]
Expecting football to make Twitter and Facebook stop social media abuse is like asking your six-year-old to tackle Cristiano Ronaldo February 23, 2021 The English football community has finally had enough of the rampant racial abuse and bullying its players suffer on social media. Police are investigating and thePremeir League and other bodies have made an unprecedented direct plea to Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey. Of course, these issues on social media don’t just impact football players or [...]
England cricket chiefs to launch The Hundred with women’s match between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals February 23, 2021 The Hundred, English cricket’s new short-form competition, will begin with a women’s match between the Oval Invincibles and the Manchester Originals. The fixture at the Kia Oval on Wednesday 21 July will be followed by the first men’s match, featuring the same franchises at the same venue, the following day. Tickets for The Hundred are [...]
Exclusive: beIN Sports takes legal action against Fenerbahce over Turkish club’s ‘beFAIR’ campaign February 22, 2021 Broadcaster beIN Sports is taking legal action against Fenerbahce over the Turkish club’s high-profile campaign against the network. beIN is suing Fenerbahce for breach of intellectual property after they displayed “beFAIR” branding on the team’s apparel and pitchside advertising displays. Fenerbahce and their president Ali Koc have adopted “beFAIR” as the slogan for a public [...]
West Ham and David Moyes have gone from laughing stock to Happy Hammers – at an ideal time for their owners David Sullivan and David Gold February 22, 2021 Hands up who didn’t afford themselves a wry chuckle when David Moyes, on his return as West Ham manager in December 2019, declared: “That’s what I do, I win.” It was a bold claim from a man whose stints at Sunderland, Real Sociedad and Manchester United might generously be described as chequered. Coming as West [...]
England Netball chief Fran Connolly on the sport’s huge growth, plans to professionalise, and interest from private investors February 20, 2021 Few sports can have had their momentum checked by the pandemic quite like netball in the UK. A decade of extraordinary growth in which participation doubled and exposure at elite level reached unseen heights was jeopardised when Covid-19 hit, forcing a premature end to the Superleague season and halting grassroots netball. Almost a year on, [...]
The changing face of match-fixing and why integrity mustn’t be allowed to suffer as Covid-19 squeezes budgets February 19, 2021 As sports events continue to take place in unfamiliar surroundings, the integrity of competitions has been thrust into the spotlight as match-fixing grows and evolves. The global pandemic has created many new challenges to the sporting world, none more significant than the way in which criminals have been able to intensify their operations and become [...]
