Matt Slater

There were reports that Truss, Sunak & then Starmer were going to scrap it. All wrong.

Business of Football: The future is release clauses, the Bank of FIFA, and Leaders takeaways The football transfer market has a new issue to contend with after Lassana Diarra's landmark win over FIFA. Could this be a solution?

More bangers than Taylor’s latest…
🤝 Post-Diarra transfer market will hinge on clever release clauses
🏧 Late-pay disputes explode as clubs exploit Bank of FIFA
💸 America/AI dominate Leaders
🎗️ Tom Wagner’s plea to save poor ol’ PL
🇺🇸 MCO investor Paul Conway released

www.nytimes.com/athletic/668...

IFR CEO Richard Monks

Remember when the government was going to bin the independent football regulator? Well, they didn’t & this week we’ve had the formal appointments to the board & now a CEO, ex-EY partner Richard Monks (below). His regulatory know-how should combine well with David Kogan’s media rights expertise.

Eagle Football Holdings directors

Despite my efforts to get off the John Textor train, people keep sending “he’s really blown it now” stories from Rio. They may be getting warmer but this week’s crisis is because EFH independent director Chris Mallon has quit. Job done. Ares can nominate a new one but Textor has final say.

Leyton Orient stadium project aims to ‘get one million people through the gates every year’ Majority owner David Gandler wants the League One club to build one of the world’s “most technologically advanced” stadiums by 2031.

It would be easier to list the English clubs NOT planning to upgrade/replace their stadiums. They know they must sell more tickets/pies/pints, & not just 25 times a year. Leyton Orient are the latest & some of what they want to do hasn’t been invented yet!

www.nytimes.com/athletic/669...

IRFU and leading unions release joint statement against proposed R360 league The unions outline any players who join R360 would be deemed ineligible for international selection.

IRFU and leading unions release joint statement against proposed R360 league:

Business of Football: The future is release clauses, the Bank of FIFA, and Leaders takeaways The football transfer market has a new issue to contend with after Lassana Diarra's landmark win over FIFA. Could this be a solution?

More bangers than Taylor’s latest…
🤝 Post-Diarra transfer market will hinge on clever release clauses
🏧 Late-pay disputes explode as clubs exploit Bank of FIFA
💸 America/AI dominate Leaders
🎗️ Tom Wagner’s plea to save poor ol’ PL
🇺🇸 MCO investor Paul Conway released

www.nytimes.com/athletic/668...

UEFA ‘regrettably’ approves La Liga, Serie A requests to play league games abroad UEFA president Ceferin said the decision is not "setting a precedent" and added that "league matches should be played on home soil".

A cynic may say it’s very convenient that Ceferin doesn’t want leagues to play overseas but he’ll let them do it, just this once, well, twice. But I think he’s sincere in his doubts about the idea & Uefa’s ability to stop it. But what will he do about it?

www.nytimes.com/athletic/669...

World Cup ticket prices revealed as lucky few win right to buy first Breaking down the earliest information as the first batch of fans gained the chance to buy tickets for next summer

Ticket prices for the USMNT's World Cup opener in LA:

– Category 1: $2,735
– Category 2: $1,940
– Category 3: $1,120

Prices for the 2026 World Cup final:

– Category 1: $6,730
– Category 2: $4,210
– Category 3: $2,790

More prices and info here @theathletic.com:

Premier League chief Richard Masters outlines ‘struggle’ with FIFA over football calendar Masters contrasted the growth in the number of games FIFA and UEFA now stage with a Premier League schedule that has not changed since 1994

In another pop at FIFA for not listening to leagues on fixture congestion, PL boss Richard Masters says domestic leagues are locked in a “struggle” with the governing body for players’ time & fans’ attention. Mentions chaos theory. Gianni Infantino hits back.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/668...

European teams not guaranteed broadcast-friendly 2026 World Cup kick-off times, FIFA vice-president says High temperatures in North America affected players at the Club World Cup this summer and the 1994 World Cup.

The world is round, folks, so when it is evening in America, it’s night time in Europe.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/667...

Tottenham end relationship with Rothschild & Co as club ‘not for sale’ The Premier League club say they do not need the multinational merchant bank’s financial advice

There has been a conscious uncoupling between Tottenham Hotspur & their financial advisor Rothschild & Co. This means the club are either a) trying really hard not to look like they’re for sale or b) they’re really not for sale. 🤷

www.nytimes.com/athletic/667...

Rob Mac

No going back now, Rob Mac. You’ve PSC04-ed it.

The migrant soldiers - josimarfootball.com For months, the Russian army has secretly recruited hundreds, if not thousands, of jobless migrant workers in Qatar to fight on the frontline against Ukraine.

Many migrant workers who came to Qatar to build the 2022 WC infrastructure found themselves jobless after the tournament. @josimarfootball.bsky.social reveals how some of them have been recruited by the Russian army, are fighting and die on the Ukrainian front.

josimarfootball.com/2025/09/25/t...

Footballers not given enough time off between seasons, players’ union FIFPro says "A minimum of four weeks is what you need (and) it should be closer to six," says Nottingham Forest and New Zealand striker Chris Wood.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before but global players’ union study finds that top football stars are playing too many games, with too much travel & not enough time off.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/667...

Newcastle Utd shares allotted

Inflation really is getting out of control.

£8 for a pint, £106.5m for a Newcastle United share.

In 2019 as the Los Angeles Lakers tried to sign Kawhi Leonard, they were convinced the uncle doing his negotiating either hadn’t heard of any of the NBA’s rules or had just decided they didn’t apply.

And the impression he left was not a good one.

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House on April 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump is meeting with Netanyahu to discuss ongoing efforts to release Israeli hostages from Gaza and newly imposed U.S. tariffs.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump says it will work to keep Israel from being banned from the 2026 men’s World Cup.

🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/665...

Former Arsenal academy forward Billy Vigar dies aged 21 after sustaining brain injury during match Vigar sustained the injury while playing for Chichester City in the seventh tier of English football against Wingate & Finchley on Saturday.

Former Arsenal academy player Billy Vigar has died at the age of 21 after sustaining a “significant brain injury” during a match.

The most important transfer of the summer window (that you’ve never heard about) Lucas Ribeiro's move from Mamelodi Sundowns to Cultural Leonesa took advantage of a ruling that could be crucial for global football

There were times this summer when “doing a Diarra” looked set to join “on a Bosman” in football’s phrasebook. But when the window shut, no player had used Lassana Diarra’s 2024 ECJ win to get a move. Nobody except Lucas Ribeiro, that is.

Who?!? This guy 👇

🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/664...

A Israeli academic asked his followers on X which sanction would really convince ordinary Israelis that they are isolated internationally.
"Expulsion from football tournaments" was the most popular answer, followed by "ending visa-free travel to Europe"

Business of Football: What went on at this week’s Premier League meeting? Summer Series falls flat, and multi-club crypto Trying to match UEFA spending rules causes issues, U.S. pre-season tournament continues to lose money and the latest crypto investment...

🛑 No consensus = no vote on PL’s planned PSR replacement
📺 New PL TV deals in Balkans & Vietnam but they’re…down?!?
🇺🇸 Summer Series loss leader
🛜 Relevent eyes FANGS for UEFA rights & a much BETTER draw event
🚀 MCO group pivots to magic beans

🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/665...

Business of Football: What went on at this week’s Premier League meeting? Summer Series falls flat, and multi-club crypto Trying to match UEFA spending rules causes issues, U.S. pre-season tournament continues to lose money and the latest crypto investment...

🛑 No consensus = no vote on PL’s planned PSR replacement
📺 New PL TV deals in Balkans & Vietnam but they’re…down?!?
🇺🇸 Summer Series loss leader
🛜 Relevent eyes FANGS for UEFA rights & a much BETTER draw event
🚀 MCO group pivots to magic beans

🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/665...

The most important transfer of the summer window (that you’ve never heard about) Lucas Ribeiro's move from Mamelodi Sundowns to Cultural Leonesa took advantage of a ruling that could be crucial for global football

There were times this summer when “doing a Diarra” looked set to join “on a Bosman” in football’s phrasebook. But when the window shut, no player had used Lassana Diarra’s 2024 ECJ win to get a move. Nobody except Lucas Ribeiro, that is.

Who?!? This guy 👇

🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/664...

Its first four investments were in small football clubs in the Italian city of Milan, plus Macedonia, Mozambique and Mongolia, before buying a majority stake in Juve Stabia, a second-division team based near Naples, Italy. But that move did not do much for the share price, which had been bumping along at about $7 for over a year. Until September 18, that is, when the price rocketed above $50, an increase of almost 600 per cent, for a moment before settling back to $24.90 at close of trading. It then dipped to $16.60 the following day, before climbing back past $25 at time of writing. Are Juve Stabia six points clear at the top of Serie B? Has Brera discovered the Mongolian Messi? Has the Italian volleyball team it also bought become a social-media sensation? No, no and thrice no. Brera has decided speculating on football players will take too long, so they have raised $300million from U.S. and United Arab Emirates investors and bought a huge wedge of crypto tokens. Brera is about to change its name to Solmate, as it has become a crypto treasury for Solana tokens, or SOL, the cryptocurrency used on the public blockchain platform of the same name.

Extraordinary story from @mjslater.bsky.social about a four-club MCO that's pivoting to crypto. Given the size of the clubs and the $300m crypto gamble, four football teams are now just a rounding error on the balance sheet of their owner.

What could go wrong?
www.nytimes.com/athletic/665...

The Athletic FC Podcast: How do Arsenal catch Liverpool? Arsenal have fallen five points off the pace in the Premier League, after drawing 1-1 with Man City on Sunday.And in the boardroom there are changes as well, so how much do they have to do, to catc...

🎙️This one is all about the Arsenal. Top Gunners @david-ornstein.bsky.social & @aakinwo.bsky.social provide the artillery, while @adamcrafton.bsky.social & I snipe from the sidelines. We talk about the Man City game, Arteta’s caution, chasing Liverpool & moving on from Tim Lewis.

pod.fo/e/32f47c

Jose Mourinho is back at Benfica and ‘more alive than ever’. They need his old devil magic Benfica have chosen Mourinho as their new head coach - 25 years on from his first crack at the job - following a horror loss to Qarabag

"I am hungrier than I was 25 years ago. I feel more alive than ever."

Why Benfica are banking on José Mourinho, fuelled by a sense of unfinished business, to conjure a bit of the old devil magic and bring the glory days back to the Estádio da Luz

www.nytimes.com/athletic/663...

The weird, troubling ethos of the Enhanced Games – the pro-doping competition As the drug cheats’ Olympics gears up for its first staging, it has memory-holed its early, outlandish attempts to redefine drug testing as “racist”, “colonialist” and “anti-science.”

The Enhanced Games are not merely an assault on clean sport, they're part of the Silicon Valley extreme techno libertarian project with its dodgy politics and its obsession with life extension.
theuglygame.wordpress.com/2025/06/09/t...

Everton vs Burnley: Explaining the Premier League’s latest legal row and why it matters What sparked the compensation row being heard in London today and why could it be so important?

The Premier League has missed relegation battles so much it’s now replaying classic scraps from the past. First up, the 2022 tear-up between Everton & Burnley. Sadly, there’s no watch-along option & we may never know who wins. My money is on the lawyers.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/663...

Manchester United finances explained: Record revenues but sixth annual loss The club's 2024-25 results reveal that total revenues stood at £666.5m after significant increases in matchday and commercial income

Our first PL financials for 2024-25 are Manchester United's

Record revenues - but rivals catching up. Underlying improvements, but expensive mistakes have their impact. Debt TBC (tomorrow)

Initial analysis w/@mjcritchley.bsky.social

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/663...