BBC desperately scrambling to secure a new presenter for Match of the Day, with Alex Scott and Mark Chapman both ruling themselves out following withdrawal of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright as pundits.
Roman Abramovich has personally taken the decision to put
#Cfc
stadium on hold after being denied a UK Visa. Unwilling to invest over £1billion into a country where he is not permitted to work.
Early morning bike rides, Waitrose salads, Italian meals (if Arsenal have won), planting trees at the training ground, atheism, socialism and rushing back from a game to vote against Marine Le Pen: a glimpse into the off-field life of Arsene Wenger.
Derby facing 21 point deduction and collapse of proposed takeover after being charged by EFL for making excess losses under FFP regulations. Lengthy legal battle looming.
Ecuador face being kicked out of the World Cup after
@mailsport
obtains recording of shock admission from Byron Castillo that he was born in Colombia. FIFA’s Appeals Commission will hear the case on Thursday.
EFL agree deal with Sky Sports allowing clubs in all three divisions to stream every match next season until stadiums at least 50 per cent full. Clubs to keep the revenue with Sky waiving compensation rights for loss of exclusivity.
Segregated changing rooms at the training ground, routine use of the N word, calling Muslim players terrorists and suicide bombers: the shocking racism allegations against Crawley manager John Yems being investigated by the FA.
Everton face being sued for £300m if found guilty of spending breaches, with Southampton, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham Forest and Burnley joining forces to inform Premier League they will demand compensation.
Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani agrees terms for a complete sale of the club to 49ers Enterprises, with EFL tasked with implementing Owners and Directors test
Emma Raducanu’s US Open Final this evening will be broadcast live on Channel 4 after Amazon Prime agreed to share live rights with terrestrial broadcaster at 11th hour. More
@MailSport
Burnley, Leeds and Leicester have written to 777Partners with warning that they will sue Everton for £300million if the club are found guilty of breaching spending rules at independent hearing later this month.
Natalie Sawyer left Sky Sports after almost 20 years yesterday without any on air acknowledgment. Former colleagues upset by treatment of the Transfer Deadline Day presenter.
Romelu Lukaku taking legal advice following Farhad Moshiri's voodoo comments. Belgian striker's representatives say he's "sad and angry" at
#Everton
owner's claims. Lukaku doesn't believe in voodoo and is a Roman Catholic.
Antonio Conte wins Premier Lge tribunal v
#Chelsea
, who must pay him final year’s salary of £9m. Total pay-outs to sacked managerial staff under Abramovich now over £90m.
Everton training camp in Portugal marred by altercation involving Sean Dyche at bonding dinner. A “jocular slap” from Dyche on Nathan Patterson led to tempers fraying, with James Tarkowski taking manager aside to calm matters. With
@LewisSteele_
EFL consider ending 3pm Saturday blackout and making every game available for broadcast from 2024-25. Tender documents due out in next 24 hours call for a new approach and will target streaming giants.
FA Cup to be exclusively on free-to-air TV for the first time in 33 years from 2021, with ITV set to join BBC as rights holders. ITV will have more matches, with both channels showing the final.
Possibly most remarkable aspect of the
@Channel4Cricket
deal is the fact they're getting four Test matches featuring England and India for less than the price BT Sport paid to show Aston Villa v West Ham this evening.
James Tarkowski will make England debut on left of 3-man defence against Italy this evening. Good news for
@BrentfordFC
, who will get a £500,000 payment from
@BurnleyOfficial
following his first international appearance.
Long read on Mauricio Pochettino, who faces an agonising decision over whether to pursue a move to
#MUFC
. Ambition, autonomy, family, his sons’ careers and Daniel Levy’s negotiating skills all factors in career-defining choice.
Gareth Southgate to watch Championship rather than Champions Lge this evening as he casts net wider. England manager will check on Mason Mount in Derby v Blackburn, with Steve Holland looking at Jack Grealish in Aston Villa v Rotherham. Sign of the times.
Champions League poised to return to terrestrial television with ITV submitting multiple bids to UEFA ahead of Monday’s deadline. BT Sport also under pressure from Sky Sports and DAZN.
Lukaku accepts
#everton
made him a very good offer to stay, which he rejected because he didn't believe in the project, not because of voodoo. Is consulting lawyers over potential legal action.
Rajasthan Royals launch £25m takeover bid for Yorkshire. IPL franchise offer convertible loan to cash-strapped club that would see them take full control at Headingley, leaving Yorkshire as first county with majority foreign ownership.
Everton at risk of points deduction this season after Premier Lge tell rival clubs disciplinary hearing could be concluded in next two months. Six clubs have written to PL demanding transparency and an expedited process.
Liverpool to pay Wolves a multimillion bonus if they win the Premier League on Sunday as part of Diogo Jota transfer. No bonus due from City to Villa for Grealish if they win the league.
Good point, brutally made by
@davekidd_
in his typically excellent column today.
"Chelsea's current squad, apparently impossible to motivate, have won more than 50 major honours between them. Sarri has won nothing."
Think the
@btsport
Goals Show is the best sports programme on TV. All the action and goals delivered with wit and insight, without an army of pundits stating the obvious.
Premier League and EFL agree to sell their TV rights together from 2028 for the first time - with lower divisions set for an £88m bonus payment this season before getting 14.75 per cent of pooled TV revenue from next season.
Everton face administration and further nine point deduction if independent commission rules relegated clubs should be compensated for their spending breach.
Following
#cafc
's extraordinary statement regarding
#Bowyer
told the club offered him a one-year contract worth just over £200,000. For context of Championship managerial pay Frank Lampard earns around £2m at Derby, who would speak to Bowyer if Lampard joins Chelsea.
#thfc
ready to sell Alderweireld this summer after collapse of contract talks. Club unwilling to meet defender’s £150k-a-week wage demands so will consider sale before his value drops to £25m next year.
#Chelsea
given 18 months to cut loan army from 39 to eight players with FIFA set to introduce strict limits in 2020. FA and smaller Premier League clubs welcome measures to combat stockpiling.
Lampard brought back to Chelsea to do two specific jobs - reconnect club with fans after Sarri & get the best out of youngsters when no other option. He was well qualified for those roles and accomplished both superbly last season in difficult circumstances.
British property developer Nick Candy tells
@MailSport
he is in talks with US investors over a £2.5bn bid for Chelsea. Bid would include plans for a £1.5bn redevelopment of Stamford Bridge.
Premier League PPV matches averaged 39,000 purchases over the first nine games, clubs told today. Three games got fewer than 10,000 viewers, none more than 100,000, two between 70,000 and 90,000. Story on
@MailSport
Sean Dyche has signed a new four-and-a-half year contract at
#BurnleyFC
. Huge pay rise to £3.5m-a-year makes the manager the club's highest paid employee. More details in 5pm edition of
@TimesSport
.
ECB facing revolt over the Hundred, with counties unhappy with ownership structure, governance, financial deal, downgrading of 50 over game & abuse of Icon Player rules. One county has lodged formal complaint about a partner, which ECB are investigating.
Leicester exploited loophole in PSR rules to avoid spending charges this season, by claiming to be a Premier Lge and EFL club at the same time. Club could face two points deductions next season if found in breach.
Everton querying why compensation claim from Burnley, Leeds and Leicester will be heard by tsame panel that docked them 10 points. Commission chair David Phillips KC previously acted for Leeds and sat on panel that fined Everton £300,000 last season.
Premiership Rugby clubs facing more financial problems with BT Sport demanding multi-million pound rebate after top flight cut to 10 teams next season.
American consortium agree takeover of cash-strapped Huddersfield Town. Owner Dean Hoyle to write off over £40m to keep the Championship club out of administration.
FA plan to assign a BAME coach for every England team next season. Chris Powell earmarked to join Gareth Southgate’s staff; Darren Moore, Jason Euell, Chris Ramsey and Rachel Yankey in the frame for coaching roles with other England teams.
Blanking transfer chief Marina Granovskaia, picking on Carlo Cudicini and monstering administrative staff in the Cobham canteen: the rows and recriminations that made Antonio Conte's
#Chelsea
sacking inevitable.
Updated
#CricketWorldCupFinal
viewing figures: peak total of 8.29m across Sky Sports and C4, a higher figure than climax to 2005 Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. A huge breakthrough moment for cricket in this country.
Neil Warnock’s son James under scrutiny as
#Cardiff
accused of breaching FA’s agent regulations. There are at least seven players linked to Warnock’s agency on Cardiff’s books.
Best bit of the Iwobi story is the claim that his party were refused entry to a club so rented an Airbnb instead. Very resourceful and quick-thinking these Millennial party animals.
Wrexham's squad to share bonuses of £200,000 if they secure promotion
with club to bank £1million from return to Football League. Players turned down weekly win bonuses in return for a bigger promotion prize pot.
#Brentford
assistant head coach Richard O'Kelly to join new manager Dean Smith at
#AstonVilla
as his number two, raising questions over John Terry's precise role at Villa Park.
Man United decline to trigger option extending Raphael Varane's £340,000-a-week contract, leaving him free to talk to other clubs, as they seek to cut wages. United plan talks with Varane over new contract on reduced terms in repeat of David De Gea saga.