Category: Sport

Neither Pep Guardiola nor Unai Emery had lost four consecutive games before this weekend. By 10pm on Saturday both had been swept up in this Liverpool wave.

“Maybe after seven years winning six Premier Leagues, maybe one year another team deserve it,” was passive-aggressive Pep perfection, a precursor to the principal pretenders proving their proficiency.

Liverpool certainly deserved it in the one exception to Manchester City’s monopoly since Guardiola started his Premier League medal collection. Having capitalised on – and arguably triggered – a collapse from the champions in 2019/20, they are threatening to repeat the feat in this glorious possible Last Dance of a season.

It was the most ‘over to you, [insert name of title challengers]’ game imaginable. The combination of a surprise Manchester City televised evening defeat, allowing for a good half-hour of earnest analysis before leading straight into a rare late kick-off time which facilitated some lesser-seen Under The Lights At Anfield weekend action, set the stage superbly. And both teams played their parts with relish.

Aston Villa were the ideal spoilers, a side brimming with individual brilliance knitted together by an elite-level manager with a fine record on such occasions.

But this Liverpool team feels different. It controls games, knuckles down, finds a way. Jurgen Klopp should be commended for leaving behind such phenomenal foundations and Arne Slot can only be applauded for using them to create a team built in the image of two wonderful coaches.

It does make you wonder how much of this is muscle memory, a more sophisticated version of Everton finishing with their highest Premier League points total ever in 2013/14 because they still had the residual defensive resilience established by David Moyes to mesh with the attacking proclivities of Roberto Martinez. It is difficult to imagine this being the start of an infernal self-destructive cycle which ultimately ends with Liverpool appointing Sean Dyche but you never know.

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Watching Darwin Nunez open the scoring was to be taken back to the Klopp times. Liverpool turned an Aston Villa corner into an insatiable counter-attack once Virgil van Dijk finally cleared his lines. Mo Salah burst through, Leon Bailey tumbled him over, Darwin Nunez latched onto the loose ball and finished expertly after taking a touch to open an angle on Emi Martinez.

It was a shame in a perverse sort of way. The sight of referee David Coote gesturing that no foul had taken place between Bailey and Salah offered a tantalising view into a future in which Anfield would have imploded with rage had Nunez not ultimately taken on the responsibility himself. The trend of opposition infringements against Salah being entirely ignored by the officials is firmly entrenched but that would have been quite something to witness; the idea he was only fouled twice in this game is hilarious and preposterous.

Little over ten minutes later Liverpool had plotted the same route to goal: a Villa corner, eventually cleared, made its way to Salah who sent Nunez on his way. With longer to think, the Uruguayan produced a quite risible finish to crown a first half-hour which summed up his Liverpool career so far perfectly.

At that point Austin MacPhee probably ought to have resigned. Aston Villa’s set-piece coach presumably did not plan for their first two corners of the game to backfire so catastrophically. The next two at least produced chances for Amadou Onana and Diego Carlos, both of which were saved by Caiomhin Kelleher. Villa’s biggest strength was also their most glaring weakness.

Liverpool reached the break ahead and might not have thanked the boffins for one particularly foreboding statistic: they were unbeaten in their last 144 Premier League games when leading at half-time. Not particularly anxiety-inducing data by itself, but only hours earlier it had been pointed out that Manchester City were unbeaten in 71 Premier League games when leading at half-time, with Brighton adding emphasis on the past tense.

In the end an entirely different parallel could be drawn to define the perfect day for Liverpool: neither Guardiola nor Unai Emery had lost four consecutive games as a manager before this weekend, yet by 10pm on Saturday evening that had changed for both mildly crisis-ridden coaches and there was one chief beneficiary.

The second half followed much the same pattern as the first. Morgan Rogers wasted a golden opportunity early on, while Liverpool relied on fast breaks – still generally from Villa corners – to provide an ever-present threat.

The sealing goal shattered any modicum of Villa momentum and underlined why some might consider Liverpool favourites in this title race. A mistake from Diego Carlos on the halfway line was punished thoroughly by Mo Salah, who is seemingly using speculation over his future as fuel to become the world’s most effective player again in the present. He may leave in the summer but the determination to ensure a remarkable parting gift is biblical.

Liverpool have been burned before and will know not to get carried away by five-point leads at the Premier League summit in November. But Manchester City have left the door wide open and the current overwhelming evidence suggests only one team will be able to push through until May.

READ NEXT: Lopetegui sack coming after miserable West Ham display, while Keane nailed Henderson

Julen Lopetegui ambled to another uninspiring result and performance as West Ham manager in the David Moyes derby, while Roy Keane nailed Dean Henderson.

Brentford 3-2 Bournemouth: Cherries further stake their claim as the Premier League hipsters at the fortress of fun
The wins over Arsenal and Manchester City weren’t smash and grabs. Bournemouth had the superior xG in both of those David and Goliath victories, which have made Andoni Iraola’s side one to be considered in discussions about European football – probably even more so than Nottingham Forest, with big scalps a better determiner of quality and ability to stay the course than position in the nascent table.

They’re threatening Brighton for the honour of being Premier League club of the hipsters, thanks to their entertaining football, engaging manager and success as disruptors of the elite. But Bournemouth and Iraola will want to avoid another key factor in determining hipster levels: the capacity to crumble against a lesser opponent on the back of monumental wins. Whoops.

That’s very unfair on Brentford, who aren’t so much a different animal at home but an animal compared to an inanimate object. Incredibly they’ve won all of their 16 points this season at home, with a ridiculous 29 goals scored in those six games.

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Evanilson coolly rounded Mark Flekken after a Sepp van den Berg error to open the scoring, before Bournemouth failed to deal with a Brentford long throw and Yoane Wissa equalised. Justin Kluivert then finished off a lovely corner routine to put the Cherries back in front, only for Mikkel Damsgaard to draw the hosts level seconds later thanks to some suspect front-post goalkeeping from Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Wissa’s second goal of a thoroughly entertaining end-to-end game featuring just as many mistakes as moments of quality was a fitting winner.

With four touches Brentford progressed the ball from their own half and into the Bournemouth net. Ethan Pinnock played the ball down the line for Vitaly Janelt, who stepped over the ball, spun behind the Cherries midfield, took a first-time pass from Keane Lewis-Potter and played his own first-time pass – a through ball – for Wissa to run onto and dink over Kepa. Beautiful.

We’ve all heard plenty about Thomas Frank’s obsession with his players turning down any opportunity to score and increasing their chances through an extra pass or a bit of patience; Wissa is the embodiment of that philosophy. He’s got six goals from eight shots on target in the Premier League this season and only Erling Haaland (19) has scored more than his 15 non-penalty goals.

Crystal Palace 0-2 Fulham: Keane criticism of Henderson still rings true as Wilson does it again
Whenever we see Dean Henderson fail to make a save Premier League goalkeepers definitely should make – a frequent occurrence – we’re reminded of Roy Keane’s criticism of the then-Manchester United goalkeeper in a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool in 2021.

“He looked so small in the goal.”

Henderson was at that stage the man set to squeeze David de Gea out at Old Trafford but he instead finds himself as Crystal Palace’s No.1, and it’s after moments like this against Fulham – where he got both hands to a relatively tame Emile Smith Rowe shot and failed to push it round the post – that he should be counting his lucky stars that he did play for Manchester United; it’s hard to imagine he would be a Premier League goalkeeper without that on his CV.

We imagine Harry Wilson will be knocking, even pounding, on Marco Silva’s door this week after he scored another goal off the bench following his dramatic stoppage-time brace to turn the Brentford game on its head on Monday.

Palace were down to ten men after Daichi Kamada’s studs-over-the-ball tackle on Kenny Tete and Alex Iwobi sliced them open with a fine pass from the left, which Wilson latched onto before forcing his shot under Henderson.

If we were to have put money on one of Fulham or Palace being sixth and the other being in a relegation battle after 11 games, no-one would have had it this way around in the summer.

West Ham 0-0 Everton: The Moyes derby ends in only possible result
Not many Premier League fixtures in 2024 can pit together two teams whose fanbases boast an element which long for the coaching stylings of David Moyes, but West Ham and Everton could at least share extensive notes on Being Careful What You Wish For at the London Stadium.

The Scot would not solve the issues at either of these sides. West Ham’s form in the second half of last season underlined that for the hosts; Everton could swap Sean Dyche for their former manager now without telling anyone and it would take months to notice any negligible differences in playing style.

A goalless draw was a far better result for Everton and really their current problem is the opposite to that of their opponents. The supporters know exactly what being a Dyche team represents; they just don’t like it. Only three Premier League clubs have scored fewer goals so far, although this was closer to last season’s existential struggle with xG.

Eighteen shots is the most the Toffees have managed in a single Premier League game this season, while this was the first time in eight months they have had the majority of possession in an away league match. It was in many ways the perfect Dyche performance: the 0-0 he played for, with enough variance to suggest they could have won – or indeed lost – on another day, within a performance containing plenty for his critics to lament. The substitutions were wonderfully uninspiring as a case in point.

But that is remarkably damning for Julen Lopetegui, who does not even have the benefit of a clear idea, principles or philosophy. It is easy to spot a Dyche team just from watching them and that is a credit to his coaching, whether you agree with such an approach. West Ham are just an expensive mess of random players trying different things with no discernible connection. It is a mystery exactly what they are trying to do. They have no identity. They are a tactical abyss.

The decision to part with Moyes was right; it was time for that marriage of convenience to end and for both parties to go their separate ways towards happier things. Everton went through the same process once but at least their Spanish successor built on those foundations, even if only temporarily. The Hammers have squandered their chance already.

Moyes nobly advocated for his replacement to be given more “time” and “that opportunity to set things the way he wants them to happen.” this week, but keeping Lopetegui for much longer would feel like doubling-down to turn a lamentable mistake into a critical, season-ruining error.

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Wolves 2-0 Southampton: O’Neil turns a Cunha thanks to archenemy
It seems unlikely that the thoughts of Gary O’Neil on VAR will dominate the headlines after a first win of the season for Wolves. But it would be vaguely interesting to hear whether he thought this result meant they represent “the big guy” to Southampton’s “little guy” in the collective “subconscious” of the Premier League powers that be.

That is an absolute nonsense because of course it is. But after months of perceived injustices being wrought upon them, Wolves obviously dragged themselves off the foot of the table thanks in no small part to a couple of contentious decisions.

The disallowed Ryan Manning equaliser was One Of Them, an incident which could be read in a variety of different ways depending on subjectivity. The permitted Matheus Cunha strike to make it 2-0 existed in a rather less grey area: Wolves committed at least one and very possibly two fouls in the build-up to a phenomenal hit from the inspired Brazilian.

Cunha had set up the early opener for Pablo Sarabia and was the game’s best player by a laughable distance. But even with his ability on the ball Wolves never felt comfortable. The Molineux atmosphere was verging on toxic even when leading by a goal in the first half and the nerves were as tangible as they were understandable.

But ultimately Southampton mustered nine shots with none of them testing the decidedly testable Jose Sa, with Russell Martin’s side claiming nearly three-quarters of the ball with zero per cent of the cutting edge.

So soon after the relief of the Everton win have they reverted to type, even replacing Wolves at the bottom. O’Neil’s team are suddenly on a three-game unbeaten run only Liverpool and Nottingham Forest can beat, but Howard Webb’s olive branch will most likely be ignored.

Ray Parlour has compared Arsenal star Martin Odegaard to one of his former teammates and has urged Mikel Arteta to hand the playmaker a start against Chelsea, even if he’s “only 80 per cent” fit.

Odegaard returned at the very end of Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Inter on Wednesday, a game similar to many of the 12 games the Norway international has missed since his injury on international duty in September, in that they struggled to create clear-cut chances.

Arteta hasn’t revealed whether Odegaard will be in from the off against Chelsea, but Parlour believes he should be in the starting XI with defeat potentially leaving them ten points behind league leaders Liverpool, who play Aston Villa on Saturday night.

“He’s got the vision, he’s got that creativity,” Parlour said of Arsenal’s importance on talkSPORT.

“If you look at the midfield area, you’ve got [Thomas] Partey, Declan Rice when he’s playing, [Mikel] Merino’s come into the side as well, very similar players, really.

“All very good players, don’t get me wrong. I’d like to see Declan get forward a little bit more when Partey plays.

“But if Odegaard’s in there, he’s that player who takes the ball in tight little situations. He sees a pass, he creates chances.

“When I watched the Newcastle game, they needed that little bit of creativity because Newcastle were very comfortable sitting in front of the defence. The midfield for Newcastle had done a great job, by the way.

“He just can bring something else from the team, a little bit different to the other players they’ve got. He’s a big miss, but I don’t know how fit he is and if he’s recovered. If he’s 80 per cent, play him for 70 minutes, I would.”

Parlour reckons that while Odegaard isn’t at quite the same level of Bergkamp, whom he shared a dressing with at Arsenal for nine years, he does see similarities in style.

He added: “I look at Bergkamp when I played. I wouldn’t say he [Odegaard] is as good as Bergkamp, but he’s very similar in the way he can see vision and he will create chances.

“What I’m saying is he can get into little areas, he’s a very clever player. You watch his vision when he puts balls through. He knows where the runs are going to come from.

“Against Newcastle, I didn’t see that. I didn’t see the creativity from Arsenal’s midfield. That’s what he can bring to the team if he does come back on the weekend.”

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Paul Merson agreed with Parlour over Odegaard, urging Arteta to “take a chance” on the midfielder.

Asked whether Odegaard should start at Stamford Bridge, Merson replied: “I think that comes down to this weekend and the results.

“Arsenal play second on Super Sunday so they’ll know how Liverpool and City have got on. If they’ve both won then I think Odegaard has got to start the game.

“Ten and nine points, if both those teams win, that’s a lot of points and, for me, it would be a must-win football match and you take a chance [on Odegaard].

“Otherwise, what do you do? Do you bring him on for the last 20-30 minutes and then he goes and plays for Norway for a couple of games in seven or eight days? Unless he’s not going away with Norway and then maybe you sort of save him.

“But if not, I think he’s got to be thrown back in. He’s that important to Arsenal.”

Vyacheslav Uzelkov, a prize-winner at the World and European boxing championships, has passed away. After his sports career, he became a TV presenter, participated in various TV shows and ran for mayor of Vinnytsia.

Ukrainian boxer Vyacheslav Uzelkov has died at the age of 46, UNN reports, citing the Ukrainian Boxing Federation.

"…Ukrainian boxing has suffered a heavy loss – Vyacheslav Uzelkov has passed away. His name will forever remain in the history of sports, and his example of strength, resilience and dedication will inspire future generations," the statement said.

The Federation also expressed sincere condolences to Uzelkov's family and friends.

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Uzelkov is a Ukrainian professional boxer, winner of the World and European Amateur Championships. After retiring from boxing, he became a TV presenter.

In 2020, he ran for mayor of Vinnytsia from the pro-Russian party OPFL. Yurii Boyko came to support Viacheslav.

He bribed voters with porridge. He gained 4% in the October 25, 2020 elections, taking 4th place. After 2020, he began to speak Ukrainian.

He first took part in filming in 2008 in a melodrama directed by Lev Karpov.

In 2009, he took part in the second season of the dance show "Dancing for You".

In 2014-2015, Viacheslav was a member of the jury on the Ukraine's Got Talent program. Then, together with his wife Maryna, he starred in the program "Weighed and Happy".

Man City and the Abu Dhabi government could call in “political favours” in order to end their financial fair play case, according to former Everton CEO Keith Wyness.

A hearing to examine 115 Premier League charges issued against the club began on September 16 with the Citizens’ legal team pictured arriving at the IDRC, close to St Paul’s Cathedral in central London.

The charges facing Man City, who won a fourth straight Premier League title in May, date back as far as the 2009-10 season.

It is thought the club, who are also accused of failing to co-operate with an investigation, could face a range of punishments including a severe points penalty or even expulsion from the Premier League if found guilty.

Man City were charged by the league in February 2023 after a long investigation into allegations published by German magazine Der Spiegel in autumn 2018.

The Premier League club deny any wrongdoing and have previously said they have a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” to support their stance.

The hearing is reported to have been scheduled for 10 weeks, with the independent commission’s verdict initially not expected until the new year.

And now ex-Everton CEO Wyness has suggested that the Abu Dhabi government could “step in” and use political means to squash the case.

Wyness told Football Insider: “There’s no doubt that if Abu Dhabi stepped in then all these issues would be involved very quickly. The Premier League may say they’ve had no contact with the government, but we should be under no illusions that this is a big situation.

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“What was interesting in the new football bill from the government is the exclusion of lines around having to take decisions in the interest of Britain’s trade. It was interesting that this was dropped. The regulator won’t be tasked with that any longer.

“You’ve always got to wonder: When we’re dealing with sovereign states like Saudi Arabia or the UAE, do political implications get involved with football decisions? I’m a big proponent in keeping politics out of football, but it’s inextricably linked.

“I hope there is no leaning in any way at all on the Premier League with the punishments if City are found guilty. I think the government would love it if there were no penalties at all.

“But if you’re a government and you own a club like Man City, you’re going to try any sort of political move you can – and that includes calling in any political favours.

“So let’s wait and see how these develops. There are stories aplenty that could come out of this. If something doesn’t seem right in the end, it probably won’t be right. We’ll have to keep a close eye on this.”

“Horodenko's Probiy leads the Ukrainian Second League and reached the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup in its debut professional season. The team won 8 league matches and won three cup games.

Leadership in the Second League of the Ukrainian Championship and reaching the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Football Cup are the results of the first part of the 2024-25 football season for Proboi, which received the status of a professional club less than six months ago.

Details

Following the first part of the season, Probiy shared first place in its group with Rukh-2 from Lviv, scoring 26 points in 12 matches (8 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses). In the Ukrainian Cup, the team reached the 1/8 finals. And the very fact of reaching the 1/8 finals is already a great success for the Second League team, which only this year began its journey in professional football. In total, Horodenka's players played 4 games in the Ukrainian Cup, winning three of them, including the Premier League, and narrowly losing to the Bukovyna from Chernivtsi with a score of 0:1.

At the beginning of the season, we could not even dream of such results. Reaching the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup and leading the league is a real breakthrough for our team. Of course, we would like to go further in the Cup, we always want to bring victories to our fans. But the main thing is that in this first year of playing professional football, we have shown and proved that we have a team that can achieve results. I thank the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the team's partners for the opportunity to play and bring joy to our fans

– says Volodymyr Kovaliuk, coach of the Probiy sports club.

The Perspectives branch of MHP's Western Hub, together with its strategic partner, the MHP for Community Charitable Foundation, has been a partner of NC Probiy for many years. Stable financial support from the partners helps the team's management to carry out high-quality management at the club: recruitment of experienced coaches and specialists, professional players, training camps, preparation of the stadium for home games, rental of transport for away matches, photo and video broadcasting of live games, etc.

At MHP, we are convinced that sport is not only a competition, but also a powerful tool for uniting people and developing young people. We understand how important the Probiy team is for the community, so we are happy to support them. The team's success is evidence of the effectiveness of our joint efforts with the community and partners

– emphasizes Viktor Koryagin, Director of MHP Western Hub.

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur are ‘in touch’ with Jack Grealish’s representatives as they look to prize him away from Manchester City.

Man City invested around £100m to sign England international Grealish from Premier League rivals Aston Villa during the 2021 summer transfer window.

Grealish endured a difficult debut season, but he shone for Man City during the 2022/23 campaign as Pep Guardiola’s side won the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.

Despite this, the winger has endured a rough 18 months as he has been negatively impacted by the arrivals of Jeremy Doku and Savinho.

Grealish – who is without a goal in his seven Premier League appearances this season – has also struggled with injuries and is being linked with an exit.

READ: Premier League benchwarmers who deserve a chance: (Nearly) one per club

Earlier this week, a report claimed Man City are ready to sell Grealish and ‘sign a big name’ replacement. Former Man Utd scout Mick Brown expects the Premier League holders to sell him next year.

“I’m not sure about Jack Grealish,” Brown said. “He’s been in and out of the team again this season and he’s not a regular feature there.

“They’re happy with what Doku and Savinho bring to the side.

“I’ve heard City could look to sign a big-name winger as they feel the squad could be strengthened in that position – that would be for next summer. But then where does Grealish fit in the squad? He’d be facing even fewer starts.

“I think, if they do sign a new option, they could look to move him out to make space. They might want to make some money back on him. He’s on big wages as well so that would free up some of the budget.

“I’m sure it’s something he’d be open to as well because he wants to play football – I know Jack from his time at Villa and he’s always wanted to play regular games.”

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A new report from Football Transfers claims Spurs sporting director Johan Lange have been ‘in touch with Grealish’s representatives over a possible move’.

Lange’s positive relationship with Grealish could reportedly help Tottenham after they came ‘very close’ to signing the experienced winger in the summer.

‘The club’s sporting director Johan Lange came very close to signing the winger over the summer, we are told, and now the club are back speaking to Grealish’s representatives to discuss his current situation, and a potential move to Spurs.

‘It’s our understanding that Lange was instrumental in the €117.5 million transfer that took Grealish to Manchester City during his time as sporting director of Aston Villa. The winger remained especially appreciative of how Lange handled that move, helping it go as smoothly as possible, and the pair have maintained a good relationship since.

‘With Spurs looking to bring in competition for Son Heung-min and James Maddison in the January window and Grealish is considered as a versatile option who could strengthen both positions, potentially saving the club money.

‘Grealish had spoken with Spurs over a move during the summer window, but ultimately he wanted to fight for his spot in City’s starting XI. At the time, there was also a £3 million gap in wages between Daniel Levy and the attacker.’

Natalia Matsupko won the Ironman competition in Florida, covering the distance in 9 hours and 19 minutes. The athlete showed the best result among women in all three disciplines: swimming, cycling and marathon.

Ukrainian Natalia Matsupko triumphs at the prestigious Ironman in Florida. This was reported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, UNN reports.

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Ukrainian triathlete Nataliia Matsupko has overcome one of the most difficult courses in the world of triathlon with a time of 9 hours 19 minutes and 51 seconds. At the Florida stage, Natalia confidently finished first among women, setting a high result in each discipline: she completed the swim (3.86 km) in 56 minutes and 17 seconds, the bike stage (180.2 km) in 4 hours 40 minutes and 54 seconds, and the final marathon run (42.2 km) in 3 hours 34 minutes and 50 seconds.

Matsupko is also known to be a guide for Ukrainian paratriathlete Vita Oleksiuk, supporting her at international competitions.

Ironman in Florida is one of the most famous tests of endurance and strength, where athletes run courses with a clearly defined time limit that cannot be exceeded at any stage.

Ukrainian athlete wins the European Bouldering Cup: with an excellent result, passing the flush on the first attemptApril 8 2024, 12:53 PM • 20176 views

A new report has revealed how much Manchester City would be ‘forced to pay’ their Premier League rivals if they are guilty of breaching FFP.

At the start of 2023, Man City were charged after being accused of breaching over 100 of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules.

Pep Guardiola‘s side were referred to an independent commission after the Premier League conducted a four-year probe into their conduct between 2009 and 2018.

If found guilty, Man City could be given a huge fine, points deduction, transfer ban or expulsion from the Premier League.

The Cityzens have insisted their innocence and launched a legal battle against the Premier League earlier this year as they campaigned for the removal of Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules.

Man City’s APT case has already concluded. Each side had success, but it’s been claimed that the Premier League club “won on penalties”.

READ: Premier League benchwarmers who deserve a chance: (Nearly) one per club

The FFP hearing remains ongoing and a new ‘concrete’ update has revealed when this case is likely to conclude.

Earlier this week, a report from The Times revealed Man City’s Premier League rivals will demand compensation if they are found guilty of breaching FFP.

‘A number of Premier League clubs have reserved the right to seek compensation against Manchester City over the club’s 115 alleged rule breaches before a deadline on Tuesday.

‘The action has been advised by lawyers even before the outcome of the case as there is a potential six-year statute of limitation period which dates back to November 5, 2018 when a German website first published the Football Leaks documents.

‘If the serious charges against City are found proven, clubs could claim for loss of income for missing out on the league title or European competitions over the course of several seasons, which could total hundreds of millions of pounds.’

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A new report from Football Insider claims Man City ‘could land a £70m+ blow’ as they may be ‘forced’ to compensate their Premier League rivals.

It is also claimed that Man City’s Premier League would have two ‘avenues’ to ‘seek’ damages. The report claims.

‘It is said the action has been advised by lawyers even before the outcome of the case is delivered as there is a potential six-year statute of limitation period dating back to 5 November 2018.

‘Sources have told Football Insider all 35 clubs who finished below Man City in the Premier League during the nine-year period could submit a claim suggesting they finished at least one place lower as a result of the alleged breach and want to receive a minimum of £2million in compensation.

‘Another potential avenue for clubs to seek compensation is around loss of chance. In English law, loss of chance is a legal concept that refers to a situation where a defendant’s actions cause a claimant to lose the opportunity to gain a benefit or avoid a loss.

‘Sources have told Football Insider a club could argue they missed out on a Champions League place if Man City’s alleged breaches are proven, opening up the possibility for them to submit a compensation claim.

‘The independent panel does have the power to award any interested parties compensation or clubs can seek damages through arbitration under Rule X of the Premier League handbook.

‘But it is understood it could take a significant amount of time before any compensation claims could be settled due to the complexity of the case.’

On November 6, about 600 participants attended the second All-Ukrainian Sports Marketing Conference organized by Sport & Business Club.

On November 6, about 600 participants attended the second All-Ukrainian Sports Marketing Conference organized by Sport&Business Club. More than 40 Ukrainian experts, including heads of sports organizations, representatives of niche businesses, media, famous athletes, and opinion leaders, shared stories of successful projects and experience in the industry. The premium partner of the event was the licensed bookmaker GGBET.

The day featured 7 panel discussions and more than 10 personal presentations. Participants discussed the challenges of Ukrainian sport during the war, the interaction between brands and sports organizations, the development of media exposure of athletes outside of sports, celebrity marketing, and the role of sports media.

Not only classical sports, but also esports received attention. The panel discussion “How sports and esports allow you to achieve rapid results in the new market” focused on joint special projects of GGBET with the most successful Ukrainian esports organization NAVI. The panel also discussed high-profile sports cases of the brand together with popular streaming platforms MEGOGO and Setanta Sports.

GGBET CEO Sergiy Mishchenko noted that such events allow “keeping a finger on the pulse of change.” “Ukrainian sports marketing is a dynamic, competitive area where there is room for collaboration and creativity. It is here that projects and partnerships are born that are memorable and monetized. I hope we were able to inspire the summit participants and show them that cooperation with other market players is a win-win for everyone.”

CEO of Sport&Business Club Alexey Braga also emphasized the importance of the event: “The Summit is a unique platform for interaction between representatives of sports, business and media. This time we managed to unite the market and have a fruitful discussion on the formats and prospects for its development.”

The next SBC Summit Ukraine is planned for the spring of 2025.