Trafalgar Square lined up to host 12,500 football supporters this summer at Euro 2020 fan park April 13, 2021 Trafalgar Square is being lined up to host a Euro 2020 fan park for up to 12,500 football supporters this summer. Big screens at the central London site will show all of the matches being played at Wembley Stadium, including England’s three group games, both semi-finals and the final. The plans have been submitted by [...]
Surrey in talks to host Indian Premier League teams as Mayor of London Sadiq Khan aims to bring IPL to the capital this year April 13, 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) teams could play games at the Kia Oval and Lord’s as soon as this year under plans being pushed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Surrey cricket chiefs have already held exploratory talks with figures from the IPL and the Indian game’s governing body, the BCCI. A September date has been [...]
Sporting bodies back vaccine passports and Covid tests for return of live events April 9, 2021 The UK’s leading sports bodies have backed the use of vaccine passports and Covid testing as a “credible” means of returning punters to stadiums this summer. In a joint letter to the leaders of the major political parties, the group said it could “see the benefit” of rolling out Covid certifications and rapid testing “in [...]
Keith Pelley interview: European Tour chief on PGA Tour alliance, why 2021 is even tougher than 2020, and when fans can return to golf April 9, 2021 Since 14 April 2020, Keith Pelley has been getting used to a new way of starting each day. At 7:45am the chief executive of golf’s European Tour dials into a conference call with 14 colleagues to discuss which tournaments are on, which are off and need replacing at short notice, and which hang in the [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Sports give qualified backing to Covid certification plan; US Beijing boycott talks escalates; Masters caught up in vote row April 8, 2021 British sport’s leading governing bodies have backed plans to use Covid certification if it means they can reopen stadiums in full later this summer. But they have called for urgent clarification on how and when social distancing will be relaxed, warning that partially full venues will not stem their financial losses. The Premier League, Football [...]
Athletes are driving the acceleration of sports investment – will we see European players follow the US trend for SPACs and NFTs? April 8, 2021 Barely a day goes by without another high-profile athlete being announced as an investor in a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a tech start-up or launching their own non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While the Covid-19 pandemic has created major cash-flow problems for many elite teams and leagues, there is certainly no shortage of liquidity being channelled [...]
Rugby League World Cup chief Jon Dutton: We’re very optimistic that we’ll have full stadiums April 6, 2021 Organising a major international sporting event is a logistical labyrinth at the best of times. Doing so when your dining room has been your office for the past year, when you haven’t yet met most of your staff, and when it has been impossible to be certain how or even if the event will take [...]
Is Mike Dean really the strictest referee in the Premier League? April 1, 2021 Mike Dean is many things – showman in a world of automatons, purveyor of the no-look booking, gift to gif makers – but is he, as some would have it, the strictest referee in the Premier League? A study of officiating in English football’s top flight over the past five seasons has attempted to answer [...]
Athletic Bilbao: Two Copa del Rey finals, one unique philosophy, and the roles of identity and loyalty in sporting success March 31, 2021 Athletic Bilbao manager Marcelino Garcia Toral could be forgiven for using the old cliche about every game feeling like a cup final. That’s because, due to a quirk of pandemic rescheduling, Athletic are about to play in the final of Spain’s domestic cup competition twice in a fortnight. On Saturday, a year later than planned, [...]
English football clubs turn to MetLife for £117.5m loan after baulking at Bank of England emergency funding conditions March 30, 2021 Championship football clubs have chosen to take a £117.5m loan from US insurer MetLife instead of the Bank of England’s emergency Covid-19 support scheme. The English Football League (EFL), which represents clubs in the second, third and fourth divisions, said it rejected the Bank of England loan due to the conditions imposed. Teams in the [...]