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By a vote of 4-1, the City Council of Collinsville, Illinois, adjacent to St. Louis, agreed to enter into formal negotiations with St. Louis Soccer United’s Jeff Cooper to secure the farmland and subsidies that will facilitate the construction of a $573m soccer complex. The plans include an 18,500-seat stadium, 240 hotel rooms, several youth soccer fields and nearly 500,000 square feet of office and retail space. Cooper said he was ‘very confident’ that MLS would grant St. Louis an expansion franchise in November, and believed that they could begin playing in 2009. Source: St. Louis Post Dispatch

CFL Franchise Explores Move to MLS Stadium

The Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts are investigating the feasibility of moving to FC Toronto’s 25,000-seat BMO Field. Argos’ co-owner David Cynamon told Rogers Sportsnet that the process was just beginning, and doubts have been raised because it might take years to reconstruct one end of the soccer-specific stadium. The CFL franchise has until early next year to exercise their option for an additional 5-year lease with the Rogers Centre, which they share with Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays. Source: Toronto Globe and Mail

Beckham Injury Forces Postponement of Exhibition Match

David Beckham’s knee injury has forced the postponement of an exhibition match between the LA Galaxy and the USL’s Vancouver Whitecaps that was scheduled to be played in Vancouver on October 3rd until November. 45,000 tickets were sold but the agreement between the two clubs stipulated that Beckham must play at least 45 minutes. The specific date will not be finalized until the Galaxy know whether they will qualify for MLS’s playoffs, which run until mid November. Source: The Vancouver Sun

MLS Franchise For Philly gets high level endorsement

On September 7th, MLS commissioner Don Garber said that Philadelphia is almost certain to be granted a franchise ("It's not an 'if' question; it's a 'when' question."). Although he indicated that the public and private financing must be formally sorted out by December if the team wants to begin playing in the 2010 season, he expressed confidence in the ownership group, which is led by Jay Sugarman, chief executive of New York-based iStar Financial, and in the ongoing negotiations with Chester City, Delaware over the financing to build a stadium projected to cost $120m. Source: The Philadelphia Daily News

EPL Team Set Up Academy With US Club

Everton have reached an agreement with the FC Revolution to set up a training academy in Eastern Pennsylvania. Everton will provide the curriculum, training videos, and technical advisers over the next 3 years. Everton announced a similar partnership in western Pennsylvania with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds less than a month ago. Source: Evertonfc.com

Chivas USA Name New CEO

Chivas USA hired Shawn Hunter to be their new president and CEO. The club, which is averaging just over 12,000 fans per match, hopes that the former AEG Sports chairman can raise those figures like he did during previous jobs with the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche and Phoenix Coyotes. Source: LA Times

 

Glazers Deny that Man U’s Debts Have Increased

The Glazer family, which owns Manchester United, has denied claims made by the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) that the club’s debts have increased by approximately $57m. The report issued by MUST also alleges that the debts are being paid by using income from the club’s TV and shirt sponsorship agreement with AIG. A spokesperson for the Glazers categorically denied the allegations: “Nothing has changed. The debts continue to be comfortably serviced by the business, which is performing better than ever.” Source: Soccernet

EPL Star Arrested In Corruption Probe

Tottenham Hotspur defender Pascal Chimbonda was arrested this week as part of Operation Apprentice, the UK’s long-standing investigation into corruption in soccer. It was reported that detectives questioned Chimbonda with regards to ‘suspicion of conspiracy to defraud,’ with focus on his $700,000 transfer from French club Bastia to Wigan in 2005. Both Wigan and Tottenham declined to comment, citing the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation. Source: Daily Telegraph

Mixed Views On Platini Plans

Manchester United and Liverpool’s chief executives, David Gill and Rick Parry, voiced opposition to UEFA president Michel Platini’s proposal to give a place in the Champions League to winners of domestic cup competitions from 2009 at a meeting of the 102 members of the European Club Forum in Switzerland this week. Italian clubs are generally in favor of the proposal as they hope it will revitalize the Coppa Italia, Spanish and French clubs believe the decision should be taken by individual FA’s while the German clubs could not reach a consensus. Source: The Press Association.

Coventry Deny Threat

Championship club Coventry City has denied they face administration and that a U.S consortium has pulled-out of talks to takeover the club. Managing Director Paul Fletcher has stated the club is still in talks with Manhattan Sports Capital Partners and that the club has attracted interest from 3 additional groups. Coventry City has debt at around $56m and does not own the Ricoh Arena, where it plays home matches. Source: Sky Sports

G-14 Announces Proposals

The G-14, the 18-member group representing Europe’s top professional clubs, has announced plans to expand to 50 members by the end of the year in the hope of resolving a dispute with UEFA. The group, which has been criticized by UEFA and FIFA for pursuing the interests of only the elite clubs, plans on changing its name and rewriting its constitution. Source: Soccernet

Bates Claims Leeds Not For Sale

Leeds United chairman Ken Bates admits that he is seeking investors but insisted that the club is not for sale. Rumors surfaced that ex-Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd was an interested buyer, but Bates said that discussions between the pair had not advanced and claims he is ‘in it for the long haul.’ Source: The Bradford Telegraph & Argus

UEFA Convenes Meeting To Discuss Safety

Last week UEFA, in conjunction with the Dutch National Football Information Point (CIV), convened a meeting in Amsterdam to discuss safety and security at international soccer matches, especially forthcoming Champions League matches. Attendees shared information, coordinated security, and worked on implementing UEFA President Michel Platini’s plan for zero tolerance. Source: UEFA.com

 

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