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Weekly Brief - 2008-01-11
The Weely Brief, highlighting recent soccer industry stories from around the World is provided to San Francisco Seals Fans courtesy of FMMInternational See below for more information regarding FMMInternational.
Current and past issues of the Weekly Brief can be found in our News/Information section under the "Weekly Brief Archives".
* Americas * January 11, 2008
Dynamo Closer To New Stadium
Negotiations between the Dynamo and city of Houston on a proposed soccer stadium are still not completed, but the city of Houston has signed letters of intent to buy parcels of land just east of U.S. 59 and the downtown business district. Both parties indicated that discussions are proceeding, but the city insists that owners AEG finance the construction of the stadium, expected to cost $70 to $80m. Source: The Houston Chronicle
Crew Building Concert Stage
No concerts have been scheduled, but the Columbus Crew announced that a stage will be completed in the north end of the club’s stadium by late April or early May at a cost of more than $2m. VP of stadium operations Scott DeBolt indicated the club would not tie itself to a single concert promoter: "We're going to be basically independent and have separate agreements with both AEG and Live Nation and whoever else wants to bring a show to us. We didn't want to limit our options." Source: The Columbus Dispatch
Liverpool FC Delay Decision on Stadium Design
Owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett ordered Dallas-based HKS to scale down their plans, which overshot the budget for the new 70,000-seat arena by $100m, and asked Manchester firm AFL to come up with their own designs. Hicks and Gillett also cannot choose a final design until they have a clearer picture of how they are to finance the development, while considering implications of the $540 m in loans taken out last February to acquire the club. Source: The Daily Telegraph
* Europe *
Record Profits and Turnover For Man United
Manchester United have moved to the top of the UK's football financial rich list after reporting record revenue of $481m for 2006/7; a 27% rise. That puts them ahead of the $393m Arsenal reported for the same season, but behind Real Madrid, whose turnover was $515m. Pre-tax profits rose 93% to $117m for United, who last season won the EPL, reached the final of the FA Cup, and the semifinal of the Champions League. Source: BBC
Inter on Verge of Record Kit Deal
Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport claims Inter Milan are on the verge kit agreement with Nike reputed to be worth upto $200m. The club's current contract with Nike, which previously ran until June 2009 was worth around $9m a season, but the new 10 year deal will likely be worth more than any other contract agreed between the American sports brand and a football club (excluding the Brazilian national team). Source: footballshirtculture.com
UEFA Consider Expanding European Championships
UEFA have commissioned a report on whether to expand the European Championships from 16 teams to up to 24, which will be discussed at a meeting in Croatia later in the month. Communications director William Gaillard confirmed that the externally-prepared report would be submitted but also expressed some doubts: "They have looked at different numbers and the overall effect of making such changes, including the possible effect on the qualifying round. By expanding the number of teams in the final competition you could actually make the qualifying tournament less interesting." Source: Goal.com
Scottish Executives Debate Merits Of Winter Break
Scottish FA CEO Gordon Smith believes that Scottish football should look at reintroducing a winter break because, "We should be playing in the best of the weather as most games that are called off have been in January and February." But SPL secretary Iain Blair countered: "We're hoping to see more success for Scottish clubs in Europe and that uses up a lot of midweeks. The clubs and fans tell us that they prefer the games to be on the weekend." Source: BBC Scotland
Trezeguet Agrees to Testify At GEA Trial
On January 29th, Juventus striker David Trezeguet will testify at the trial of several men connected with the alleged illegal practices of sports management agency GEA. Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, also at the centre of Italy's match-fixing scandal, his son Alessandro, who ran GEA, and Marcello Lippi's son Davide, among others, are accused of securing ‘unfair competition through threats or violence.’ Several top players and coaches, including England coach Fabio Capello, are also expected to give evidence at the trial. Source: Reuters UK
Money Dispute Jeopardizes Scotland-Argentina Friendly
Scotland's friendly against Argentina, provisionally arranged for March 26th at Hampden Park, may be cancelled because the respective associations cannot agree financial terms. The Daily Telegraph reports that the Argentinean FA have demanded guaranteed gate money, television revenue, and that the Scottish FA should also pay them a lump sum on top of that to bring Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and the rest to Glasgow. Source: The Daily Telegraph
TV Celebrity Fronts Bid for Troubled Luton
Television presenter and lifelong Luton fan Nick Owen is fronting a consortium bidding to buy the League One club, which entered administration
and received a 10-point deduction on November 22nd. "I cannot wait for us to get the go-ahead, I'm very hopeful," Owen told BBC Three Counties Radio. But club administrator Brendan Guilfoyle says ‘more than one’ bid has been received and that they hope for exclusive talks with the winning bidder within a week. The crisis has led manager Kevin Blackwell and key coaching staff to resign, as the administrator agreed to sell key players without consulting the coaching team. Source: BBC
JJB Agree to Refund Overcharged Fans
JJB Sports are to part-refund customers who were overcharged for replica football shirts. Consumer’s Group Which? said the UK’s leading sportswear retailer would pay up to $40 each for shirts bought between 2000 and 2001, following legal action on behalf of fans who bought nearly 1,000 football shirts. Customers who joined the group's case will get $40 from JJB Sports for each affected England and Manchester United shirt purchased during 2000 and 2001, and those who did not join the case can still claim $20 provided they present proof of purchase or the shirts themselves. Source: The Guardian
* Rest of the World *
Stadium Building Boom Coming for Morocco
Casablanca’s mayor Mohamed Sajid announced plans to build a $260m 80,000-seater football stadium by 2013, which will replace the 70,000-seater Mohammed VI Stadium. Moroccan Sports and Youth minister Nawal Moutawakil also promised further investment in sporting infrastructure, including the building of 3 other football stadiums in Agadir, Marrakesh and Tangier. Source: BBC
African Cup of Nations Broadcasts in Jeopardy
The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) have rejected paying $4.4m for TV rights for the African Cup of Nations, throwing local broadcasting into jeopardy with the tournament set to start in just 10 days. BON chairman Abubakar Jijwa, who claimed that Nigerians account for 30% of the tournament’s viewers, commented, "They said our offer was not acceptable, so we said, 'Fine, you can go and set up a TV channel in two weeks, we won't deal with you. If you want to ignore Nigeria, good luck to you’." Source: Goal.com
Man United Announce Second South Africa Tour
Manchester United confirmed yesterday that they will tour South Africa this summer from July 19-26. Although details were not announced, it is believed United will repeat their successful trip of 2006, when they took on Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates, playing in Durban, Cape Town and Pretoria. Source: Yahoo! Sports
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* The information contained herein is believed to be correct, but should not be relied upon as such. All financial figures should be seen as indicative only as they may have been converted from another currency.
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