Soriano’s pep talk pays off for Guardiola
Eyebrows were raised when Pep Guardiola launched an impassioned defence of Manchester City in his press conference previewing the visit of Aston Villa, in the wake of the Premier League’s decision to charge City with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations.
It is understood that City’s management team had been spoken to by a similarly bullish chief executive Ferran Soriano. The Spaniard told them that the club had been here before, when charged by UEFA, had won once and would do so again. He added that there was nothing to worry about and told the group to concentrate on football.
Zelensky pleas for Russian athletes to stay away
The coalition of sports ministers hoping to frustrate the IOC by keeping Russian athletes out of Paris 2024 is clearly fraying. Their online meeting last week featured an impassioned plea from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. But instead of the usual joint statement, opinions differed. Lithuania claimed unanimous support for a ban, an assertion that was undermined by a softer line from America and Australia.
It cannot have helped that the planned host of the meeting, Michelle Donelan, was moved to a new job by Rishi Sunak on Tuesday. That left newcomer Lucy Frazer — the 13th Culture Secretary in 13 years — little time for the usual rounds of phone calls needed to reach agreement before the meeting started. While sports minister Stuart Andrew claimed a joint statement will be forthcoming within days, the IOC may yet get their own way on Russia again. On Saturday, they flexed their muscles in a letter to National Olympic Committees urging them not to sign the statement.
Meanwhile, the Olympic Council of Asia may be forced to U-turn on their proposal to allow Russia to compete at the Asian Games this year to help athletes qualify as neutrals for Paris. There are logistical concerns over how it will affect other Asian countries and the prospect that it could deprive other athletes of quota places.
Leeds fans’ hospitality faux pas
While corporate hospitality remains king among matchday revenue-generators for top-flight clubs, the occasional perils were highlighted at the first of Manchester United’s two clashes with Leeds at Old Trafford last week.
A large number of Leeds supporters had obtained tickets in one of the plush suites and promptly got stuck into the booze. With their team on top during the first half, a number of the group could not contain their excitement, which did not go down too well given they were sitting in the home areas. A warning was issued at half-time to those involved to behave themselves.
Amid concerns that trouble is on the rise, footage from the weekend showed fans of Plymouth and Portsmouth brawling on train station steps while an arrest was made after a Chelsea fan was punched and knocked out before their match at West Ham.
Rashford as good off the pitch as he is on it
Marcus Rashford continues to do his bit for the nation’s schools. The resurgent Manchester United forward won praise for his successful campaign for free school dinners during the holidays, forcing the Government into a U-turn.
On Thursday night he was at it again, at a dinner to celebrate five years of the Michael Carrick Foundation. One of the items up for auction was a visit to a primary school by Carrick, along with the Premier League trophy. Rashford paid more than £10,000 to land the prize.
Ex-United midfielder Carrick, whose Middlesbrough side won at Cardiff on Saturday to go third in the Championship, set up the charity to aid disadvantaged youngsters across Greater Manchester and Tyne and Wear.
The event, in the shadow of Old Trafford at the Victoria Warehouse, also saw dinner with Carrick, Bryan Robson and Steve Bruce go for a similar amount. Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay and Tom Heaton attended, as did Carrick’s former team-mates Darren Fletcher and Jonny Evans.
Coffee with ex-Lioness and ‘Queen of the Jungle’ Jill Scott was another auction item. Two bidders could not be separated at £2,500 — so Scott decided to do it twice and netted £5,000.
Rugby on the tele
An important season for Super League kicks off this week with talks over a new TV deal on the horizon and commercial giants IMG involved. Turning the Challenge Cup knockout competition into a Champions League-style format is being considered as rugby league seeks to secure its future.
Two matches will be shown on Channel 4 along with Sky’s games, with near-capacity crowds expected at Warrington, Leigh and Hull KR.
Marsch says thanks
Outgoing Leeds boss Jesse Marsch was shown the door last Monday afternoon and did not have time to address his players one final time as they had already finished training.
The American instead took the trouble to contact each one of his former charges individually to thank them for their efforts - a magnanimous thing to do given some might think it was those efforts that got him the sack.
New lockers for the Blues at Cobham
Big-spending Chelsea have signed so many new players that they have had to install extra lockers at their Cobham training base. Officials realised that additional facilities would be needed and acted accordingly. After a busy summer, no fewer than eight signings arrived in the January transfer window, including £105million midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
Meanwhile, Chelsea staff had to act quickly after they put tickets for their Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund on sale and accidentally sold all the wheelchair spaces in Stamford Bridge’s West Stand Lower to non-disabled fans. A hasty message to those who snapped up the spots was sent and separate seats were found for them.
Meeting postponed due to publication wait
The EFL all-club meeting planned for later this month has been postponed while officials await publication of the Government’s White Paper on the introduction of an independent regulator. The document was set to form a significant part of the agenda for the first club meeting this year. The summit will be rearranged once details of the policy are known.
Score to survive?
Premier League clubs were briefed by Sky Sports director of football Gary Hughes at a meeting last week.
Hughes told them that the Netflix smash-hit Drive to Survive had skyrocketed F1 viewing figures and captured the holy grail of audiences — women and the under-35s.
Average viewing figures for each Grand Prix are above those for Premier League matches, although the bigger top-flight games still attract higher numbers. Some believe a similar series going behind the scenes at every club across a whole season is an inevitability. Which broadcaster would produce such a programme remains to be seen. Enterprising officials at some clubs are wondering if the right to produce a series could be sold separately from the traditional live matches TV packages.
