Football Partnerships

FIFA and the World Anti-Doping Agency are set to team up on an anti-doping project to test Europe’s top soccer players for banned drugs. FIFA medical chief Jiri Dvorak said Saturday that a blood-profiling scheme similar to cycling’s biological passport could start trials next month. FIFA boss Sepp Blatter and WADA president John Fahey will meet this month to discuss the project.

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By Rob Harris

Heavily indebted Premier League clubs Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool were accused by a British parliamentary committee Monday of engaging in “financial doping.”

In 27 recommendations at the end of a yearlong inquiry, legislators urged England’s soccer authorities to curb “ludicrous levels of borrowing” and the use of profits to service large debts.

The All Party Parliamentary Football Group is calling for heavy scrutiny of business plans ahead of any club takeovers, echoing the agenda of soccer’s world governing body FIFA.

The group also backed FIFA’s “six-plus-five rule” that would impose limits on foreign players, urging the British government to lobby the European Union to overlook its treaties on free movement.

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