Football Partnerships

By Alex Kotler

How Revolting!

Manchester United supporters, outraged by the club’s spiraling debt load, have recruited Keith Harris, a football finance specialist and broker, to lead a possible takeover bid.

“You sense that the momentum is gathering and this time these fans truly mean it,” he told the BBC in a recent interview. A United fan for 50 years, Harris is known for the sale of Chelsea FC to Roman Abramovich and Aston Villa FC to Randy Lerner.

The most important question, though, Harris pointed out explicitly: “What you don’t know is whether the Glazers can be made to listen.” Can they and should they?

Watch the Keith Harris interview

LA Sol eclipsed

After one year of operation, Women’s Professional Soccer club and 2009 runner-up LA Sol folded, following failed attempts by the league to sell the team.

Apparently, two original ownership groups pulled out mid-year, leaving LA Galaxy owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to run the team until season’s end.

As the league heads into its second term, in which two new teams will join - the Atlanta Beat and the Philadelphia Independence - one cannot help but remember the fate of the now defunct WUSA. Surely we mustn’t let players like Marta find other leagues in which to flourish, right?

Read Nick Green’s take

But what I meant to say was…

The oft-criticized president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, has clarified comments which seemed to point to Europe as the preferred choice and likely destination for World Cup 2018.

“I said it’s a possibility only if other associations do not bid. It is not a decision for the executive committee to change that right of every association to bid for a World Cup,” Blatter was quoted by news agency Reuters.

Perhaps, like the fans of Manchester United, we should all revolt against the conspiracy of the misquoting media.

Lubing up for 2010

Castrol has reached an with UEFA to be an official sponsor of UEFA EURO 2012, set to be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

Awarded with a worldwide rights package for the duration of the tournament, Castrol will provide insight into performances via the Castrol Index, a system that uses playercam technology to analyze and compare the performance of each player throughout the competition.

Grease your wheels in euFootball.biz

The ridiculosity of it all

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that Togo will be banned from the next two Africa Cup of Nations and fined $50,000 due to the team’s withdrawal from this year’s tournament held in Angola.

Readers will remember that the Togolese team was attacked at gunpoint and fired upon. Three people died during the affair, and more were left injured and shaken.

Such a ban is more ridiculous than even the word ridiculosity.

Read more in the Epoch Times

By Alex Kotler

Let’s go to the videotape! Really.

FIFA, global football’s governing body, has revealed that it will consider the merits of goal line technology at an upcoming meeting in March. Video replay would not, however, be implemented in time for this summer’s 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Speaking to Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick, FIFA President Sepp Blatter admitted that he is “not absolutely against it,” and that “if the technology is ready to adopt, then [FIFA would be] in agreement.”

Perhaps the Irish will then have reason to thank the French and adore Thierry Henry.

Let’s get feasible…. Let me hear somebody talk

According to today’s Soccerex Business Daily, the Maryland Stadium Authority will conduct a $100,000 feasibility study to determine whether or not MLS side DC United should consider relocating to Baltimore where a 17,000-20,000 capacity soccer specific stadium would be constructed.

The Maryland Stadium Authority has previously evaluated the economic benefits of locating a Major League Soccer stadium in Prince George’s County.

Will DC United fans approve of having their team relocated?

View the results of the Prince George’s County study

Glazers vs. Sliders

Despite a spirited protest by its supporters outside of Old Trafford, English Premier League side Manchester United have successfully raised £500 million through a bond issue. The move will cost the club £54 million, according to newspaper reports.

To put the expense in perspective, fans could enjoy over 103 million White Castle sliders (with cheese) for the value of the debt issuance.

Eurosport to partner with the WPSL

Eurosport, one of the world’s best known soccer merchandise and apparel companies, has joined Molten as an official partner of the Women’s Premier Soccer League.

The deal will see Eurosport increase its presence on all WPSL digital properties, including team and league pages. The facilitator of the deal, Cheryl Stokes, who is currently President of the Maine Tide, will now serve as Director of Business Development & Sponsorships for the league.

Learn more about the WPSL.

Putting an Arena in the Hall

Former US National Team Coach and current Coach and General Manager of MLS side LA Galaxy Bruce Arena has been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame as a Builder.

Arena led the University of Virginia to five titles, DC United to two, guided the US men to the best finish in 72 years at the 2002 World Cup and guided the LA Galaxy to last year’s MLS final.

Learn more about Arena’s achievement.

By Nathaniel E. Baker

Tom Hopper’s The Damned United is a fun British sports drama based on David Pearce’s novel of the same name. Starring Michael Sheen as Brian Clough, the film opens in select U.S. theaters today (it already ran in the U.K. and Ireland). It tells the story of Clough’s tumultuous 44 days in charge of Leeds United in 1974.

Read the rest of the article

Courtesy of Currencies Direct Limited

Christiano Ronaldo’s proposed transfer to Real Madrid was announced on the day the pound hit its highest level against the euro for six months - and until the paperwork is signed and sealed every rise will costing the Spanish club more money.

The pound hit 1.17 euros last Thursday, up from lows of 1.07 in January. Currency experts calculate that each cent the euro falls will cost the Spaniards an extra one million euros.

The £80million price the two clubs have agreed would have cost Real Madrid €83 million in January when the pound was much weaker, but at today’s exchange rate the same sterling amount will cost Real Madrid €93 million.

Mark O’Sullivan, Director of Dealing at UK foreign exchange firm, Currencies Direct, said: “While the Ronaldo deal is good news for Real Madrid supporters, the accountants at the Bernabeu will be sweating until the paperwork is all signed and sealed.

“Ronaldo’s price in January 2009 was 83 million euros. Today it is 93 million euros and rising, and this will have a tremendous impact on Real Madrid’s plans to amortise this investment.

“This deal highlights the fact that the final price of a player like Ronaldo is very much decided by the currency markets and not always in the board rooms of football clubs - though who would put it past a canny Scot like Sir Alex Ferguson to take all this into consideration too!”

Mr O’Sullivan added: “This is a double edge sword for British clubs. From one hand those that didn’t buy in the January transfer window will find that sterling has appreciated 20% against the EURO since then, thus increasing their buying power.

“However if they are looking to sell players into Europe the strength of sterling means they may have to drop the player’s price to close the deal. Currency volatility not only affects the transfer price but all other elements around the deal: agents fees, commercial rights and players salary.”

Thank you to Currencies Direct Limited for this article

Manchester United accepted a world-record transfer offer for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid on Thursday, clearing the FIFA player of the year to negotiate terms with the Spanish club.

The Premier League champions said it received an unconditional offer of 80 million pounds, or $131 million, for the 24-year-old midfielder. Unlike last offseason, Manchester United is willing to allow the Portuguese star to join a major European rival seeking to build a new era of “Galacticos.”

Read the rest of the article