Arsenal investor Usmanov asks Kroenke to reveal plans

A spokesman for Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has called on fellow Arsenal shareholder Stan Kroenke to reveal his intentions for the club.

On Monday, US billionaire Mr Kroenke raised his stake to almost 30% - the point at which he would be forced to make an offer for the whole club.

A spokesman for Mr Usmanov's Red and White Holdings said Mr Kroenke should say if he intends to launch a takeover.

"Mr Kroenke has never taken the opportunity to reassure the fans and it would be good for the club's stability if he were to do so," the spokesman told the BBC.

Mr Kroenke bought 25 more shares in Arsenal this week for £212,500, or £8,500 a share, and is within 17 shares of the threshold that would force a takeover bid.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8427031.stm

I AM GONNA BE ON NEO CRICKET!!!

unbelievable !!! just on Friday i posted that i have not won any thing in the intel inventor competition and on Saturday i got a call from NEO CRICKET saying my entry has been shortlisted.Furthermore,today a camera crew had come down to my place and i had to explain all my ideas using props and diagrams.It was really a great experience.This is going to be aired be on NEO CRICKET this week.

A five minute slot took 2 hours to shoot.Well, that's showbiz for you :)

I'll post in advance as soon as i come to know of the day and slots.

My entry in the intel sports inventor competition

I had posted earlier that Intel was running a competition where you could suggest some revolutinary changes in a sport of your choice.there was a limit of 400 words.

here's my entry

"In spite of all the big money flowing into football, incorrect referee decisions continue to dog the game. Several crucial matches have been lost due to human error. From Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ to Thierry Henry’s handball on Nov 18 which, knocked Ireland out of the 2010 world cup, the financial impact of these decisions has increased manifold over the years.

<>>

Top Deals of the week

Ticketmaster has been named an official ticketing supplier of the Football League and has become one of only four companies with 'approved ticketing supplier' status.

Wasserman Media Group will coordinate the sales process for naming rights to Tottenham Hotspur's proposed new stadium.

Advisers Media International and the Premier League have agreed a deal giving AMI exclusive broadcast and new media rights in 15 regions across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

BNP Paribas will continue its long-running sponsorship of RSC Anderlecht for the next four years after reaching a $23 million deal.

The Premier League has increased its broadcast revenue in Eastern Europe after the lucrative sale of rights for the next three seasons in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.

http://www.leadersinfootball.com/business/647/

OFFF TOPPPPPIC :It's vacation TIMMMME

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE weeee uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

woooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh

am off work from today all the way to 4th Jan..

hurrrrraaaaay

The champs league Draws are out

Inter Milan v CHELSEA
Lyon v Real Madrid
AC Milan v MANCHESTER UNITED
Olympiakos v Bordeaux
FC Porto v ARSENAL (woo hoo get in there ,son)
CSKA Moscow v Sevilla
Stuttgart v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Fiorentina


All 3 english clubs play the return league at home...my final 8 are

CHELSEA
REAL MADRID
AC MILAN ...yes i have a feeling they will upset the apple cart
Olympiakos
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARSENAL FC
Sevilla
Barca
Bayren Munich


In terms of EUROPA this is what the draws have thrown up....

EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 32 DRAW
Rubin Kazan v Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Athletic Bilbao v Anderlecht
FC Copenhagen v Marseille
Panathinaikos v Roma
Atletico Madrid v Galatasaray
Ajax v Juventus
Club Brugge v Valencia
FULHAM v Shakhtar Donetsk
LIVERPOOL v Unirea Urziceni
Hamburg v PSV
Villarreal v VfL Wolfsburg
Standard Liege v SV Red Bull Salzburg
FC Twente v Werder Bremen
Lille v Fenerbahce
EVERTON v Sporting
Hertha Berlin v Benfica

Tiger Woods: The financial impact

As expected figures have now started coming in on the Tiger drama.

News service Bloomberg has put a figure of $220m on the potential cost for the PGA Tour and Nike of the Tiger Woods scandal.

Bloomberg bases the figure on two estimates which say that, because of Woods' indiscretions and disappearance from the PGA Tour, television advertising for the PGA Tour may drop by 40 per cent and Nike stands to lose $30 million in sales.

The television advertising figure was estimated by Aaron Cohen, chief media negotiating officer at New York agency HOrizon Media. The Nike loss was estimated by Claire Gallacher, analyst at San Diego-based Capstone Investments Inc.

Test Cricket to get a face lift

About time it happened...I have stated earlier too that test cricket is definetley the real deal


International Cricket Council (ICC) has said it expects day-night test cricket within two years and described a world test cricket championship as a "work in progress".

Reuters reports that ICC president David Morgan said yesterday: "I'd be be "surprised" if we don't see day-night test cricket within the next two years - surprised and disappointed."


The test cricket world championship is a bit further away from seeing the light of day. "The test championship is best described as a work in progress," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said yesterday.

"We are aspiring to create some sort of test championships model and a working group was set up at the last chief executives' meeting on December 1 in Dubai. They will put together concepts for a test championship and we hope to consider a proposal at our next meeting in February."

Lorgat also said the ICC was aiming to reduce the amount of top level cricket matches played from next year.

Real Madrid is now a "brand"...

....and they join Liverpool and Chelsea

Real Madrid has been declared a 'Superbrand' by the independent branding arbiter Superbrands at a gala award ceremony in Madrid.

Real Madrid received the status at the Superbrands Spain event, alongside other top brands Google, Heineken, L’Oréal Paris, Bimbo, Samsung and Campofrío.

Other European football clubs to have received Superbrand awards in their own countries include Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus and Benfica

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171206/superbrand-status-awarded-to-real-madrid?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dec16

Off Topic : out of action

yes i have been out of action cause there is so much ()#$*(%&*#%()&*()&#%(*%& work
anyways...2 weeks of leave starting this weekend....and i will be updating the blog regularly through the course of my holidays

wooo hooo

~ Zaphod Beeblebrox

off topic : here's an alternate look at the tiger woods debacle

was expecting something funny from good ol' chris on this and he was bang on target

http://thefinanser.co.uk/fsclub/2009/12/tiger-woods-and-accenture.html

La Liga puts strike plan on hold

Spain’s La Liga is to intensify discussions with the government over plans to scrap tax breaks for high-earning players

Spain’s top flight football league has threatened to suspend matches following a government decision to abolish a law that allows international professionals who earn more than €600,000 ($905,000) to pay only 24 per cent tax instead of the 43 per cent charged to local citizens.

La Liga’s general assembly said recent conversations with the government indicated a compromise can be reached

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171132/la-liga-puts-strike-plan-on-hold?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dec7

Adidas hoping World Cup marketing will rally global sales

German sports apparel producer Adidas is hoping its sponsorship at the 2010 football World Cup and new products associated with the tournament will help slow sales in 2009 pick up next year.

In its latest financial statement, the Adidas Group reported Q32009 sales of $3.2 billion, down 7 per cent year-on-year. Operating profit fell 29 per cent.

The 2006 World Cup in Germany gave Adidas a huge sales surge, selling over 15 million balls around the time of the tournament. The company, which has produced the match ball for every World Cup since 1970, says pre-sales of the 2010 ball have already exceeded that volume.

Rival apparel brands Adidas, Nike and Puma compete fiercely with their respective sponsorship of the teams and players involved in the tournament. In 2008 Nike paid a reported $64 million a year to acquire the sponsorship of the French national team from 2011 to 2018, four times what Adidas was paying for the same sponsorship on a previous contract.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171130/adidas-hoping-world-cup-marketing-will-rally-global-sales?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dec7

Sliverstone to host the British Grand Prix 2010

Officials from Silverstone are holding a press conference today expected to announce that a deal has been struck with Formula One's commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone for the racing circuit to host next year's British grand prix.

According to UK newspaper reports an agreement was reached on Friday for Silverstone to host the British grand prix for a number of years from 2010.

Silverstone has been the front-runner to stage the race after Ecclestone ruled out Donington Park’s chances of hosting the race in October. The company re-developing Donington failed to show it had the £135 million funding required.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171131/silverstone-announces-british-grand-prix-future-today?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dec7

The Bayren Munich business model

While every other club in the premier league is rumoured to be taken over these days (or has already been taken over) , while real madrid screwed up the basic economics of trading and recruiting players, while the italian league is running to an empty house, the efficient German machine has been chugging along in it's typical no nonsense quite style.Last year the German FA boasted of the highest profit percentages and the maximum stadium attendance for the Bundesliga.

This week Bayren Munich announced their annual accounts for 2008 and have posted a 17th year of profits.A further testimony to the fact that the German FA is one the most forward thinking and pro-fan football association ever.

Some more facts that shows how Bayren Munich and the German FA are miles above any competition

http://www.leadersinfootball.com/column/61/



- Football is clearly recognised, in law and in action, as a national legacy; to be nourished and cherished as a loved child of the folk-family. Its cultural value is set too high to allow the outright predations of international capital to buy and sell 'ownership' of social institutions as precious as football clubs, as if they were trading baked bean factories.

This doesn't prevent significant investment in the clubs by commercial companies - but they can never own it. The Bayern Munich 'members' association is over 150,000 strong and, collectively, they own just over 80% of their club, with adidas and new investor, Audi, holding just under 10% each. Bayern were the fourth richest club in the world in 2008, generating revenues of $295m. The members group (FC Bayern München e.V.) even delivered a profit itself - nearly $1m - independently of their Club. What a thrill it must be for those member/fans to take their seats in the magnificent Allianz stadium and watch their team run out, thinking, 'this belongs to all of us..... forever'.

So what's this world cup worth ?

EDIT: my 50th post....woo hoo

Football’s 2010 World Cup will see a total of $420 million in prize money handed out, a 61-per-cent increase on the last tournament in 2006.

FIFA announced the prize money after its Executive Committee meeting on Thursday on South Africa’s Robben Island, the site of the jail where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

Bloomberg reports that the
- 2010 World Cup winner will get $30 million
- The runner-up will get $24 million,
- and all teams participating will get $1 million.


EDIT : And probably the most interesting fact.
Clubs who contribute players to teams competing in the World Cup will get $1600 per day, per player. This payment was agreed with clubs, who have promised not to pursue any claims or compensation through civil courts, but only through FIFA, or the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

At the executive meeting, FIFA also decided to keep the existing Olympics football tournament rules for the 2012 London Olympics, allowing teams to use players under 23 years old, plus three over-age players.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171117/world-cup-prize-money-420m?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dec4

Pot Luck : The world cup draws

I am sure this is all over the net but here it is on my blog

Pots for Friday's draw: eight groups of four countries to be drawn, each group containing one country from each pot.

Pot 1 (seeds): South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England

Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania and North/Central America): Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, Honduras

Pot 3 (Africa and South America): Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay

Pot 4 (Europe): France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8390084.stm

Usain Bolt to rock Delhi....EDITED

Usain Bolt will be the star attraction at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, according to Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi.

Speaking at a Sports Breakfast held alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain, Tobago, Kalmadi confirmed Bolt would take part in the October 3 to 14 event, the Times of India reports.

The announcement is a shot in the arm for the event, which has been plagued by venue construction delays and organisational problems. Kalmadi said that the preparations were on track and venues would begin to be completed by May.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171076/bolt-boost-for-2010-commonwealth-games?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nov30

****************

Edit: As per the times of india today, Mt Kalmadi has denied any such confirmations.He alleges that his words were misinterpreted by the press.He has only spoken to Bolt's agent and had invited Bolt over.

Dubai ruler continues spending on racehorses (1.95 million dollars to be precise !!!)

Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum has not let the credit crisis gripping Dubai curb his spending on racehorses, after he spent $1.95 million on eight foals at the Tattersalls sales in Newmarket, England

Bloomberg reports that the Sheikh’s main bloodstock adviser and buyer John Ferguson said: “The horse side of the business is the private enjoyment of Sheikh Mohammed, so therefore has nothing whatever to do with the government, or government funds and the restructuring.”

Ferguson said that the Sheikh Mohammed’s spending at this year’s December sale in Newmarket was around the same as last year. According to a recent report in UK newspaper The Times, the Sheikh is the biggest racehorse owner and breeder in the sport’s history, with about 700 race horses in training.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171107/dubai-ruler-continues-spending-on-racehorses?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dec3

Edit:You've got to admit the guys got guts to pull a stunt like this

Indian football seeks IPL-style revolution

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is considering inviting rich franchisees from the worlds of business and entertainment to buy its clubs in order to kickstart the growth of football in the cricket-mad country.

However, given the staggering amount of money such a project will involve, the AIFF is also keeping a third option open - which would see the existing I-League structure getting a brand-specific facelift, whereby the country's premier club tournament could be managed by a separate entity other than the AIFF, as per the AFC's Pro-League guidelines.

We had preliminary discussions with a few leading businessmen in the country and the project seems to have appealed to them,” said AIFF President Praful Patel. “Talks are also on for a media deal with a television company interested in broadcasting the event. But we don't want to jump the gun and are keeping several options open.”


http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171101/indian-football-seeks-ipl-style-revolution?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dec2

Watford chairman Jimmy Russo loans £1m to stay afloat

Watford chairman Jimmy Russo has loaned the club's parent company £1m for the club to survive the next month.

Russo paid the loan to Watford Leisure PLC on Friday but a statement to the Stock Exchange revealed they need £5.5m more to continue until the end of June.

The current loan will only be enough to cover the holding company's cash needs until 22 December.

The Hornets could need to sell players in January, with England under-21 keeper Scott Loach likely to leave.

If more funding is not available to the club, the board is expected to seek a suspension of trading in Watford Leisure's shares on the Alternative Investment Market.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/watford/8387626.stm

Man City biggest contributor to £70m EPL agents' bill

Manchester City paid nearly £13 million to agents in year to end-September 2009, the most out of the English Premier League clubs.

Man City topped the list of clubs, which was published by the Premier League yesterday, with £12,874,283. Next was Chelsea, with £9,562,223, followed by Liverpool (£6,657,305), Tottenham Hotspur (£6,066,935), and West Ham United (£5,527,548). Champions Manchester United were well down the list on £1,517,393.

UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph said the payments represented just over 10 per cent of the clubs' total spending on player purchases in the January and Summer 2009 transfer windows. The clubs spent £682.3 million in those windows.
The payments covered fees paid to agents by clubs on behalf of themselves, and on behalf of players, when acquiring players and renegotiating contracts with players; fees relating to previous transactions that were amortised over the length of a player’s contract; and fees to facilitate the outward transfer of players.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171086/man-city-biggest-contributor-to-70m-epl-agents-bill?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dec1

Editor : Not surprising that my beloved Arsenal has not even been mentioned here considering the stingy Mr.Wenger :)

2010. Is South Africa ready ?

The chief executive of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Dr Danny Jordaan, has a lot on his plate at the moment.

So how is he feeling?

"I am feeling the tension," he says.

"But it is an extremely exciting time ahead of the World Cup draw - I am always on the go."

Preparations on track?

"We are happy with the state of World Cup preparations," he says, seated amongst the flowing plants of the plush lobby.

"Most of the construction of stadiums is now complete, and work on the perimeter of stadiums is now being carried out.

"We feel comfortable that everything at stadiums will be ready early next year, in fact we are now testing stadium capabilities, for example there was a game in Durban at the weekend."

When Fifa carried out its assessment report of progress following the Confederations Cup this summer it gave South Africa an overall rating of 7.5 out of 10.

"We are expecting roughly 450,000 supporters from around the world to come to South Africa next year, and we know they need a bed to sleep in and transport to and from venues," he says.

"The World Cup draw on Friday will help us to fine-tune our accommodation and transportation.

"Once the fixtures are revealed we will know what is required in each venue city. For example the demand to see North Korea play New Zealand will be less than for an England game."

However, he says that the organising committee has already decided it needs 1,000 more buses and 200 more aircraft.


Budget review

The organising committee had previously estimated a budget of 3.2bn rand (£263m, $431m) to run the World Cup, but he now admits they are "probably 10% over what we envisaged as our budget".

"We have been impacted by the global economic circumstances like everyone," he points out.

"We have to look at the budget further and carry out a final review, and are now engaged in that, but it does seem that there will be some budget over-runs."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8387006.stm

BMW sells Sauber back to founder

German car manufacturer BMW has provisionally agreed to sell its BMW Sauber Formula 1 team back to team founder Peter Sauber.

The move comes after BMW cancelled plans to sell to Qadbank Investments

Sauber, who retained a 20% stake in the team when he sold it to BMW in 2005, will take complete control if they are allowed to race next season.

The sport's governing body, the FIA, is yet to confirm the team as the 13th entry for next season - the official entry list will be published on Monday, 30 November - but it is likely that Sauber's entry will be accepted given its history and reputation in the sport

BMW announced in July that they were pulling out of F1 and agreed a deal to sell the team to Swiss-based Qadbank in September.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8382659.stm

Qadbank, through their Munto Finance Company, has also bought England's oldest professional football club Notts County.

Dubai : The recession gets uglier

From my fav blogger, Chris Skinner

***

People have talked about an L-shaped, U-shaped, V-shaped or even LUV-shaped recessions, but don’t believe them.

This is not a LUVerly recession, it’s a nasty one as demonstrated yesterday by the news that Dubai is deeply in distress.

The UAE's news will make this the internet, or WWW-recession

For the past three months Dubai's leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has always said there are no issues. He has adamantly claimed that he has made no mistakes and any rumours of issues between Dubai and Abu Dhabi are unfounded and the scaremongers should just "shut up".


So yesterday ends with everyone disappearing for the religious holiday of Eid al-Adha for a week in the Region - it finishes on December 1st - what does the Sheikh do?

Oh, he just says that the $80 billion worth of debt may be in doubt (btw, it’s probably twice that amount as that’s just hte official numbers) and could they postpone their mortgage payments on DP World and Nakheel, the two largest firms in Dubai.

DP World owns P&O (controversial buyout in March 2006) whilst Nakheel are the developers of the Palm Resort where David Beckman and other stars own properties.

Read on

http://thefinanser.co.uk/fsclub/2009/11/this-is-the-internet-or-wwwrecession.html

Top deals of the week

Adidas will continue to supply kit for Belgian club Anderlecht after renewing their long-running deal for another two years.

Ligue 1 club Auxerre has finalized a two-year shirt sponsorship agreement with French desserts producer Senoble.

Arsenal has extended its agreement with performance analysis company Prozone for another season, its tenth.

Beximco, a Bangladeshi industrial group, has pledged its support for the South Asian Football Federation Championship, which will include international sides from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan and hosts Bangladesh.

courtesy of : http://www.leadersinfootball.com/business/627/

Off Topic : Really, Really off topic

Right, i've just had one of those "instant insanity" attacks i am famous in my mind for

This one deals with languages ..... i also blame the fact that for the past one month all i've been reading and listening to is the hitchiker's guide to the galaxyva

First i had this absolute crazy spell of Punjabi a couple of years back...both me and a friend could not speak Punjabi but we just used to add nonsensical words...it became a disease ...he has now moved onto another company(thank god) but whenever we meet up we always talk funny...

for example " I want to put my shirt in the washing machine" became " oh mainu wich sada naal shirt washing da machine main dalenda"

or "i think my manager is gonna really get pissed off with this bug i have created"
became " sadda naal manager mundya vich bahut marenda...munyda ne ganda bug intoroduce kiyenda"

Unfortunatley for my wife she is Punjabi....so sometimes when i want to irritate her i talk like this. Crazy i know....but i am not sorry...i blame the world we live in.


Now recently on one of TV programs i heard a bhojpuri version of jack and jill.....then the football group i am part of flipped on this and everything started ending in "va".

so anything i writva now for no reasonva or rhymeva seems to end in va.There is also some patternva in the way the va is added at the end of each wordva.

i just hope that this is not another long phaseva.i cannot bear to talkva funny anymore.

this again is becoming part of my systemva...i gotta get it out of me ....

hopefully this phaseva will die downva.pray for me

- one loveva

Liverpool's CL knockout : the financial impplications

So liverpool got knocked out of the CL...what does this mean financially ?

Read on for some nifty stats ....

http://expresssport.blogspot.com/2009/11/liverpools-champs-league-exit-financial_27.html

Audi to buy stake in Bayern Munich

German car maker Audi is to acquire a 9.09 per cent stake of Bundesliga club Bayern Munich in a three-step process between March 2010 and July 2011

Audi, which has been Bayern’s automotive partner since 2002, will purchase 2.5 million shares at a total price of €90 million ($135.64 million).

Bayern Munich AG is the sole owner of the Allianz Arena and the deal will help the club pay off the stadium, according to the Associated Press.
Sports apparel company adidas owns 10 per cent of Bayern.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171053/audi-to-buy-stake-in-bayern-munich?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nov27

3 tests going on and...

.....all 3 seem to be heading for a result.I think it's absolutley brilliant.
Test match cricket is the only type of cricket i really follow.

New Zealand Vs Pakistan, Australia Vs West Indies and India Vs Srilanka all most probably will end with a victory for one team.

Considering as per a recent poll that test cricket interest in India is at a paltry 7% i think eliminating draws is the first step to bringing up the popularity.

Everton stadium plan rejected by government

Liverpool-based Premier League club Everton's plan to construct a 50,000-seat stadium in Kirkby has been rejected by the UK government because of the "negative impact" of the development on surrounding areas

The proposed £150 million stadium was to be the centrepiece of a huge retail development in Kirkby, a scheme driven by the supermarket company Tesco. However communities secretary John Denham is believed to have decided the impact of the retail park on neighbouring areas - with local authorities in Liverpool, St Helens and Sefton all objecting - outweighed the regeneration benefits for Kirkby.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171048/everton-stadium-plan-rejected-by-government?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nov26

Off topic : Why is the Real Madrid Vs Barcelona game considered a derby ?

Madrid and Barcelona are nearly 630 Kms away.Historically, derbies are when two teams from the same city ( or in close proximity) lock horns.So why is the 'el Classico' considered a derby.

A brilliantly written article from the BBC that sets up the big match on Sunday night

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philminshull/2009/11/why_el_clasico_is_the_biggest_derby_of_them_all.html

We here in India will of course miss what could go onto to be the game of the footballing year since ESPN Star could not get rights to telecast the la liga

Another potential WTF ?

9th Jun 2008

Alexandre Song has signed a new "long-term contract" with Arsenal.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/7444087.stm

25 November 2009 (today)

Arsenal midfielder Alexandre Song has signed a new long-term contract that will run until 2014.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8378745.stm

Europe's football finances 2007/08 (click on images to see full screen)

an old article from the BBC but a brilliant read

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8081000.stm

Kroenke almost there with the Arsenal FC takeover

Arsenal director Stan Kroenke has moved to the brink of the threshold where he would have to make an offer for the entire stockholding of the club.
The US billionaire has bought another 200 shares in Arsenal's holding company, at £8,500 each, taking his shareholding to 29.9%.

Mr Kroenke bought 100 of the shares from Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood.
He is nearing the 29.99% threshold, beyond which he would be forced to make an offer for the remaining shares

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8343943.stm

Indian cricket sponsorship receives “lukewarm response”

The Indian the Cricket Board may be forced to reduce the base price for its major sponsorship deal after no companies bid before the November 23 deadline, following a tender released last month.

The BCCI’s sponsorship deal with Sahara ends this year. The board's tender, which offered a company the four-year major sponsorship of India’s four national teams, including the flagship men's squad, received no bids before Monday’s deadline.
It is believed the high base price was responsible for the lukewarm response and the Board will re-look at the price.
“The best bet will be to renegotiate with Sahara at the current price or maybe slightly lower, or re-tender at a lower base price. We have not taken a final decision on this,” said a BCCI source.

The BCCI had also announced in the tender notice that the bid forms would cost Rs five lakh ($10,800) each and the amount would be non-refundable.


http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171042/indian-cricket-sponsorship-receives-lukewarm-response?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nov25

How refreshing is this ?

Wigan's players are to personally refund Latics fans who bought tickets at the DW Stadium for the 9-1 hammering at Tottenham on Sunday

"We feel that as a group of players we badly let down our supporters yesterday," said Wigan captain Mario Melchiot via the official club website.
"This is a gesture we have to make and pay them back for their loyalty."

Refunds must be claimed on or before Friday 4th December 2009.
"The players have asked me not to release details of the amount [they will be repaying] but they wanted to make the gesture," Wigan's head of media and publications Ed Jones told BBC Radio 5 live.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/wigan_athletic/8374893.stm

FIFA to hold extraordinary general meeting

FIFA, football’s world governing body, has announced an extraordinary general meeting in Cape Town on December 2 to discuss a series of pressing matters.

> Thierry Henry's handball in the World Cup play-off game against Ireland,
> the discovery of a match-fixing ring by German police and
>trouble surrounding the Algeria-Egypt qualifier are all expected to be on the agenda.

The executive committee was already due to meet on December 3 on Robben Island to discuss the draw to be held the following day.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171027/fifa-to-hold-extraordinary-general-meeting?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nov24

Come on Sepp...give us some concrete decisions...

off topic : i share my birthday with....

- Arundhati Roy
- Ian Botham

but very interstingly with Ted Bundy ...the notorious serial killer ...woo hoo

British GP facing final deadline

Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone says the fate of the British Grand Prix will be decided at a meeting on 9 December.

That is when the F1 Commission, which regulates the sport, is due to convene to rubber-stamp the 2010 race calendar.

"At the moment there is no British Grand Prix," Ecclestone told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek programme.

Donington Park was set to host the British GP but was seemingly ruled out after failing to show it had the necessary £135m funding

But the focus is still on Silverstone, which has yet to agree financial terms and faces a warning from the sport that it must modernise its facilities in order to host the event again.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8371266.stm

For once a politician backs his words...

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor has made good on his vow to clean the national football team's boots after a World Cup play-off victory over Russia.
"I just cleaned the players' shoes - but I admit I did not clean them thoroughly," Mr Pahor told TV Slovenia.
Last month, he promised to carry out the task if Slovenia managed to win the play-offs to secure a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8368458.stm

FIFA World Cup draws : the basics

My friend has made some very interesting observations in his blog about the world cup draws

http://expresssport.blogspot.com/2009/11/2010-fifa-world-cup-final-draw-whats-in.html

Well December 4th is the day and it's live on ESPNSTAR here in in India

Le Hand of Th14- Part 4 (images from the BBC)

Le hand Of TH14 - Part 3

And here are some reactions from the BBC

"I played with Thierry Henry for six years at Arsenal and I can assure you he was as honest as the day is long.Like Maradona, he knew exactly what he was doing and, for the Thierry I know, that is out of character but people will look at his handball in the build-up to France's extra-time equaliser, which sent them to South Africa with a 2-1 aggregate victory, and say he's cheated.

We've all done it on the pitch - the ball's gone past you, you're out of position, you stick your arm out, concede a free-kick and sometimes a yellow card. So I'm not surprised at all he stuck his arm out in the first place. That is not blatant cheating. But the second part, when he scooped the ball back, is the deliberate bit and that's what will taint his reputation"

- Lee Dixon, ex- Arsenal


"In 15 years of knowing him, he has behaved magnificently. I haven't seen him do anything badly wrong in his whole career so we can allow him one mistake.
It's similar to the situation with Zinedine Zidane - he's been sent off 14 times, some for things a normal person in the street might be in prison for. We always found an excuse for Zidane so why can't we find one for Thierry as well?
If this happened at the other end of the pitch for Robbie Keane, I'm sure he would have done the same. "

- Emannuel Petit, ex-Arsenal


"France were there for the taking and Ireland didn't do it. Same old story."
The Irishman, who made 65 appearances for the Republic as a player, continued: "If I'd been there in the dressing room after the game, I wouldn't be talking about the handball. I'd focus on why the defenders didn't clear it. They should've cleared it.
"I'd be more annoyed with my defenders and my goalkeeper than Thierry Henry. How can you let the ball bounce in your six-yard box? How can you let Thierry Henry get goal-side of you? If the ball goes into the six-yard box, where the hell is my goalkeeper?
"These are skills and lessons you learn as a schoolboy.
"Ireland had their chances in the two games and they never took them. They had chances at Croke Park (in the first leg) and they had chances on Wednesday.

- Roy Keane, Manchester United Legend



General Public Reaction from the BBC

"The clamour to award the Irish a replay will however open up a whole can of worms. Do England get a second chance for Diego's Hand of God? Do Spurs get a replay for Pedro Mendes' 'goal' at Old Trafford? Do the Welsh get another go following Joe Jordan's handball at Anfield in 1977?"

Anon via text: "Earlier in the game, Robbie Keane blatantly used his arm to control the ball. If he'd scored as a result, Ireland would be through. He was caught, Henry wasn't. So Ireland just aren't as good at cheating as the French. Try harder next time."

"The only person(s) who can be held responsible for this travesty is the referee and his linesman. 'If the ref don't blow get on with the show'."

Francois Bayrou, a former candidate for the French presidency: "In an ideal world, the match should be played again. I saw the match and like a lot of people I wasn't very proud, and like everyone else I asked why don't we have a video match official. It works in rugby and it works very well."

Leading French politician, Philippe De Villiers: "Raymond Domenech should express his public regrets and show a gesture of dignity towards Ireland. The moral of this match is that you can cheat as long as you don't get caught. The France team is going to be labelled for years as a team of cheats."

Stephen Fottrell, BBC News with Irish fans in Paris: "Wherever we go, the French are looking at us in an apologetic, embarrassed way. People at the hotel, cabbies, waiters - they are all pleased to be at the World Cup but sorry for how it happened. We've had them coming up, shaking our hands and saying 'We are ashamed'. When you pick up the papers here, it's obvious - the French robbed Ireland."

We knew in the stadium something was wrong. There were no replays inside but there was such a protest from the players, something was up. Shay Given's such a gent, so for him to go mad it was obvious. Following the game, there was a bottleneck waiting to get into the station and the fans were just chanting 'cheat, cheat, cheat'. Everybody still went out and still really enjoyed the night but they were gutted, devastated."

Former France international David Ginola on BBC Radio 5 Live: "I'm very embarrassed by the situation. I don't feel very proud to be French this morning. The Irish played very well and they deserved to go through as much as France, maybe more. I'm very surprised Fifa haven't mentioned anything about it - the whole world saw the handball. This is a pure injustice. Everyone in France, the press and everyone, says there should be a replay."

Le Hand of TH14 - Part Two

Here is some snippets of news which traces the time line of this controversy

1. The Match Result

The Republic of Ireland suffered cruellest of World Cup exits as France went through with a goal which should have been disallowed for handball.
Thierry Henry clearly handled before playing the ball for William Gallas to score the equaliser which saw France win the play-off 2-1 on aggregate.

The debate will rage on about the goal that took France to the 2010 finals in South Africa and how the officials failed to spot such a blatant handball and will likely reignite the debate about video technology being introduced.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8367418.stm

2. FAI decides to put in a request for a playoff to FIFA

3. FIFA rejects the plea and Irish hearts are broken

Fifa has refused the Football Association of Ireland's request for a replay of France's World Cup play-off win over the Republic of Ireland.A Fifa statement read: "The result will not be changed and cannot be replayed."
And the French Football Federation (FFF) has no intention of proposing a replay, BBC sport has learned.
With Fifa having rejected the Republic's plea, it was thought Ireland's only hope was if France themselves came forward and backed plans for a replay - but the FFF believes such a notion to be a nonstarter, BBC Sport understands.

Even politician's got into the act

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen called on Fifa, football's world governing body, to order a replay, saying he would raise the issue with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a Brussels summit.
But France's Prime Minister Francois Fillon responded that the Irish government should not interfere in footballing decisions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8368100.stm

Le Hand of TH14

Once again after so many years it's a hand that's hogging the headlines. Last time it was Maradona against England this time it's Thierry Henry against the Irish.

The background is that TH14 apparantley handled the ball before he passed it onto Gallas who went onto score a goal that effectively blew up Ireland's chances of playing in the world cup 2011.

I saw the goal and i think Ireland had a case.In my book there should have been a replay.Some people wanted Henry banned but would that really do justice to Ireland ?
The game of football has been crying out for technical advancements.Imagine the fact that 2 people( the referee and linesman) have caused 4 years of planning and investment to come to naught.

Intel Sport's inventor competition

Intel is running a competition where by you can propose some futuristic improvments in various sports

The site is http://www.cricketnirvana.com/sportsinventor/submit_idea.aspx


i submitted my entry today.....i seriously hope i win a laptop\

in either case i will post my entry once the results are made official

Dudu signs a new deal with Arsenal FC

Arsenal striker Eduardo has signed a new long-term contract at the club.

"I am very pleased to have signed a new long contract with the club," he said.

"I'm very happy and I hope to stay at Arsenal for as long as I can. This period is good for me now. I feel strong in my body and I feel ready to play 90 minutes every three days if it's needed."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/8367304.stm

WTF for today

Derby County midfielder Robbie Savage suffered embarrassment after turning up at an airport where his side were due to fly to Amsterdam for a friendly with his wife's passport

WTF moment of the season

During the Chelsea - Man U game there was a dude in the stands who was brushing his teeth !!!
I mean it might have been 5 PM and just behind Carlo Ancelloti this guy in a leather jacket and shades is brushing his teeth at Stamford Bridge !!!!

WTF !!!!

Spanish League faces strike fears

Players in Spain's La Liga could take strike action over a planned tax hike for its top-earning foreign stars.
The government wants to raise the rate for overseas players earning more than 600,000 euros from 24% to 43% in 2010


The Liga de Futbol Professional (LFP) argues the increase will stop leading players from coming to La Liga. But the government argues that it is promoting "tax equality" in a recession which has seen unemployment levels in Spain approaching 20%.

Its proposal would amend the so-called "Beckham Law", named after the England midfielder and former Real Madrid player. The law was approved in 2002 to make hiring foreign high-earners in all fields easier, and to make Spain more attractive to the specially qualified or skilled.

The new measure, to be implemented on 1 January, will not affect foreign players already in Spain such as Real's Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka or Barcelona's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8345593.stm

Primer on football club take overs

From the BBC


-Once someone reaches a 30% shareholding in a company they are deemed by the Takeover Panel to have "effective control" of the firm and must then make an offer for the remaining shares

- The price offered cannot be lower than the highest price the offerer has paid for shares in the firm in the previous 12 months

- If, after the offer has been made, the offerer has more than 50% of the shares they are deemed to have been successful in their takeover and legally in control
If an offer is unsuccessful and the 50% shareholding level is not breached then the offerer cannot come back with another takeover attempt for 12 months, unless invited to do so by the company

Football club debt targeted by new UEFA rules

Michel Platini, president of UEFA, has said European football’s governing body will next week begin creating new rules to regulate clubs’ finances.

Full article : http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/170861/football-club-debt-targeted-by-new-uefa-rules?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nov04

Stan Kronke to rule Arsenal FC ?

US businessman and sports team owner Stan Kroenke has increased his stake in English Premier League club Arsenal to 29.6 per cent, just 0.4 per cent short of that required to force an obligatory takeover bid for the club

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/170858/kroenke-ups-arsenal-stake?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nov04

As a die hard supporter of the club i think Kronke is a better person to takeover the gunners than his immediatte competitor Usmanov. Unlike the American investors in a few other EPL clubs i find Kronke quite genuine.I read a couple of his interviews and you get the feeling that he is indeed trying to pave a way for the club where by he is able to balance the finance and the trophies. I think he is also got a very good working relationship with Arsene Wenger.

So all in all...good news if you support the red and white

Edit: The following statement was released by Plus Markets this morning:

On 4th November 2009, Arsenal Holdings plc (the "Company") received notification that on 4th November 2009 KSE, UK, Inc ("KSE"), a company controlled by Stan Kroenke, a Director of the Company, acquired 200 ordinary shares of £1.00 each in the Company ("Shares"), at a price of £8,500 per Share.
Following the acquisition, Stan Kroenke has a beneficial interest in, and controls voting rights over, 18,594 Shares, representing 29.9% of the issued Shares. 100 of the Shares acquired by KSE were sold by Peter Hill-Wood, the Chairman of the Company.Following the sale, Peter Hill-Wood has a beneficial interest in, and controls voting rights over, 400 Shares, representing 0.6% of the issued Shares.

My old man's view on the India- Aussie series

My dad is an ardent fan of cricket.There are very few people i have met in my life with his indepth knowledge of the game.Today he asked me to post this on my blog so here goes.

"This is about the ongoing 7 match one day series between india and Australia.First of all why play 7 matches.Australian coach Tim Neilsen and skipper Ponting become wiser after 4 games have been played by stating that it is all for TV & media rights.If they feel so strongly now why did they not give their opinion to Cricket Australia before this tour was finalized and put their foot down.But they won't as if they had Neilsen would not have got his booty and Ponting's place in the KKR team for the IPL 2010 edition would be in doldrums.Even a die hard cricket fan like me finds this series as too long,boring and possibly going the India way 4-3.It is 2-2 now.On 5th Novemeber it will become 3-2 in favour of one team.in the 6th game it might become 3-3.And in the final game in Mumbai India will in all probability will win a "cliffhanger" to "clinch" the series 4-3 and the cricket mad Indian public will burst crackers till beyond midnight and disturb the peace of old and sick people and the poor dogs"

The most influential person in the global sports sector in 2009

My favourite website ran a survey to identify who was the most influential person in sports for 2009

you can view the results at
http://www.sportbusiness.com/poll/vote-now-for-sports-most-influential-2009?utm_source=sbisbi&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=09JMIP/01a

Though i think just 500 people or so voted ,the list makes a good reading.

Spurs submit Application for new stadium

London-based Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur has submitted planning application for its new stadium in hope to be playing there by 2012.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/170802/spurs-stadium-plans-move-step-closer?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oct27

Courtesy: www.sportsbusiness.com

For England and Fabio the road does not end with the world Cup 2010

At the moment Fabio Cappelo and England supporters might be totally focussed on the upcoming world cup in South Africa in 2010. But a look at the ages of the players in the squad will make you realize that the road won't end in South Africa.

Agbonlahor, Gabriel 23
Barry, Gareth 28
Beckham, David 34
Bridge, Wayne M. 29
Brown, Wesley M. 30
Cahill, Gary J. 23
Carrick, Michael 28
Cole, Ashley 28
Cole, Carlton M. 25
Crouch, Peter J. 28
Ferdinand, Rio G. 30
Foster, Benjamin A. 26
Gerrard, Steven G. 29
Green, Robert P. 29
Hart, C. Joseph J. 22
Heskey, Emile W. 31
James, David B. 39
Johnson, Glen M. 25
Lampard, Frank J. 31
Lennon, Aaron J. 22
Lescott, Joleon P. 27
Milner, James P. 4 23
Robinson, Paul W. 29
Rooney, Wayne M. 23
Terry, John G. 28
Upson, Matthew J. 30
Wright-Phillips, Shaun C. 27

In fact by the 2014 world Cup more than half this squad would have retired ( or else would be too old to play, not everyone can be a Beckham)including the likes of Stevie G, Lamps, Terry who are lynchpins of the current team. Additionally, England would lose poachers like owen , hesky and the experience of rio,upson, robinson,james ( if he plays at 43 it would be a miracle)

Most probably Rooney would be made captain but a study of the current crop of English players in the EPL would make one realize that the 2010 team would leave some big boots to be filled.
So for Fabio and England post the 2010 world cup it's going to be a long and winiding road till 2014. We might start seeing Fabio in attendance at Second division games as well post 2010 !!!.

Real MAdrid V AC Milan...tonight !!!!

hopefully is a good game....CR9 won't be playing today cause he is injured.

For people in India, Champ's league is the only time when we get to see the la liga clubs

Unfortunatley for us ESPN-STAR did not win the TV rights to telecast the la liga games..

Most probably i think the Spanish clubs have jacked up the telecast rights which ESS could not afford.

A huge market for sports business in India ? Here's proof

Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell has warned Delhi it faces a major challenge to be ready to host next year's games.

Last month Fennell criticised the Indian organisers, saying construction delays posed a serious threat to the games

International experts are to be brought in to assist the Indians in areas such as logistics, ticketing and operations.

Courtesy: http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/170698/fennell-india-behind-schedule-for-commonwealth-games?utm_source=sbinsl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oct13


Begs the question that do we have well qualified people here who understand and have studied subjects like crowd safety, logistics, stadium promotion / construction, what it takes to fill up stadiums etc....Looking at where we are with the CWG does not look to be the case.
Pune, hosted the youth CWG just last year and we were in the same state with 2 months to go.Then there were was a crash and burn type approach used and we just about met the deadlines.Some of the targets that were set were never met. A failure in execution and of course the budget was seriously overrun by the time the games reached here.the same thing has happened in Delhi as well.A successful project is one which meets all the given requirements withing the preset time line and budget.Everything else is a failure.

Sports management like any other subject requires the study of a strong body of work as well as valuable experience and guidance.That statement in bold above clearly shows that there are experts abroad while we don't have any job profiles in the areas mentioned.
Considering our place in cricket and the fact that we are trying to promote sports like hockey,football,volleyball etc. we need to host a lot of 'successful' tournaments.

The CWG in Delhi is definitely not a trend setter....


Edit: As an afterthought. I had recently gone to watch an i-league football match between Pune FC and East Bengal at the balewadi stadium.Just as half time approached there was a heavy shower and because of the way the stadium has been made the rains actually started pouring on the 8000 odd people who were present there.The crowd then started going helter skelter in search of some dry patch ( me included ) . But there were none.Not only did all the people get wet but if the 8000 was 12000 this could have been a serious threat in terms of a stampede.

Off Topic : Election Day tommorow

It's election day here in Pune tommorow and though we are working i am gonna be going to cast my vote befoew work...pity i know nothing about the canidates.

Sports Illustrated Comes to India

...yup...the mag is finally here..

Just got a copy over the weekend...priced at a cool 100 rupees the magazine comes in a real glossy finish...some of the snaps are really good...specially the one of Ade kneeling in front of the Arsenal away supporters in that 4-2 win for City

The cover story is "Who are the top 20 Indian Cricketers" (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)

So now 2 monthly sports mags available here in Pune...All Sports Mag ( 50 bucks) and sports illustrated

Both mags are making sincere efforts to focus on sports apart from cricket and to focus on Indian sports....in fact that's wat makes these mags readable....

What a way to get the ball rolling....

Chris Skinner , a guy whose blog i have been following for the last few months in my opinion is one of the best blogger around. The blog deals with Financial services.Today, he had written an article called "Do bankers really get retailing?"In there he has a small mention about football. Where there is football there is your truly. And the guy not only responds but uses my query to further strengthen his point.

Read on : http://thefinanser.co.uk/fsclub/2009/10/do-bankers-understand-retailing.html#comments

What a way to get things started here.

Coming Soon....