#we did not issue a directive because we wanted the Premier League to complete its season without any disruption. But also

[truetellsnigeria1]

Nigerian Football League Is On Its Deathbed - Sunday Dare

Nigerian Football League Is On Its Deathbed – Sunday Dare

Minister of youth and sports development, Sunday Dare has described the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) as a league on its deathbed.   Speaking at the ministerial briefing at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Thursday September 15, Dare noted that the league is currently in a state of disarray, with coaches, players and referees owed salaries and allowances.   He also said they’ve…

[thefalse9]

Spurs Sack Mauricio Pochettino, Descent Into Mediocrity Inevitable.

-K

Wooo, boy. It’s been a while since I typed one of these up and got ye olde Tumblr fingers working, so let’s see if I still got it, shall we?

Yesterday, reports came out of North London that Tottenham Hotspur had done the unthinkable and sacked Mauricio Pochettino after the better part of a decade with a club, raising the profile of the lesser of the London clubs to the point that they were actively competing and thriving in the Champions League spots while becoming part of the Premier League’s “Big Six”. Pochettino modeled a team of overachieving players that lacked the profile and pedigree of World Class players (yes, I’m including Harry Kane and Dele Alli in that too), and he brought them up a level due to industrious coaching, a pragmatic strategy that involved outpacing on the wings, constant pressing, and a dedication to work ethic and perseverance.

Football operates in cycles. It’s become a bit of a trope in coaching cicles and within the industry, but many have identified the third year as fatal, the moment when a critical mass of players tire of the techniques and idiosyncrasies of their manager, when one or the other has to change. Managers, like Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United are/were able to sustain their success for so long because they were ruthless in refreshing their squads. Pochettino was never afforded that luxury by those above him, ownership refusing to give him the backing or the financial breathing room to refresh the squad or re-invent the team in a way better suited for results. Put quite bluntly, Pochettino was hamstrung by an owner in Daniel Levy who refused to invest in the squad, handed a shoestring budget and told to rub shit together real tight and make diamonds. For the better part of six years, he did.

It’s also not like Pochettino was naive to the issues that had befallen Tottenham. He had identified the problem. He knew it was not just about building a good squad and letting it run. For two years he has been urging rejuvenation but when it came this summer with three signings, two of whom have struggled with injury, it was too little too late. What has happened to Tottenham this season – 14th in the table after three wins in 12 games – is the price of last season when they did not make a single senior signing. It’s the result of a notoriously stingy owner not giving Pochettino the ability to refresh and renew his squad, a dogged insistence of the board to make due with what they have and refuse to invest in the team in manners which would benefit the club on the field; worrying far too much about the wage bill and the debts of player wages when Champions League football was seemingly at the grasp.

Even with all that working against him, this was a man who led this team to consecutive finishes within the Top 4 of the Premier League. Worse yet, this was a team that had made the Champions League final 6 months ago without having made a single new singing or reinforcement to the team. He was told, essentially, to perform a coaching masterclass to get the best possible result out of his club, and he did. Once the players grew complacent, most notably Christian Eriksen, ownership and the board turned on him and decided that it was pragmatic and ideally to fire a manager who had lifted the team from mediocrity into a bonafide top club in Europe. To fire a manager based on those circumstances is madness. To replace him with someone like Jose Mourinho? That’s downright criminal. I’ll get to Jose in a moment, however. More on that in a bit, but let’s really drill home the point on the Argentine.

Looking back now, it is hard not to wonder if perhaps Pochettino saw something like coming; maybe the writing was on the wall as far back as May of 2019 and Pochettino saw signs of this happening sooner rather than later. Maybe he saw this as the eventual outcome of his tenure, perhaps not to this scale, or with this immediacy, but perhaps the Argentine knew enough then to wonder if the Champions League Final in Madrid had actually signified if not the high point of his time at Spurs, then certainly the end of the road; the end of the aforementioned cycle.

Let’s not knock the merits of his accomplishments either. Pochettino had arrived in London in 2014, fresh from 18 months in which he had gained a treasure trove of admirers for his work at Southampton. He found, in Tottenham, a team that had finished sixth the season before, its campaign so devoid of meaning and mired in mediocrity, that in its final home game, its manager, Tim Sherwood, had invited a fan to sit in his place on the bench, “for the banter.” A Premier League club had legitimately sat a fan on the bench “for the banter”. It’s so damn Spursy that it hurts.

Back then, Spurs then occupied a very specific place in English soccer’s landscape:they were a powerhouse that was simultaneously a joke; a team that could be relied upon to fail in new and innovative and often hilarious ways; one of a handful, along with the Evertons and West Hams of the world, that saw a place in the Champions League as a hope more than an expectation. Spurs was then and is now the sixth-richest team in England. Sherwood’s Spurs then, had finished par for the course and met expectations. Mediocre to a fault, as was/is the Spurs way.

Pochettino took that team and transformed it completely. He mounted two serious challenges for the Premier League title, in 2016 and 2017, missing out first to the miracle of Leicester City and then the more status-quo triumph of Chelsea. Over that two-year period, no other team took as many points as Tottenham. Not Liverpool, not Manchester City. 

Pochettino prioritized youth whenever he could, turning Harry Kane into England’s leading forward — and the national team captain — and nurturing the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Winks. He managed to compete when Spurs had to play its home games at Wembley Stadium while its White Hart Lane stadium was demolished and a new, space-age home was constructed next door, dealing with delays to the stadium, an inability of the ownership group to find them a place to train and uncertainty regarding the future of the stadium and skyrocketing building costs that Pochettino would inevitably be hindered by; the cost of the stadium and the debt of construction cost precluding Spurs to make an investment in the actual team due to a debt their still paying off when it comes to the building of their new stadium.

In the end, the Argentine took Spurs to the Champions League final for the first time a few weeks after the stadium opened; the two events seemingly proof that the club was now part of Europe’s elite, both in terms of infrastructure and horizon. Ownership can take credit for some of that infrastructure, but much of the success, much of Tottenham’s new reality, is down to Pochettino and what he was able to coerce from the magician’s hat and out of the players at his disposal.

He was less concerned by the players he wanted to sign than the ones he needed to lose; several members of his team were coming to the end of their contracts, and to an extent to the end of the natural cycle in football. “Four years is a long time in football,” Pochettino said last year. He wanted not so much new faces as a fresh feel, a sense that another cycle was beginning. 

Spurs was always unwilling to provide him that. The reality is that Tottenahm inhabits a very different reality now than the Tottenham that Pochettino had inhertied. Elite clubs do not have time for rebuilds, renewals or refreshment of squads, for better or worse. They are averse to risk. Tottenham has loan obligations to meet and a stadium to pay off. It needs to be in the Champions League; it needs to be winning games; it needs to be filling its seats and luxury boxes and restaurants with fans scenting glory. It no longer has time to wait, and impatience, right or wrong, became the new status quo. Loyalty and prior results be damned.

And all of that is down to Pochettino. The club he leaves is fundamentally different from the one he found — almost unrecognizable, in fact. It is a club that does not see the Champions League as an ambition so much as a requirement. It is a club that cannot indulge a slump, a club that cannot wait for a team to become good. It will be no solace at all to Pochettino now, but it is true: The best measure of the work he has done, of all that he has achieved, is the circumstances of his departure. The ultimate proof of his success is his demise. In short, he raised his club to an elite level and was sacked because they wouldn’t give him the time to rebuild or restructure the club to the new level he had achieved. Pochettino, for better or worse, was a victim of own success.

Thus, we finally come to what comes next. Jose Mourinho was hired by Tottenham in light of Pochettino’s dismissal and you can’t help but feel that for a team that was hellbent on not giving funding to a manager or a team that was reluctant to working through a cycle, hiring Jose Mourinho is a move lacking of direction and developed solely out of desperation. Mourinho was a talented manager and a gifted analyst, but the jury is still out on whether the game itself has passed him by as a manager.

Mourinho has his trophies and his success, but recent history has not been kind to the “Special One” as along with his ego and his bravado, and intermittent success comes multiple reports of Mourinho falling out with ownership over a lack of funding provided to get new transfer targets and a near obsessive approach to fighting with ownership when he does not get the financial backing to implement his system with his players. Considering Pochettino is for all intents and purposes a better manager, and considering he was fired after being told to work with nothing and a budget that consisted of a paperclip and a piece of gum, time will tell if anything will be different with Mourinho at the helm. If Spurs are suddenly willing to spend with Mourinho at the helm when they were steadfast against giving Pochettino the ability to bring in reinforcements? It would come across as hypocritical to a mind-blowing degree.

That isn’t to say that Mourinho won’t be successful. As he does everywhere he goes, Mourinho will install a defensive system that will grind out victories over the course of this season and bring the team up from the depths of the bottom of the table. Next season, the team will flourish and be in the thick of the Champions League spots. Come the third season however, as Mourinho has proven, Jose will be looking for reinforcements, will have outstayed his welcome and his training ground methods, which are decidedly more intense and demanding than those of Pochettino will have grown thin. If Pochettino, who for all accounts was a “player’s message” need to change a message, how can we count on the message of a manager who was known to have been combative with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, known to have dust-ups with Sergio Ramos at Real Madrid and put forth ultimatums regarding Paul Pogba at Manchester United?

Future aside, Tottenham have fired Mauricio Pochettino, for reasons only they can justify. Over 6 years, he brought the team to a level of success that had been foreign to the club. By refusing to give him the opportunity to renew or refesh the club in the mold of the new reality that had become their norm - that of an elite club -, Pochettino was done a disservice and Tottenham returned to their roots - that of the mediocre club punching above their weight and finding new and innovative ways to fail.

[rickhorrow]

15+5+5 To Watch 72219

15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 22

with Jacob Aere

Shane Lowry pocketed a cool $1.935 million for winning The Open Championship. He also netted thousands of new fans, and helped to unify Ireland through his sport. The affable Lowry, who came oh-so-close to winning the 2016 U.S. Open before blowing a four-shot lead to winner Dustin Johnson, has career earnings of close to $19 million, and his win on Sunday will almost certainly also include a bonus from primary sponsors Immedis and Banc of Ireland. However, the 2019 Open could potentially make an even bigger cultural mark. "This is the beginning of the Open taking its place as the Open and moving around the world…In my lifetime it is possible to see it being played in the Netherlands or maybe Australia," two-time winner of the Claret Jug Padraig Harrington shared with the Irish Times regarding Royal Portrush serving as a catalyst to take the major around the globe. Lowry is certain to be the face of Irish golf in the yearlong run up to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, especially as colleague Rory McIlroy struggles with his big-stage game.

PGA Tour approves fewer players making the cut in 2019-2020. As the final Major of the 2019 golf calendar is in the books, the PGA Tour policy board has approved a measure that "will reduce the number of players who make the cut from the top 70 and ties to the top 65 and ties." According to Golf Channel, the new cut policy will begin with the 2019-2020 season, which begins this fall. The board also "eliminated the secondary cut, which required a 54-hole field reduction if 78 or more players advanced to the weekend." The new 65-and-ties policy is the standard on the European Tour and developmental Korn Ferry Tour. This may seem like a minor decision to most golf fans, who generally only pay attention to the top of the leaderboard. But it has a huge impact on the journeyman tour pros who dance around the cut line week in and week out and survive by limiting paid coaching, leaving their families at home, and pulling all-nighters driving themselves to events.

Baseball HOF inducts latest crop of stars. This year, Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Harold Baines, Mike Mussina, Lee Smith, and Roy Halladay were among those enshrined on July 21 in Cooperstown, New York, and HOF officials anticipated record-breaking crowds for the induction ceremonies. The current record attendance of 82,000 was set in 2007, when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were enshrined. The HOF did not provide an official attendance estimate, but one village official said that breaking the 2007 mark "is a possibility.” The Hall of Fame welcomes around 300,000 visitors each year. In honor of the event, ESPN reports that the Cooperstown Brewing Company has "produced Sandman Pilsner -- a special edition brew for Mariano Rivera" on the occasion of his HOF induction. And in a real flight of fancy, Delta Air Lines dedicated Gate 42 at JFK's Terminal 4 to Rivera. Delta, the official airline of the Yankees, also unveiled a 757 aircraft with a decal carrying Rivera's HOF inscription. 

Major League Baseball could allow for sponsorship patches on its teams’ uniforms within three years, the league confirmed to SportsBusiness Journal. The success of the NBA decision to allow jersey branding, which brings in an average $7 million a year per team, has reportedly created “considerable interest” for MLB teams to follow suit. Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment confirmed to SBJ that it had been approached by MLB franchises for evaluations of the potential new inventory. The Excel sports agency, which worked on multiple NBA patch deals, also revealed that it had received inquiries from “curious” teams regarding the marketplace. “We’re examining the patch, but clearly we have things to work through first,” MLB EVP Noah Garden told SBJ. “I’d say it’s inevitable down the road, but certainly not immediate. This is something that requires a fairly long runway.” The new patch sponsorships would require the approval of the MLBPA as part of the next collective bargaining agreement, but MLB’s current uniform deal with Nike reportedly includes provision for uniform patches. Van Wagner estimated that deals could be worth $6-$8 million, with select high-profile teams able to secure more. 

Tennis Channel served up the induction of China’s Li Na, France’s Mary Pierce, and Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 20. In addition to presenting the speeches and festivities surrounding the players, who combined to win 12 Grand Slam event among them, the network is providing live coverage of Hall of Fame Open for the Van Allen Cup throughout the week. Li became the first Asian-born player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. As the New York Times noted, big "does not even begin to describe [Na's] enduring impact." In 2011, there were two WTA events in China, including the China Open. This year, there are 11. In addition, China has 10 women in the top 200 in singles and 51 in the top 850. Grass-roots participation in China has "soared, too, with an estimated 14 million players" driving a $4 billion industry. Also in China, World TeamTennis, which began its 44th season July 14, inked international streaming deals including that country. Coverage of all of the eight-team circuit’s 59 regular-season matches is available in China for the first time through video hosting service Youku. 

A 22% minority stake in the Oklahoma City Thunder has been put up for sale, according to Bloomberg. The team share was previously owned by late oilman Aubrey McClendon, who passed away in a car crash in 2016. McClendon’s 22% ownership stake has reportedly been held by his estate since his death. The Thunder are worth $1.475 billion, according to Forbes, which would value a 22% stake in the team at around $324.5 million. However, Bloomberg’s report added that a value for McClendon’s stake could be discounted because it comes with voting rights but little else. The share does not come with representation on the board or any decision-making authority. The Thunder are controlled by Clay Bennett, whose Professional Basketball Club investment group purchased the Seattle Supersonics in 2006 before moving the franchise to Oklahoma City ahead of the 2008-2009 season. Likely also for sale soon: The multi-million dollar estate former Thunder star Russell Westbrook just completed in Oklahoma City suburb Nichols Hills – although there’s no yard sign up just yet. OKC residents continue to appear supportive of the star point guard even though he left the franchise, as the city is dotted with “Thank You Russell Westbrook” signs. 

LeBron James’ agent starts a sports division at major Hollywood firm. United Talent Agency, one of the leading representation firms in Hollywood, has joined with the agent for nearly two dozen NBA stars, Rich Paul, to create a sports division for the entertainment company. Paul, who most famously represents James under his Klutch Sports Group banner, was named the head of UTA Sports. The alliance calls for Klutch, with Paul as chief executive, to operate as United Talent’s sports division while retaining its own branding. Klutch’s deal with UTA was initiated by the investment adviser Paul Wachter, who helped broker Fenway Sports Group’s 2002 purchase of EPL club Liverpool, as well as James’ lifetime deal with Nike. UTA, which restricted itself to off-the-field sports business until now, said it needs Paul’s muscle as it moves into direct competition with the established sports divisions at its primary rivals in Hollywood: CAA and WME. For years, Paul’s achievements were often dismissed as a natural by-product of his close relationship with James, who was still a teenager when they became friends. Today he is a force to be reckoned with, not just in sports, but now in entertainment.

PacMan is back on top. Boxer politician Manny Pacquiao defeated Keith Thurman by split decision Saturday night before a crowd of 14,356 at a rowdy MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Pacquiao came in at No. 92 on Forbes' list of 2019 highest paid athletes, at $26 million – and according to ESPN, earned a guaranteed purse of $10 million by defeating Thurman. His 24 pay-per-view bouts to date have generated 20 million buys and an estimated $1.25 billion in revenue. His 2015 bout against Floyd Mayweather remains the best-selling fight in the history of boxing, with 4.6 million PPV buys. Pacquiao left longtime promoter Bob Arum in 2018 to sign with Al Haymon and his Premier Boxing Champions promotion.  For last weekend’s fight, Fox Sports and Premier were hoping to "build on the performance of Premier's Errol Spence-Mikey Garcia inaugural PPV boxing event in March, “which drew more than 300,000 buys," according to MultiChannel News. Pacquiao was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives in 2010 and the country's Senate in 2016. With this kind of a day job, and given that he is now 40, there’s a strong possibility that his win over Thurman will be the last time we see Pacquiao in the ring.

As NFL training camps welcome new players this week, it’s not likely we’ll see a new NFL CBA this season. The NFL wants a new CBA done before the start of the 2019 season, but that seems "extremely unlikely at this point" and is "not something that the NFL is really pushing hard," according to NFL Network reports. The league and NFLPA last week in Chicago held their fourth meeting regarding the CBA, with Giants owner John Mara, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Steelers President Art Rooney II among those in attendance. Some of the "main issues were addressed," such as revenue splitting and there was "good communication between those sides." The current CBA expires after the 2020 season, and all parties "would like to get this done earlier rather than later." However, the NFL and the NFLPA want to "do the right deal, not just the quick deal." ESPN.com cited a source as saying that, "Big topics are tabled (for now).” The source added that the next set of negotiations are "set to start July 29." Among the big topics on the table – expanding the regular season to 18 games, which comes with weighty pros and cons for both sides.

MLS’ Fire to pay $65.5 million to move matches. According to JohnWallStreet, MLS’ Chicago Fire Soccer Club, ranked last in home attendance (averaging 11,417 per game), will amend their SeatGeek Stadium lease to allow for future home games to be played “in other Chicagoland sports venues.” Majority owner Andrew Hauptman believes moving games from the Village of Bridgeview to downtown Chicago will give the club “the opportunity to play [in front of] more fans than ever.” The Fire reportedly plan to play home games at Soldier Field next season. Chicago Fire SC is paying $65.5 million to get out of their existing lease. The organization will pay the Village $10 million upfront and make an additional $5 million donation to upgrade sporting facilities around the stadium. The $50.5 million balance will be paid in $3.5 million annual increments through 2036. Hauptman is paying $30 million more to move the team's home matches than he paid to acquire the club in 2007. But with expansion franchises now selling for $200 million, even with the buyout – and the $70+ million he’s lost over the last seven years – he will likely come out ahead.

RPM sale seems inevitable. Richard Petty Motorsports, one of NASCAR’s preeminent franchises, is in need of a revamp. Sources told JohnWallStreet that despite the team’s claim that it is running $5-$7 million short this season, “the figure is probably closer to $10-$12 million.” RPM’s problems began with the rise of ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft, which severely challenged team owner Andy Murstein’s core business – Murstein is the president and largest shareholder of Medallion Financial Corporation (MFIN), which distributes taxi medallions. With MFIN shares down -47% (to $6.13) over the last five years, Murstein has cut back on team spending. As a result, the #43 car “runs way in the back of the pack (currently sitting 28th in the standings) and they're unable to sign marquee sponsors because no one wants to invest in a team that has an owner cutting corners on head count.” The Petty team needs a proper owner, and NASCAR really needs RPM to remain competitive.

ESPN cemented its commentator teams for the 2019-2020 college football season, with a slate of around 1,000 regular season games, 35 bowl games, and the College Football Playoff. Overall, the broadcaster will see nearly 30 commentating teams and fans this season with new commentator groups for Thursday and Friday games, while Saturdays will see several booths reunite from past seasons. Groupings of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Maria Taylor, and Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, and Holly Rowe return this season, calling ESPN’s marquee games each week of the season. Most weeks, Fowler, Herbstreit, and Taylor will be onsite for ABC’s “Saturday Night Football,” while McDonough, Blackledge, and Rowe will call ESPN’s primetime game. ESPN’s roster this season also includes new contracts with analysts Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill, and Dan Orlovsky, and made headlines signing Ryan Leaf as an analyst. And get your headgear ready – last week, ESPN also announced that its wildly popular “College Gameday” will kick off the 2019 college football season from Sundance Square in Fort Worth on Saturday, August 31 before a marquee AT&T Stadium matchup between Auburn and the University of Oregon.

The Premier League has revealed that it reached a cumulative global audience of 3.2 billion for all programming watched during the 2018-2019 season, a 6% increase on the previous year. Working with Nielsen, England’s top-flight soccer league also found that the cumulative audience for live Premier League programming rose 11% to 1.35 billion. The Premier League credited a significant portion of its audience growth to new free-to-air (FTA) coverage in several countries including Brazil and South Africa. In total, the Premier League said it was shown in 188 of the world’s 193 countries recognized by the United Nations. An official release added that 262,102 hours of Premier League coverage were broadcast globally during the 2018-2019 season, reaching 1.03 billion homes for all broadcast types. Global audience figures have increasingly important for the Premier League after a dip in the value of its domestic TV rights for the next three-year cycle, to $6.3 billion. The drop was offset by a 30% rise in the price of the league’s international rights, which have been sold for a combined $5.3 billion for the 2019-2022 span.

X Games Minneapolis 2019 is set for August 1-4 at U.S. Bank Stadium, and ESPN is putting the finishing touches on its sponsor roster. This year, Wendy’s is joining returning sponsors Hotels.com, Monster Energy, Nexcar First Aid Products, Pacifico, SoFi, The Real Cost, and Harley-Davidson. Geico will once again serve as the official music stage sponsor. The sponsorship packages include a media presence within the 18 hours of coverage scheduled on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, and the ESPN App, as well as content creation and on-site activation at the event. The Tokyo Olympics are now one year out, and those Games will feature more extreme sports than ever before, including new entrants sport climbing and surfing joining skateboarding, BMX racing, and other X Games staples. With that in mind, it is highly likely that the upcoming X Games Minneapolis will see a bigger viewing audience as well as the expanded sponsor roster.

Paddy Power brokers shirt sponsorship deal with Huddersfield Town AFC in West Yorkshire, England. The irreverent gambling and entertainment brand has a huge profile across the world, with an audience of well over two million people across Facebook and Twitter. The deal is Paddy Power’s first ever front-of-shirt sponsorship in England. The deal spans the home, away, and third kit, and will be in place for the 2019-2020 season. Explaining the decision to back Huddersfield Town, Paddy Power’s brand marketing director Michelle Spillane commented, “They’re a club which, first and foremost, value their fans and know what it means to be a football supporter. We’re confident this deal will bring some bite and bark to The Terriers’ upcoming season.” The tie-up marks a surprisingly traditional form of promotional activity for a bookmaker better known for masterminding headline-grabbing stunts, including drafting French actor and former pro soccer player Eric Cantona to offer Brits a customized "Brexit Bunker."

Top Five Tech

Overwatch League realigns its divisions and switches to a traditional home-and-away sports league format. The esports league changes will take effect in its third season, which will take place in 2020. The four divisions across the global league will soon comprise standard leagues with Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western divisions and a Pacific and Atlantic Conference. Each division will comprise five teams to make the league a 20 team competition with the entirety of the Eastern Division based in Asia. Scheduling will see 52 home stand weekend events hosted at venues across the world, with each team hosting two or more weekend events. According to The Verge, teams in each division will also collectively host three additional regular-season events in their home territories and play 28 matches over the course of the regular season. After launching in 2017, the Overwatch League is now entering a pivotal season to see if esports can be successful with city-based teams like the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB.

World TeamTennis announces international partnerships and "Watch and Bet" streaming deal. WTT began its 44th consecutive season this past weekend and announced that it will be broadcast in China for the first time ever through the video hosting service Youku. WTT's exclusive media partner in China will stream all 59 WTT regular season matches while in Latin America, Claro Sports and its digital brand are airing 17 WTT matches. Additionally, Stats Perform will deliver all 59 live matches to legal betting sites and apps outside North America and China for "watch and bet" streaming throughout the WTT season. Dailymotion, the video-sharing technology platform, will stream also and promote league content on a WTT-branded channel worldwide. CBS Sports Network and ESPN+ will air league coverage throughout its short tennis season July 14-August 3. WTT is one of five active U.S. pro sports leagues that has been in operation for over 40 years, along with the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, and now gets its shot at the international spotlight.

ESPN+’s new digital network Big 12 Now will feature an 18-part series on the Kansas University football program starring head coach Les Miles. The series will follow the Kansas football team as they seek to raise their program to national prominence and will include four preseason episodes in August, followed by weekly installments during the college football season. According to Kansas University athletics, filming began this offseason, before Miles was hired, and will cover the entire 2019 season from start to finish. Miles was previously the Head Coach at Oklahoma State and Louisiana State, where he won a national championship and compiled an overall record of 112-32. The show will provide visuals and insights into fundraising, contract negotiations, building the coaching staff, preparing the players, and more. This spring, the Big 12 Conference and ESPN agreed to significantly expand their existing rights agreement, with both football and basketball teams in the conference likely to feature in-depth insights through new media.

Amazon Prime Video’s “All or Nothing” series now features the Carolina Panthers. Season four of the Emmy Award-winning sports documentary series will take viewers inside the locker room, on the sidelines, and off the field, this time with Cam Newton and crew. According to Spectacular Mag, the Amazon Original series is produced by NFL Films and will premiere on Friday, July 19 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Emmy Award-winning actor Jon Hamm returns as narrator of the eight-episode season, which covers the Panthers’ 2018 campaign. The show follows a successful start to the Panthers’ 2018 campaign and its stunning finish as the health of Newton’s throwing shoulder evolves into the story of the season. This is a new way to give NFL superfans something to cling to during the off-season.

Esports organization 100 Thieves announced a new headquarters and retail location following $35 million funding round. 100 Thieves features teams competing in Fortnite, League of Legends, and Call of Duty, in addition to their apparel brand, which produces streetwear-inspired clothing that regularly sells out minutes after release. According to Dextero, some of the new funding has gone towards a new 15,000 square foot Los Angeles headquarters which will be home to all of 100 Thieves' business ventures, and will also house their competitive teams. Further, the new space will be used to design all their apparel and will serve as a retail storefront for the brand’s upcoming drops. The value of 100 Thieves has skyrocketed in the past year with some big names like music producer Scooter Braun and rapper Drake joining the company’s Board of Directors back in October. New reports suggest that the company is now worth $125 million, a jump of $35 million from its October 2018 valuation. Esports are about to make the jump into traditional sports league format thanks to Overwatch, and 100 Thieves will likely piggyback onto that momentum for expansion.

Power of Sports Five

REI looks to bolster environmental and outdoor journalism. According to PR Newswire, REI Co-op will debut its own print magazine this fall, as well as a new partnership to channel matching funds directly to local, nonprofit newsrooms covering crucial issues facing the outdoors. The 81-year-old retailer will retire its full-price mail-order catalog in favor of their print magazine, Uncommon Path, published by Hearst Magazines in collaboration with an in-house team of journalists and editors at REI. Uncommon Path will be available at all 155 REI stores and in select newsstands nationwide starting this fall. The purpose of the switch to magazines is to inspire a life outdoors by supporting compelling storytelling – both REI’s own channels and by supporting independent nonprofit journalists in communities across the country. The retailer is also announcing a new partnership with NewsMatch, a nationwide campaign to strengthen local journalism to help bolster climate change coverage and make people more conscious of life outdoors. 

Yahoo! Sports starts NFL short-form series “Play It Forward.” According to Deadline, “Play It Forward” has two 11-minute episodes each week on Mondays and Thursdays for eight weeks across the off-season and feature the likes of Antonio Brown, Adrian Peterson, and Desean Jackson. The show will give viewers a glimpse into the players’ rise to the top and the ways they give back to the people who have supported them along the way. “Play it Forward” is produced by Bright Bay Creative, the nascent production company run by former Ice Road Truckers producer Brandon Killion and his wife Jill, in association with Complex Networks. The philanthropy isn’t necessarily on a non-profit level, but it shows the difference players can make in individual’s lives off the field.

Rappers Quavo and 2 Chainz take it to the basket for charity. On July 17 at Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy near Los Angeles, the 100,000-square-foot sports and fitness facility hosted the celebrity-filled Huncho Legends basketball game, where hip-hop hitmakers Quavo and 2 Chainz led each of the opposing teams. According to Billboard, the event was held in partnership with streetwear brand Legends, and the game also supported Bryant’s Mamba Sports Foundation. On the sidelines, notable attendees included Quality Control Music founders Kevin "Coach K" Lee and Pierre "Pee" Thomas; Grammy-nominated singer Kehlani, Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker, and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder. Through all of the online fame and big names at the event, $50,000 was raised by Quavo and the Legends Brand to support the youth sports movement in Atlanta.

The fifth annual Mixed Doubles Charity Classic is ready to fight opioid abuse. According to the York Dispatch, the Charity Classic at the Country Club of York has the goal of raising money to fight drug abuse that has plagued the USA and specifically New York. In previous years, the event has raised more than $100,000 for charity, including $65,000 raised last year for the York Opioid Collaborative. The fifth annual tournament is sponsored by UPMC Health Plan and will again benefit that same cause which “seeks to reduce opioid deaths in York County,” according to the non-profit’s website. The tournament features high quality tennis players including Jenni Goodling and has a total purse of $5,000 for the winners. A total of 16 teams are lined up to compete. New York saw 172 overdose deaths from opioids in 2018 and has seen a reduction to just 36 so far in 2019 thanks to the awareness around the crisis which has been aided by charities and media events such as the Mixed Doubles Charity Classic.

Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo discovers his off-field power to help dogs find homes. According to the MLBPA’s Infield Chatter on Twitter, Joey Gallo has overcome his childhood fear of dogs and teamed up with Operation Kindness to find homes for the original no-kill animal shelter in North Texas. By harnessing his image and posing next to animals from the shelter, Gallo posted photos of some of the shelter’s dogs on social media and saw an immediate response. Within an hour of posting photos with the adoptable dogs, Operation Kindness had found homes for the animals. Gallo has also owned his own Labrador Retriever named Ranger for four years and plans to continue his philanthropic efforts as he says the best part about being an athlete is the stage to “promote good in the world.”

[torentialtribute]

Gordon Taylor toppled: PFA chief to step down after 38 years

Gordon Taylor finally admitted the defeat on Wednesday in the power struggle that has uncovered serious shortcomings in the leadership of the PFA hit by the crisis.

When Sportsmail was the first to report, Taylor announced that he would leave after 38 years as chief executive on a day when Chairman Ben Purkiss was also present and the other 12 members of the management committee agreed

]

A statement issued after the AGM originally scheduled for November confirmed that they would all stop. Their departure will come after a further AGM that will follow the conclusion of an independent review and the appointment of a new CEO.

<img id = "i-544ec0dcf1b33a0" src = "https://ift.tt/2uFcmnb PFA_chief_executive_Gordon_Taylor_pictured_arriving_at_the_playe-a-8_1553724242440.jpg "height =" 737 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-544ec0dcf1b33a0" src = "https://ift.tt/2ujTZnl /27/22/11521796-6858045-PFA_chief_executive_Gordon_Taylor_pictured_arriving_at_the_playe-a-8_1553724242440.jpg "height =" 737 "width =" 634 "alt =" PFA chief Gordon Taylor proposed to reach the AGM of the players' union on Wednesday evening "AGFA Wednesday

PFA chief Gordon Taylor proposed to arrive at the AGM of the players' union on Wednesday

<img id = "i-49ea51a20442f7e4" src = "https://ift.tt/2uwN1eY" height = "413" width = "634" alt = " <img id = "i-49ea51a20442f7e4" src = "https://ift.tt/2HZ2IU3 852567-image-a-6_1553695527412.jpg "height =" 413 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-49ea51a20442f7e4" src = "https://ift.tt/2W3ngi6 /03/27/14/11521798-6852567-image-a-6_1553695527412.jpg "height =" 413 "width =" 634 "alt =" Taylor has had strong calls since November to leave his position after 38 years of employment

Taylor has had strong calls since November to leave his position after 38 years. in the job

<img id = "i-4dbb5ba2a175a914" src = "https://ift.tt/2FCogEl 14 / 11521794-6852567-image-m-8_1553695577577.jpg "height =" 488 "width =" 634 "alt =" PFA chairman Ben Purkiss has f

<img id = "i-4dbb5ba2a175a914" src = "https : //i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/27/14/11521794-6852567-image-m-8_1553695577577.jpg "height =" 488 "width =" 634 "alt =" PFA Chairman Ben Purkiss followed Taylor when leaving the broken class "union =" blkBorder img-

No timetable was provided, but Taylor, 74, remains with the

Taylor tried to save his face on Wednesday and enlisted the help of an expensive PR agency to watch some of the interviews he gave before your cameras and reporters avoided slipping out of the side door of the Midland Hotel in Manchester .

While some of his unmarried senior allies were staying on the grounds of the hotel, they refused to comment further. It was Purkiss who gave the explosive interview last November to Sportsmail a civil war broke out at the PFA.

The seriously injured 34-year-old Walsall defender, who had never earned more than £ 60,000 a year, explained that Taylor – the highest-paid union driver – had responded to his call for an independent review

[Taylor & Francis] Taylor had informed the 92 PFA club delegates that the AGM had been adjourned because a problem had arisen with Purkiss' suitability to conduct Sportsmail investigations revealing possible trade breaches

On Wednesday night, the former sports minister Tracey Crouch was one of those who doubted why the brave Purkiss did not leave either. & # 39; Certainly, the first president to include Gordon Taylor in his pursuit of large-scale modernization is the one you want to keep & she said.

In an interview with Sportsmail on night, however, Purkiss said he could not be seen personally by the biggest crisis in the history of the mega-rich union.

& # 39; I had to be clear that this was not for personal gain, but that I was not positioning myself. I had to do my job as chairman of the PFA as well as possible for the members.

& # 39; It was an incredibly difficult few months. & # 39; & # 39; It was an incredibly difficult few months. I have probably waved a few feathers and removed a few noses from the connection. I didn't realize the traction it would get in the first place. But the PFA will be healthier and that is important to me. I was very proud to be appointed chairman and I take the role very seriously. & # 39;

Taylor will leave a job that pays him £ 2.2 million a year after 38 years of service

England boss Gareth Southgate and outgoing PFA president Purkiss "class =" blkBorder img-share "/>

Taylor depicted with England boss Gareth Southgate and outgoing PFA President Purkiss

[19459] 002] A statement issued Wednesday at 3 p.m. gave a detailed overview of the plan for the PFA. Thomas Linden QC will lead an independent review that will be conducted by Sport Resolutions and will support the & # 39; governance, management, policies, procedures and activities of the PFA & # 39; to investigate.

The statement said the management committee will oversee the review and will discuss and publish key findings and recommendations, while Taylor continues to lead.

Once the assessment has been completed, an independent process will begin with the appointment of a new CEO, after which Taylor, Purkiss and the management committee

In the statement, Taylor said that he was confronted with calls for resign from a group of more than 300 former and current professionals, the following: & The end of 2018 was a

& # 39; It is true that members of the management committee last year and have not noticed a few things, but after one we are now united on the best way forward. "

Purkiss added: & # 39; Last year I stated that the PFA should evolve differently, there is a risk that we will be left behind. I said publicly that we should review the organization's management, and I welcome the fact that an independent review will now take place.

<img id = "i-15bb2869373db4b3" src = "https://ift.tt/2W6yUZB 26/16 / 11484442-6852567-image-a-43_1553618482542.jpg "height =" 438 "width =" 634 "alt =" Purkiss showed tremendous courage in taking on Taylor – one of the most powerful figures in the sport "

<img id = "i-15bb2869373db4b3" src = "https://ift.tt/2HWEoCj. jpg "height =" 438 "width =" 634 "alt =" Purkiss showed immense prowess against Taylor – one of the most powerful figures in the sport "class =" blkBorder img Purkiss showed immense prowess against Taylor – one of the most powerful figures from the sport

to resign from a group of more than 300 former and current professionals "

<img id =" i-447e22b3908286e5 "src =" https : //i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/26/16/11483506-0-image-a-34_1553617724937.jpg "height =" 459 "width =" 634 "alt =" Taylor was confronted with calls to resign from a group of more than 300 former and current professionals "

Taylor faced calls to r Esign from a group of more than 300 former and current professionals

] A graduated lawyer and companion professional, Purkiss showed immense bravery in taking on one of the most powerful figures in sport, who had long driven the PFA as a personal loan

Purkiss complained that, for all

After a conversation with Sportsmail he said: & I have a p light. act in the interest of the PFA.

Taylor claimed that a technicality excluded Purkiss from remaining as president, but the latter fought back.

When that was followed by a series of

Sportsmail was the first to report how the PFA would violate the trade union because Taylor ruled the one has somehow prevented him from being at the helm in nearly forty years for re-election if the rules demand an election every five years.

The investigation has been intensified.

Sportsmail revealed that the association seemed to violate Charity Commission rules when it turned out that Paul Elliott had been allowed to remain a trustee when he had an IVA (individual voluntary arrangement). Elliott resigned later.

By that time, the Charity Commission had announced that it had opened a regulatory compliance case for the PFA Charity.

GORDON TAYLOR PFA LETTER

Dear members,

At an AGM today, members of the Professional Footballers & # 39; Association (PFA) agreed to a continuity plan that the organization will provide for stability through its upcoming independent evaluation process

As you undoubtedly know, Sport Resolutions was formally instructed in February to revise the PFA's governance, management and policies, procedures and activities. . This afternoon, and the rest of the Management Committee, I have formulated proposals that will ensure smooth management of the organization throughout the entire assessment period.

The executive committee and I have this assessment to ensure that the PFA works to the highest standards and in the interest of you, our

stands as all organizations, as we have grown. We face new challenges. The PFA has only succeeded in developing continuously over the past 40 years, and it is up to me and the management committee to ensure that we continue to face the challenges ahead.

Although there will sometimes be a difference of opinion about the direction of the union, we have always been united behind our common goal of maintaining the PFA as the most prominent sports union in the world.

Since joining the PFA 40 years ago, we have grown from a staff of just 6 people to a team of more than ten times that number that works throughout England, Wales and internationally. The excellent team focuses on tackling key issues in the game such as mental health, retraining, player well-being, discrimination and, above all, contractual power and the future of the game

I am extremely proud of it work we do and the direction we are going The organization is healthy and our recent deal with the Premier League will ensure that we continue to do more for all our members about the issues that matter most.

I have always done my best for the teams that I have

We have come a long way, but I also know that we have that can not be smug and must strive for the sharpest of the for the well-being of our members and the well-being of the game. I will continue to fight for the organization, its members and our role in sport – both in this country and globally.

I am proud of what we have built together by constantly looking to the future and being excited

I have given the majority of my life to the progress of the PFA and I hope that I have provided a platform for our continued success in the future.

] Best wishes,

Source link

[awishdeal-blog]

These soccer clubs have the same name, but they also wear the same kind of jersey with the other....

In the diversified world development, personality has become the biggest pursuit of people. The most worried about young people is the name and the shirt, because they firmly believe that there is only one unique self in the world. The same is true of the football world. Every club and player wants to show their own unique side. On the issue of the name of the team, sometimes it is doomed to be unique, especially for the giants. Because of history and reputation, there are so many clubs in international football. For example, the global team called Arsenal is close to 20 Family. The stories and causes behind this are different, but full of fun and story.

The riverbed team in Argentina and Barcelona in Spain have many teams of the same name in the world.

 When you find that there is another completely similar self in the world, sometimes it is not only a warm film, but even a horror film. This is because of similar team names, which have created a lot of misunderstandings and jokes. In the same year, the "Sun" often produced a wonderful title: for example, Barcelona signed a heavy foreign aid, Liverpool team history introduced new players and so on. But a closer look at the content of the article will reveal that they refer to the re-named teams in the South American continent. This kind of news often disappoints the fans. Such means are often used in Spanish and Italian media.

 A flood of team names caused by a river

 The La Plata River is the second largest river in South America that is only inferior to the Amazon River. It flows through many countries in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. Because of this river, it has become a legend of many clubs. There are at least 10 clubs in the world that have used and are currently using the riverbed team.

 Argentina's riverbed team (full name riverbed) is one of the oldest teams in South America. The origin of the team’s name was entirely accidental. It was in 1901 that the founder of the riverbed club, Martinez, stopped at the river in the La Plata River and saw the sailboats on the river playing football with great interest. Because the British called the La Plata River the River Plate, Martinez named the team a river bed. Another way of saying this is that Martinez saw the ship's container writing the River Plate, and then created a team of sailors and dockers.

The Argentine riverbed, which is aiming to build a century-old brand, soon encountered an imitator. In 1932, in the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo, there was also a riverbed team. Their full name (Club Atletico River Plate) was identical to the Argentine riverbed. A well-known spectacle is that their founders, also in the light of the La Plata River, have formed a team. In fact, this team was merged by two teams, Olympia and Capro. Because of the age, why is it named after the riverbed? There is no clear record. The probability is that the team is also away from the La Plata River. Not far away.

The riverbed in Argentina is the most influential and most influential riverbed club in the world.

 These two teams are not the earliest sense of the riverbed team. As early as 1897, Uruguay already had a riverbed team. The full name of this team is called River Plate FCLUB (referred to as Riverbed FC). It is an amateur team composed of the port workers of Montevideo. The earliest name is Cagancha FC. When the team wants to sign up for the national football match in Uruguay. It was told that only English club names were accepted, because the players worked in the La Plata River Valley and immediately changed their name to the riverbed. This team has been dissolved and disappeared in 1925. It is not directly related to the riverbed that belongs to the same capital of Uruguay.

 In South America, there are many teams called riverbeds. The River River Plate in Paraguay was founded in 1911, and the Sociedade Esportiva River Plate in Brazil was founded in 1967. The SV River Plate in Aruba was founded in 1953. They were influenced by the Argentine team more or less, especially the riverbeds in Brazil and Aruba. The uniforms almost completely replicated the Argentine riverbed. The Potosí national team in Bolivia was first known as the riverbed, and their team logo was almost identical to the original.

 Because of its strength, the riverbed club and the fans of this team are also actively expanding the territory. In 2004, 31 Argentine loyalty riverbed fans set up a riverbed team in Puerto Rico, not only with the same name as their national team, but also with similar team uniforms. On January 1, 2007, the Puerto Rico Riverbed Club was formally established, but it was not a simple cottage and imitation. They obtained a licensing agreement for the Argentine riverbed, allowing clubs and teams to be operated under this name.

The team logo of the four riverbed teams, the upper left is the Argentine riverbed, the lower left is the Aruba riverbed, the upper right is the Puerto Rico riverbed, and the lower right is the river bed of Uruguay.

 On September 7, 2007, the Club Deportivo River Plate was established in Ecuador through the active support and funding of the Argentine Riverbed. The club was renamed the Guayaquil City Club in 2010.

 South American "British Premier": Your name, my last name

 As the birthplace of modern football, British footballers have been committed to spreading the seeds of football and happiness to the world. Among them, South America is the most affected, as can be seen from the names of many repeated teams. After a hundred years of wind and frost, these teams have different situations, but the same football dream, so that they never stop chasing.

 As we all know, Arsenal was founded in 1886 by a group of workers at the "Royal Arsenal" weapons manufacturing facility in southeast London, so the team has always been nicknamed the arsenal and gunmen. After the First World War, Arsenal, who was promoted to the top league, has become a representative of British football. They have traveled to the world for competitions and exchanges many times. The team's reputation has spread to all parts of the world.

Today, in the world, except for the arsenal of the Premier League, there are nearly 20 clubs with Arsenal in the club name, and there are more than 10 countries in the Netherlands, Brazil, Ghana, Montenegro, Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, and the Czech Republic. In Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet Union regions, the name Arsenal is because Arsenal's original intention is the arsenal. The local team is inextricably linked with the military, so it is named here. In South America, it is simply because of pure worship.

In the Tula state of Russia, there is also a football team called the Arsenal, which is named after the gun production.

 Argentina has a team called the Salento arsenal (Arsenal de Sarandi), which was founded in 1957 by the former Argentine head of Grenada. The reason why the club was founded, in the words of the founding team of the year, is that In the worship of Arsenal. Since its inception, the Sarandi Arsenal has been full of imitation. The team's team logo and uniform color are blue and red, mainly to imitate the competition and independence of the same city (Aveyaneda), hoping to win more support. The Sarandi Arsenal won the first league title until 2012, when fans used to ridicule the Premier League Arsenal: "Your admirers have to imitate even for a long time without a crown." 1986 World Cup champion Bruce Chaga, now Chelsea goalkeeper Caballero is from this team.

Argentina’s  former head Grunardo (right) personally created the Sarandi arsenal team

 Also from the worship and extreme love, South America still has a lot of direct names in the Premier League as the club name. Everton de Vina del Mar was the result of a game in which the British Everton team traveled to the country in 1909. A group of British young immigrants who were inspired to form a team have been in existence ever since. Another rumor is quite interesting, saying that the British immigrants did not know that Everton visited Chile, but went to Argentina to watch Liverpool's visit. They wanted to set up a team called Liverpool, but they saw the game boring. , set up a team with their city called Everton. In any case, Everton is the enlightenment teacher of this team. In 2010, Everton, Chile was invited to the UK to play a brotherhood match with the real Everton, England Everton 2-0 wins.

Liverpool's visit to Argentina in the past inspired a group of South American teenagers who love football. This includes Liverpool in Uruguay, the capital (Montevideo) team founded in 1915, originally created by a team of local Catholic students who had many cultural exchanges with Liverpool, including football. So take it here. Another local saying in Uruguay is that the coal boats in the capital are mostly from the port of Liverpool, and the name is taken after seeing the words Liverpool on the coal box. In 2006, Uruguayan Liverpool changed the away jersey to red, which is very similar to Liverpool's home team uniform. In the winter of 2011, Suarez will join the Premier League Liverpool from Ajax, the British tabloid "The Sun" and other media concocted the title party: said Suarez can never join Liverpool, playing the South American Liverpool's boring Terrier, was scorned by fans. The Montevideo Rangers in Uruguay are also clearly influenced by the UK.

 Brazil's Corinthians have been named the most valuable team in South America by Forbes, worth $576.9 million. What many people don't know is that this São Paulo team was also inspired by a club in the UK. In 1910, the formation of a football club was also a movement of the upper class in Brazil, and civilians only had envy. At this time, a British team called Corinthian FC visited them and gave them the power to complete their dreams.

Brazilian Corinthians fans, so far grateful to the British Corinthians 100 years ago, the bottom right corner of the British Corinthians

 The British Corinthians team was founded in 1880, the club to promote the beauty of football as its greatest responsibility, once refused to participate in any competitions related to rankings and trophies, so the beginning of the establishment has not been the FA Cup and League One. The magic of this team is that the players in the team have their own skills, often beat the professional team. In 1904, they had a 11-3 victory over Manchester United. In 1900, they scored the British League championship. In 1884, they won the FA Cup champion Blackburn 8-1, and in 1903, the 10-3 blood washed FA Cup champion Aston Villa. Shocked England. Such a team and such a concept touched the five railway workers in São Paulo at that time, and formed the Brazilian Corinthians.

 After 102 years, Corinthians defeated Chelsea in the World Cup, standing on the top of the world, while the British Corinthians still in the British 8th league. In 2015, Corinthians of Brazil and Corinthians of the United Kingdom held a warm-up match to express their tribute.

Corinthians of Brazil and the British Corinthians finally met in a friendly match in 2015

 There is also a team in the state of São Paulo, Brazil called Clube Atletico Juventus. This team was founded in 1924 by the Italian descendant Crespi. The name of the club was his own name. He read a cross talk. The feeling of the middle mouth, called the São Paulo Cotonicio-Rudolf-Crespa-Futburg club, in 1925, in order to express respect for Juventus, Crespi renamed the club Juventus, But because his son Adriano is the loyalty of the Turin team, the team's team logo and uniform are similar to the Turin team.

 Similar to many South American teams, many African teams are often named after the Premier League team. The main reason is also worship. In Sierra Leone, in honor of Sir Matthews in Blackpool, and a tribute, a family called Soko Luolian’s team was renamed “Mighty Blackpool FC”. In addition, in Balecum, Ghana, there is not only a team called Chelsea, but also a team called Arsenal, and South Africa has a Blackburn. Although they are still working in their own low-level leagues, they may wait a few years and they will cast their own legends.

 The great dreams of the giants

 "Always imitated, never surpassed" is the trait of many wealthy teams, which also makes their followers around the world never stop.

 South America's largest city, Guayaquil, has a Barcelona Sporting Club. The team's name, team logo and uniform are the same as those of La Liga. This most successful team in Ecuador has won 15 national championships. In 1925, a Spanish immigrant named Perez set up the team in the name of his hometown of Barcelona. On the other hand, he also hoped that his team would use Barcelona as a learning goal. After nearly a hundred years of development, this Ecuadorian club has developed into a comprehensive sports club that combines basketball, baseball, tennis, swimming and athletics.

Barcelona in Ecuador is also dominant in the domestic league

 There are only 34,000 people in Gibraltar in Europe, and Manchester United has always been. The team that was founded in 1962, the original team uniform and club name is the same as the Red Devils. They are not simple cottages. The team used the name of Manchester United and was allowed by Sir Busby. Until 2013, after joining UEFA in Gibraltar, in order to avoid a possible encounter in the Champions League and Manchester United in the future, the name was unclear and changed its name to "Manchester United 1962".

 In Manchester, there is another wonderful red devil, that is, United of Manchester, the team that reversed Manchester United's English name, was established in 2005. The original intention was to oppose the American businessman Glazer family to control the team. At the beginning of the establishment, many former Manchester United fans were highly praised. At that time, the coach Ferguson was even furious because he was questioned by reporters at the press conference. Now that Lianman is in the sixth league of England, they are the largest club owned by the UK. The club is managed in a unique way. Members are equally voting to make decisions. Their grand goal is to surpass Manchester United in the future, although this does not seem to Too realistic.

The home atmosphere of United of Manchester is also very popular

 Behind the duplicate team name: a strange encyclopedia

 Examples of club names are everywhere in the world. The reasons behind it are different and can be called a strange and interesting encyclopedia.

 In Cape Town, South Africa, there is a team called Ajax Cape Town. The team was formed in 1999 by the combination of the local seven-star and Cape Town. Their major shareholder is the Ajax Club in the Netherlands, and Ajax in Cape Town is one of their satellite clubs. The Dutch management team will send excellent youth coaches to select people here. Pinar, who played for Everton, came from Cape Town Ajax and then went to the Dutch team. The Ajax satellite club model is being imitated by many luxury clubs.

Former Everton player Pinar debuted from Ajax, South Africa, and then traveled to Ajax, the Netherlands.

 Another reason for the name is a deep historical imprint. For example, in Angola, Cape Verde and Mozambique in Africa, there is a team named Benfica. These places were once Portuguese colonies, so the name of the team has continued. This situation is more common in Africa and South America.

Portugal's Benfica has many teams of the same name in Africa.

 Australia was once a British colony, so many of the names here are the same as in the UK, such as Newcastle, their sixth largest city. The team here is also known as Newcastle. Before 2005, this team used the Newcastle United and Newcastle Jets. After the reorganization in 2005, in order to distinguish it from the Premier League's Newcastle, the name was changed to Newcastle Jet. The team logo was specially added with three FA-18s. Wasp combat attack aircraft. In June 2016, Shenzhen Lehman acquired the club and owned a 100% stake in the team. The former TEDA player Ma Leilei had a short-lived effect. Also in Canada and the United States, there is also a place name called New Castle, where the team naturally also hits the Premier League's Newcastle.

After many years of restructuring, Newcastle jets from the team to the team uniform, no shadow of the Premier League Newcastle

 In the Caribbean and other regions, there are more famous teams. They often do not have the same name as a club, but rather put together the names of several giants. In Dominica, for example, the country's most successful club is called (Club Barcelona Atletico), and the British media said that the team that was founded in 1989 was inspired by Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. The team logo is very similar to Barcelona. A team in Bermuda called the Southampton Rangers Sports Club, inspired by the English Premier Saints and the Glasgow Rangers in Scotland. Barbados also has a team called (Youth Milan FC), which makes a simple copy of the name of Serie A AC Milan.

 Buy more, fast, good and provincial soccer jerseys, you would like to go to awishdeal.cn

[junker-town]

Meet the 9 candidates for U.S. Soccer president

Their ideas and backgrounds couldn’t be more wide-ranging.

On December 4, long-time U.S. Soccer federation president Sunil Gulati announced that he would not run for re-election. His imminent departure has created a wide-open field for February’s presidential election, and plenty of qualified candidates have thrown their hat into the ring.

Presently, there are nine people who have declared their candidacy. All have until December 12 to submit the necessary paperwork and secure three nominations from organization members. It’s expected that the field will thin a bit on that date. But for now, there are nine active candidates. Let’s meet them.

Kathy Carter

Who is she?: The president of Soccer United Marketing

I’m new here, what’s that?: SUM is the marketing arm of Major League Soccer, and U.S. Soccer is also a major stakeholder. They also promote some other club and international team games. SUM won the marketing rights to Copa America Centenario after the original rights holders got caught up in the FIFA scandal, and that’s why U.S. Soccer has $140 million in the bank.

What does she stand for?: Making money, basically. She wants to address women’s pay inequality and pay-to-play, for sure, but her policy proposals are pretty non-specific. Carter’s proven to be an extremely effective executive though, so there’s reason to believe she’s capable of hiring the right soccer people and empowering them with significant funding.

Chances of winning?: High. It’s hard to pick a favorite out of a field this large, but she has the ears of people currently in power.

Got a website where I can read more?: Yes!

Carlos Cordeiro

Who is he?: U.S. Soccer vice president, former Goldman Sachs executive

So this is as status quo as it gets?: That’ll be the optics for sure. Cordeiro has been Gulati’s right-hand man for the last year and a half.

What does he stand for?: He admits he’s not a soccer expert, so he wants to hire a GM who reports to the CEO. He also wants a commercial rights committee with an independent leader to eliminate potential conflicts of interest like the ones NASL is accusing the federation of.

Chances of winning?: Worse than before Carter entered, but he should have the right contacts to have a chance.

Got a website where I can read more?: Nope! But here’s an interview with Jonathan Tannenwald.

Eric Wynalda

Who is he?: A former USMNT player, coach, and FOX analyst

That dude I see yelling wild stuff on TV?: You bet. He’s playing a character for a TV audience, though. Outside of that world, Wynalda is a sharp guy with serious ideas for improving soccer in America.

What does he stand for?: Getting American pro soccer in line with the European schedule, reorganizing the second and third divisions to stabilize them.

Chances of winning?: Depends on how hungry for change USSF’s board members are. If they want a true anti-Gualti, Wynalda is their guy. But, if we’re being realistic, his chances are low. If Wynalda was good at schmoozing, he’d have been an MLS head coach or GM a long time ago.

Got a website where I can read more?: Yes!

Hope Solo

Who is she?: Former USWNT goalkeeper

Doesn’t she have a criminal case pending?: Yes. She was arrested on two counts of fourth degree domestic violence in 2014, and that case is still hung up in appeals. She won’t stand trial before the election. U.S. Soccer will require the president to pass a background check, but no one knows what “pass” means. Solo has not been convicted of a felony.

What does she stand for?: Using U.S. Soccer’s money to give more financially underprivileged kids a chance to play at top youth clubs and emphasizing transparency in all of USSF’s decisions.

Chances of winning?: Low. Solo likely faces an uphill climb in convincing voters that she has the necessary experience to run U.S. Soccer, and that her pending criminal case is a non-issue. But she’ll be an important voice that will force other candidates to take hard positions.

Got a website where I can read more?: Yes!

Steve Gans

Who is he?: Boston attorney who’s worked on a wide variety of soccer projects

Did I hear his name before all this started?: Yep. Gans declared that he’d oppose Sunil Gulati well before the USMNT failed to qualify for the World Cup and Gulati said he’d step down.

What does he stand for?: Completely revamping youth soccer. He wants coaches to define how the Development Academy should function and will rip it up to start from scratch if that’s what prominent youth coaches tell him to do. Forcing the pro leagues to cooperate with each other and, coinciding with that, trying to elevate the U.S. Open Cup.

Chances of winning?: Decent, if only because he’s been campaigning longer than anyone else. He had time to make connections and win over voters before other candidates entered the field.

Got a website where I can read more?: Yes!

Kyle Martino

Who is he?: Former USMNT player and NBC analyst

Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

Does he have any relevant experience?: Not really, which should hinder his campaign. Martino notes that he’s seen every level of the game as a player and parent, but he’s never been in charge of anything.

What does he stand for?: Creating an organic soccer culture by empowering amateur leagues and building futsal courts. Building regional training centers. Directly investing more of USSF’s money in NWSL.

Chances of winning?: Moderate. He’ll win over a lot of fans with his personality and passion for improving soccer in America, but it’ll be hard for many to look past the fact that he’s never been a coach, GM or executive at a high level.

Got a website where I can read more?: Yes!

Michael Winograd

Who is he?: New York lawyer, and former professional player and GM

Why are journalists stanning this guy I’ve never heard of?: He’s seen by many as the best candidate to bridge the business and technical sides of USSF’s operation. He’s the only one who has direct experience with both.

What does he stand for?: Transparent advisory committees for any key decisions made by the federation, and working with private businesses to incentivize them to fund youth soccer and coaching education.

Chances of winning?: Difficult to tell. He has the right pedigree and he’s saying the right things, but we don’t know yet if he’s made the right connections.

Got a website where I can read more?: Yes!

Paul Lapointe

Who is he?: Director for semi-pro United Premier Soccer League, former semi-pro and youth coach

Did I just see him get in a Twitter fight?: You sure did. He told Alexi Lalas that American soccer media is tarnishing the sport and a lot of people got mad.

What does he stand for?: Eliminating conflicts of interest in U.S. Soccer that he thinks lead to it favoring business relationships over player development, or one league over another. He also wants to make U.S. Soccer President a paid position and professionalize the organization.

Chances of winning?: Not great, Bob! He doesn’t have any prominent public endorsements. His incomprehensible tweets aren’t a great look either. Hopefully he gets other candidates to talk about the conflicts of interest presented by SUM, though.

Got a website where I can read more?: Nope! But here’s an interview with Scott French.

Paul Caligiuri

Who is he?: Former USMNT player best known for scoring the goal that qualified the USMNT for the 1990 World Cup. He’s been a coach since retiring and is currently the manager of NPSL team Orange County FC.

Shouldn’t this guy’s candidacy be a bigger deal?: You’d think so. Caligiuri has had the least to say and received the least media coverage of all candidates.

What does he stand for?: Reforming youth soccer by bringing the DA, Olympic Development Program, U.S. Club Soccer, and the talent ID program all under one big umbrella. Wants USSF to be more focused on player development than its business.

Chances of winning?: Low. He said in late November that he actually hadn’t filed the paperwork yet, which isn’t a great sign.

Got a website where I can read more?: Nope! Can’t find an interview with him either, and his Twitter is very inactive.

[junker-town]

Premier League clubs are mentally ‘on the beach’ because there’s less to play for than there used to be

Arsene Wenger is probably bitter about Arsenal’s failures, but he’s not wrong about the league changing. Six big clubs leave the rest with less to play for.

There are few subjects more prickly in English football than the suggestion that some teams try harder in some games than in others. When Kevin Keegan exploded at Alex Ferguson in 1996 — "I'll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them. Love it." — he was responding to Ferguson's suggestions that teams were trying harder against Manchester United than against Newcastle United, their title rivals.

“I think football in this country is so honest, and so, honestly, when you look sometimes abroad you have your doubts, but it really has got to me, and I've voiced it like, not in front of the press or anywhere, I'm not even going to the press conference, but the battle's still on. Man United have not won this yet, not by any means.”

Arsene Wenger's venture into the same territory this week hasn't had quite the same impact: his club aren't in a title race, the blood isn't running quite as hot, and there's nobody as wonderfully innocent as Keegan knocking around any more. But still, his claims that …

“We have two leagues. For example we had to fight very hard at Stoke and Southampton but some teams once they are safe just have a breather, which didn’t happen 10 years ago. The league has changed mentally. Morally it has changed a lot.”

… were met with some pushback. Pep Guardiola noted that "if you don’t want this situation, you have to win more games yourself"; David Moyes called it "an insult to football". Still, Wenger returned to his theme after Arsenal beat Sunderland on Tuesday night to keep the Race for the Champions League just about alive:

“I still think City are in it, they go to Watford, which is a difficult place to go. What you want is for everybody to fight like Sunderland did tonight. Then you accept your result, that's it.”

It is not, of course, an allegation that a player or a team has consciously decided to throw a game; that would be an extremely serious and possibly even slanderous thing to say. But at the same time, it's sort of heading in that direction. It suggests that something has insinuated itself into the minds of players, robbing them of their competitive edge. And in the process, distorting the final stages of the season.

This is not a new accusation, to the point that even has a cliche: "On the beach." It's not a particularly pleasant one either. At best it speaks of a certain lack of professionalism, at worst a complete abrogation of commitment. Wenger frames this as a "moral" issue, a question not just of preparation but of duty. In this context, a duty to the sporting integrity of the league; to an abstract principle that all 380 games must be played in a spirit of full, unfettered competition.

Is he right that this happens, this drift to the beach? Moyes rejected the idea out of hand, as did West Bromwich Albion's Jonny Evans earlier this season, but it can certainly appear so to the external observer. Naturally, the general wear and tear of a season will play a part, but the fact that this phenomenon has its own cliche suggests that at the very least there's a certain stickiness to the suspicion. In any case, perhaps the most interesting element of Wenger's thoughts is not his assertion that it happens, but that it has increased over the last 10 years.

A cynic might suggest that this same decade has seen Arsenal drift from regular title challengers to regular Champions League qualifiers, and wonder if there might not be a small amount of frustration, even bitterness, informing this opinion. But a different kind of cynic might look elsewhere, and wonder if the league itself has changed.

What can teams get from a Premier League campaign? They can win the thing, of course. They can come close to winning it, and qualify for the Champions League. They can come a little further away, and nick themselves a Europa League place. Or they can avoid relegation. Those are the prizes, practically speaking, even though only one comes with a trophy. And over the last 10 years — Leicester City's miracle notwithstanding — they have all, bar one, been slowly removed from the reach of most of the league.

This season, six teams began the season with the explicit target of trying to win the league and, if they fell short, at the very least qualifying for the Champions League. In theory that makes for an exciting title race, but one consequence is that it rather clogs up the top of the league. At least two of them have to fail, and that failure will most likely manifest itself as fifth- and sixth-place finishes. And so it has turned out: Chelsea are in first, Spurs are in second, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal will sort out third through fifth, and Manchester United will come sixth.

So the rest of the league is competing for just two things: seventh, which sometimes comes with a Europa League spot depending on how the cups go, and the much more important reward of Not Getting Relegated. Eighth through 17th are, increments of prize money aside and notions of pride aside, effectively the same position. This season's league table seems determined to drive the point home: even if Southampton, currently in eighth, beat Manchester United on Wednesday evening, they'll go into the final weekend 10 points ahead of Swansea City in 17th, but 13 behind Everton in seventh.

Over the last ten years, the Premier League's glass ceiling has been pushed down and now seals away almost all of the league's prizes. Obviously this doesn't prevent miraculous charges like Leicester last season, or spectacular collapses like Chelsea, but the trend is there. And any club that has the temerity to have a notably good season is immediately picked clean by the teams above them, ensuring that sides can't ever chain seasons of progress together. Arsenal have played their part in this last process, of course, making occasional raids on Southampton's academy.

Whether this is sustainable remains to be seen: six into four doesn't go, after all, and winning the Europa League isn't the most reliable back-up plan when there are hungry sponsors to feed. But at the moment, for the majority of its teams, the league offers nothing much to play for beyond survival. If Wenger is right, and more teams are mentally checking out at this point, then perhaps the fault lies not with them but with their league.

Obviously footballers, just like everybody else, are motivated by more complex forces than just 'box ticked, no more boxes to tick, job done'. But it would be hard to blame anybody for losing just a little intensity, even unwittingly, once it becomes clear that the season is essentially sorted. No consolation to Wenger, of course, who has his season and perhaps his job riding on the efforts of others. But it's hard to escape the thought that even if the hypemen are right, and anybody can beat anybody in the Premier League, increasingly there isn't always a whole lot of point.