List of All Articles with Tag 'f'

Manchester City were often described as the best team in the world, even before the Champions League that had long eluded them gave them a greater claim to that title. It was more contentious when their chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, called them “the No 1 football brand in the world”. The alternative argument is that City are not even the leading football brand in Manchester. But at a point when Manchester United is up for sale and the Glazers want $6 billion, it was notable that Al Mubarak described the value of the City Football Group as over $6 billion. The picture he painted in his end-of-season address was of financial and footballing success with some of the world’s best executives, scouts and sporting staff. Certainly that description applies to Pep Guardiola. And yet this could not simply be the celebration of a transformation, a 15-year journey from a team who were in the relegation zone at Christmas a few months after Sheikh Mansour’s takeover to one who demolished Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, to the situation where Erling Haaland signed a contract and told Al Mubarak he would win him the Champions League. “To show you where Erling is going, this is the beginning,” Al Mubarak said. “And the scary part, this is just the beginning for him.” In a way, it is just the beginning for City, too: just not quite in the same respect. Al Mubarak said it was “very frustrating” the treble has come against the backdrop of 115 charges by the Premier League. The Emirati promised a “very blunt” response, but only when the legal process has happened. The question if these are tainted, tarnished titles will linger; perhaps forever, certainly until a case is finally heard. Some might argue there is an irony there. Al Mubarak had claimed Sheikh Mansour has given “passion to the club”; that the Champions League final was just the second game the owner had seen in the flesh might suggest he has a different way of showing it but, with his billions, he has been the architect of a rise. But if sportswashing is intended to launder reputations, City instead find their achievements and character impugned. The issues, however, do not surround the all-conquering 2022-23 season as much as how City got here; how they constructed the platform that took them to such heights and whether the financing that allowed them to build to this point amounted to repeated and deliberate breaches of regulations. On the pitch, City attract admiring glances. Al Mubarak claimed that, at a Uefa dinner the night before the Champions League final, he was asked what was special about City. “The winning mentality,” he replied, and that is not something that can simply be bought. He reflected on the hunger of Haaland, who reacted to his five-goal salvo against RB Leipzig by thinking he should have scored seven or eight, and the humility of the World Cup winner Julian Alvarez. He talked about how City have executives that rival clubs are trying to hire and the excellence of their medical staff. “Unheralded heroes,” he said. There was a point to the praise. There is a misconception that City can call upon a vast pool of players. “We have a high-quality small squad,” Al Mubarak countered. “But it’s not what I think is the perception, which is that we operate with a huge squad; that is not the case.” It is partly Guardiola’s preference but they are operating with around 18 top-class options, some of them very expensive, not a cast of thousands, like Chelsea. “People will throw at us, ‘the biggest spenders’, ‘you have the biggest squad,’” he said. Yet City should have few problems with Financial Fair Play now. “Look at our net spend figures,” Al Mubarak added. In a summer when they signed Haaland, they made a transfer-market profit, partly because of the departures of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, partly because they banked around £50 million by selling four youth-team products to Southampton. There were years of vast outlay. Now City has become a business with revenue streams. “We have a commercial machine that is one of the best in the world,” Al Mubarak said; some may disagree – many of their sponsorships come from the United Arab Emirates, some from companies connected to Sheikh Mansour – but City’s problem is not the present or the future, but the past and how they got here. For now, they have Guardiola tied up for another two years – Al Mubarak said he was “never concerned” before the Catalan extended his contract – an outstanding team and the opportunity to strengthen it. The outlook should be sunny but there are still clouds on the landscape. Read More Man City chairman vows to give ‘very blunt views’ on FFP charges once concluded Saudi Arabia can help Chelsea solve headache — but talks raise more questions than answers Sportswashing is about to change football beyond anything you can imagine

Newcastle United are currently £30 million off Internazionale's valuation of Nicolo Barella, as Eddie Howe seeks to make a midfielder their main signing for this summer. That may see the Saudi-owned club turn to AC Milan's Sandro Tonali, although negotiations are ongoing over Barella. Inter Milan ended up paying Cagliari close to £40m all in for Barella and want to make a profit as they face pressure to raise money. That has meant an asking price of close to £80m but Newcastle do not want to go above £50m given the Italian's club situation. Liverpool have been similarly interested in Barella as they feel his energy fits with exactly what they want from a second midfielder to complement Alexis Mac Allister. The Anfield club nevertheless believe the price is currently far too high, with Nice's Khephren Thuram offering a more affordable option. Newcastle are themselves willing to look elsewhere with both Tonali and Chelsea's Conor Gallagher names they have considered. The St James Park club also have long-standing interest in James Maddison and sounded out Leicester City over whether he would be buyable for £45m, which was similar to what they have been willing to put forward for Barella. Leicester currently want almost double that, though, while the player himself is understood to prefer a move south for family reasons. That is why Tottenham Hotspur are now seen as more likelier to sign Maddison, although they similarly remain some way off as regards price.

By Veronica Dudei Maia Khongwir BENGALURU The Philippine central bank will leave its key interest rate unchanged at

(Reuters) -Energy company NiSource said on Tuesday it would sell a minority stake in its unit, NIPSCO, for $2.15 billion

FIFA is set to examine reports on two separate instances of alleged racism in international matches played on Monday. The Republic of Ireland Under-21s’ match against Kuwait Under-22s in Austria was called off after an allegation that a Kuwaiti player racially abused one of Ireland’s substitutes. The senior international between New Zealand and Qatar, also in Austria, was cut short after the New Zealand Football Association said one of its players, Michael Boxall, had a racist remark directed at him in the first half by a Qatari opponent. Even though the Ireland match was a tier two friendly and not requiring formal FIFA approval to be played, the fact that the Football Association of Ireland said in a tweet on Monday evening it would be reporting the matter to FIFA would oblige the game’s global governing body to investigate. The New Zealand match was played under FIFA jurisdiction, meaning the referee’s report will be sent to the global governing body as a matter of course. FIFA would be expected to take a tough stance if one or both of the allegations are found proven. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said last week: “It’s very important not just to talk about racism and discrimination, but to take action in a decisive and convincing manner – zero tolerance. “There is no football if there is racism – so let’s stop the games. “The referees have this opportunity in FIFA competitions as we have this process for stopping the game, and actions have to be taken at every level, at national level as well.” Infantino made the remarks after meeting with the Brazil squad in Barcelona, including Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior who has been on the receiving end of repeated racial abuse in Spain this year. The Football Association of Ireland posted a tweet on Monday which read: “The FAI regrets to announce that today’s U21 international against Kuwait has been abandoned after a racist remark was made by a Kuwaiti player towards one of our substitutes. “The FAI does not tolerate any racism towards any of our players or staff and will be reporting this serious matter to FIFA and UEFA.” The Kuwaiti federation published a tweet in which Olympic football team director Jarrah Al Ateeqi claimed the match had been abandoned “due to roughness and excessive tension between the players”. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live It’s been an awful few days – ‘Emotional’ Fred Wright eyes first British title Rob Page urges Wales to improve discipline against opponents ‘good at dark arts’ French police searching headquarters of Paris 2024 organising committee

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 20, 2023--

European Union consumer protection groups are urging regulators to investigate the type of artificial intelligence underpinning systems like ChatGPT over risks that leave people vulnerable

Civitas Resources said on Tuesday it would acquire oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin from private

Lebanese officials say auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Nissan and about a dozen individuals in Beirut over his imprisonment in Japan and what he says is misinformation spread against him

The naira closed weaker than the unauthorized market on Monday for the first time since the central bank

It is unclear what prompted the search but French media links it to how contracts have been awarded.

By Laura Matthews NEW YORK Foreign-exchange investors are moving more of their over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trades to lookalike