Governing Bodies
RELEGATION-BOUND BOTTOM 6 PLOT AGAINST PREMIERSHIP RESUMPTION
The Premier League will make a desperate plea for unity this week amid claims that the bottom six clubs are sabotaging plans to resume the season.
According to UK’s Daily Mail, their is another sign of the destructive conflict gripping the top flight English football. It revealed that some of the Big Six are lobbying for guarantees that promotion and relegation will still be implemented, even if the season is curtailed.
The dramatic move following last Friday’s shareholders’ meeting represents an attempt by the biggest clubs to persuade those in the bottom three to vote for playing on, as it would be their only hope of avoiding relegation.
The split over the merits of Project Restart is largely based on where clubs stand in the table, with an executive at one club telling Sportsmail on Sunday that the objections raised by clubs near the bottom were a deliberate act of sabotage.
The Premier League have attempted to maintain a show of solidarity throughout the increasingly acrimonious debate that has raged since the season was suspended on March 13. But that facade finally cracked over the weekend.
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber opposed publicly the Premier League’s plan to complete the campaign using 10 neutral venues by saying that such a move would damage the integrity of the competition, while Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish responded in the Sunday Times with a strong expression of the social and economic case for football’s return.
Such divergent opinions appear to be diplomatically expressed versions of the robust debate that took place last Friday and the more heated discussions that are occurring in private.
‘They are threatening to destroy football just to avoid the risk of relegation,’ is how one executive put it. ‘Their thinking is so short-sighted.’
In another indication of the febrile atmosphere, one source present at the meeting told Sportsmail that 13 clubs were in favour of Project Restart, six opposed and one was undecided. Others are claiming there are at least eight rebel clubs, which would be enough to veto the plan.
Such are the tensions that some clubs have been accused of using their medical staff to stoke fear among players about the health risks of returning to action.
The Premier League will need 14 votes in favour for matches to resume, with June 12 the favoured restart date, but that ballot is unlikely to take place at a meeting on Friday, which has been scheduled to follow publication of the Government’s lockdown exit strategy the previous evening.
Instead, the Premier League’s plan is to continue to pursue a step-by-step approach based on increasing the intensity of training from individual, through small groups to full contact, in the hope that the spread of Covid-19 has slowed significantly by the time a decision is required at the end of the month.
While the finer details on neutral venues, broadcasting, promotion and relegation — and a Plan B if the season is suspended for a second time — still need to be resolved, the Premier League are hoping to secure an agreement to return in principle.
Chief executive Richard Masters is expected to spell out the need for unity, and to urge clubs to put self-interest and squabbling aside. While there is sympathy regarding the integrity issues raised by Barber and others, the Premier League want clubs to commit to doing everything they can to resume in order to prevent financial collapse.
Most clubs have accepted that next season’s season-ticket money and sponsorship income will be diminished due to the strong likelihood that social distancing measures will be maintained, and the loss of the £762million outstanding on the television contract would put many in jeopardy.
The clubs will also be urged to emphasise the Premier League’s importance to the country as a whole, and its potential role in kick-starting the economic recovery from the shutdown and improving the nation’s health.
A report from accountancy firm Ernst & Young published last year stated that top-flight clubs paid £3.3billion in tax during the 2016-17 season and employed 12,000 people directly, as well as supporting almost 100,000 full-time jobs in other companies, many of which would be lost without Premier League football.
In addition, the Premier League and clubs support numerous community and grassroots projects, some of which would be scrapped as part of cost-cutting measures.
The Premier League’s Project Restart is strongly supported by the FA and the EFL, who are eager for matches to resume as soon as possible in the hope that it will enable their own competitions to follow.
Other sports are watching with interest, particularly cricket and rugby, who also have valuable television deals which finance their entire structure.
The chief executive of another sport told Sportsmail: ‘We are a million miles behind the Premier League in terms of resources, testing capacity and medical provision. If they are unable to resume this summer, then we have no chance.’
By Kunle Solaja.
Egyptian publication Ahram has reported an astronomical increase in prize money in all tiers of Egyptian domestic competitions.
This decision by the Egyptian Football Association to unveil what it described as the biggest prize-money package in its history for the 2025/26 season has once again thrown the spotlight on the modest financial rewards in Nigerian domestic football competitions.
Under the new structure announced by the Egyptian federation, winners of the Egypt Cup will receive EGP 2 million (approximately $37,000), while runners-up will earn about $19,000. The champions of the Egyptian Premier League are also expected to pocket EGP 5 million, estimated at about $94,000.
The package extends beyond the elite division. Clubs promoted from Egypt’s Second Division (A) will each earn roughly $19,000, while those advancing from Second Division (B) will receive close to $9,500 each.
Women’s football and youth competitions were equally accommodated. Winners of the Women’s Football League will receive about $9,500, while the Women’s Egypt Cup champions and runners-up will earn nearly $7,500 and $3,700 respectively. Youth championships across several age categories also have dedicated prize allocations running into millions of Egyptian pounds.
The Egyptian initiative is being viewed in many football circles as a deliberate attempt to improve club stability, encourage grassroots development and make domestic competitions more competitive.
For Nigerian football stakeholders, the development offers another example of how stronger financial incentives can stimulate growth in local competitions.
In Nigeria, complaints over poor prize money have persisted for years, especially in the domestic league, women’s football and youth competitions. Several clubs continue to struggle financially, while players and officials often lament inadequate rewards despite demanding schedules and rising operational costs.
Observers argue that meaningful prize money can motivate clubs to invest more seriously in infrastructure, player welfare, youth development and women’s football.
The Egyptian model also demonstrates that football development is not restricted to top-flight competitions alone. By extending financial rewards to lower divisions and youth categories, the federation appears to be creating a broader economic support system for its football ecosystem.
Many Nigerian football followers believe the Nigeria Football Federation, the Nigeria Premier Football League and corporate partners can draw valuable lessons from Egypt’s approach.
With Nigerian clubs facing increasing financial pressure and continental competitiveness declining in recent years, analysts insist that enhanced prize money could become one of the incentives needed to revive domestic football and restore greater excitement around.
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By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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