Governing Bodies
Premier League celebrates 30 year rise to global dominance
The Premier League celebrated its 30th anniversary on Monday, marking three decades that has seen English club football transformed into the world’s leading sports entertainment product.
In 1992, the top clubs broke with 104 years of tradition by splitting from the Football League and controversially creating a ‘super league’ which would keep its own income rather than sharing it with the clubs across all four divisions of the professional game.
The move only became a reality because it was backed by the governing Football Association — a decision that was viewed as a betrayal by many of the smaller teams — and by domestic television companies viewed with suspicion by sceptical fans.
Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Television then secured the rights and set about heavily promoting the league which since its inception has been driven by broadcast revenues.
The American style approach, evident in mimicking the NFL’s ‘Monday Night Football’, pushed the popularity of the national sport to new levels but at first some baulked at the razzmatazz.
“I don’t think we all realised quite what the Premier League was going to become 30 years ago,” said Teddy Sheringham who scored the first televised goal in the league for Nottingham Forest against Liverpool.
“It was a new thing and exciting times. There were dancing girls on a Monday night and it was all fan-dabby-dozy,” he added.
In time though, the TV income allowed clubs to attract top players from around the world which in turn drove interest abroad.
There were only 13 players from outside the British Isles on the opening weekend of the first Premier League season in 1992 but in the 30 years that followed players from 120 countries have featured in the league with 63 nationalities represented last season.
Now broadcast to 800 million homes in 188 countries with 90 broadcasters and more than 400 channels showing games, the Premier League and its clubs count almost a billion followers on social media.
This year, for the first time, the league will generate more revenue from foreign television deals than the established domestic market.
When all deals are concluded, the league expects foreign rights sales to generate 5.3 billion pounds ($6.40 billion) over the next three seasons with 5.1 billion raised from UK broadcasters.
BIG CITY DOMINANCE
While 50 clubs have featured in the league, unsurprisingly given its origins, the league has been increasingly dominated by the big city clubs.
There have only been seven clubs who have won the league with only Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City coming from outside of the major cities.
The early years were dominated by Manchester United who won seven of the first nine titles under Alex Ferguson in an era in which they enjoyed epic battles with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal team — winners in 1998, 2002 and 2004.
Another London club, Chelsea, backed by Russian Roman Abramovich won back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006 before United returned to dominance with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Manchester City, under Pep Guardiola, have dominated in recent years, winning four of the last five titles, only interrupted by Liverpool in 2020 — their first title since the breakaway.
For all the talk of ‘marketing geniuses’, from Arsenal’s unbeaten ‘Invincibles’ season in 2003-4, to Sergio Aguero’s last minute title winning goal for Manchester City eight years later, it has been the drama on the field that has constantly pushed the growth in popularity.
“The league is full of compelling characters, whether it be the players or increasingly the managers. It constantly produces engaging storylines that capture the imagination of fans across the world,” says sports marketing expert Chris Cook of Fancurve.
“The Premier League created the ‘product’, or at least professionalised it and marketed it properly to a global audience, but the individual teams and players themselves are actually bigger brands than the Premier League as an entity.”
Will, however, England’s top flight remain the world’s most watched for the next 30 years?
Wenger believes the only threats to Premier League dominance would come from others following the example of 30 years and breaking away from established structures — such as last year’s attempt at a European Super League.
“Where is the threat? It’s the Super League. I was surprised that six (English) teams signed up,” he told Sky Sports.
“Maybe they could move a league to the States. That’s where the threat can come as well. If, one day, America is successful in football then it can be a problem for the league.”
Reuters
Governing Bodies
Zimbabwe sports minister among candidates for International Olympic Committee presidency
A total of seven candidates are running for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee with the winner replacing outgoing president Thomas Bach at elections in March 2025 in ancient Olympia, Greece.
Kirsty Coventry:
Age: 41
Country: Zimbabwe
Entry into the IOC: 2013
An Olympic swimming champion and Zimbabwe’s most successful Olympian, Coventry is Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister. She is the only woman among the candidates and the only one from Africa.
Prince Feisal Al Hussein:
Age: 60
Country: Jordan
Entry into the IOC: 2010
Prince Feisal heads the Jordan Olympic Committee and has been an IOC executive board member since 2019. An Executive Board member of the Olympic Council of Asia, Prince Feisal has also held several posts at the Royal Jordanian Air Force.
Sebastian Coe:
Age: 67
Country: Britain
Entry into the IOC: 2020
An Olympic track and field champion and head of World Athletics, Coe also led the organisation for the 2012 London Olympics. A former Conservative Member of Parliament, Coe is also involved in sports consultancy and is a former head of the British Olympic Association.
Johan Eliasch:
Age: 62
Country: Britain
Entry into the IOC: 2024
The wealthy Swedish-born entrepreneur with a variety of business interests has headed the international skiing federation since 2021. He only joined the IOC in July at its session in the Paris Olympics.
David Lappartient:
Age: 51
Country: France
Entry into the IOC: 2022
A rising figure in world sports administration. He heads the international cycling body, UCI, and is in charge of esports within the IOC, having helped seal a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia earlier this year for the Olympic esports Games.
Juan Antonio Samaranch:
Age: 64
Country: Spain
Entry into the IOC: 2001
The son of the late former IOC president, Samaranch has considerable IOC experience and influence in his six years as vice president and 23 as a member. He headed the coordination commission for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Morinari Watanabe:
Age: 65
Country: Japan
Entry into the IOC: 2018
Watanabe has headed the gymnastics federation (FIG) since 2016, having been re-elected twice since. He is the first Japanese candidate to run for the IOC presidency.
Governing Bodies
World Athletics boss, Coe and multi-millionaire Eliasch among seven candidates for IOC presidency
World athletics chief Sebastian Coe, multi-millionaire and Olympic newcomer Johan Eliasch and Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry are among seven candidates for next year’s International Olympic Committee presidency election, the IOC said on Monday.
IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch, son of the late former IOC president, international cycling chief David Lappartient, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan and international gymnastics federation head Morinari Watanabe are also in the running to succeed current president Thomas Bach.
The 70-year-old German is stepping down next year after 12 years at the helm. The election will be held at the IOC session in ancient Olympia, Greece in March 2025.
The candidates will all present their programmes, behind closed doors, to the full IOC membership in January 2025.
The IOC, with 111 members currently, is in charge of the Olympic Games and the multi-billion dollar industry linked to the world’s biggest multi-sports event.
Bach’s departure comes with the organisation in a financially robust position, having secured $7.3 billion for the years 2025-28 and $6.2 billion already in deals for 2029-2032.
The president is elected to an eight-year first term with the possibility of a second term of four years, if re-elected.
Coe, 67, only joined the IOC in 2020 after a rocky relationship between World Athletics and the IOC over Coe’s ban of Russian track and field athletes almost a decade ago following the country’s doping scandal.
A former Olympic champion with a wealth of experience in the sports world, Coe was previously head of the London 2012 Games and the British Olympic Association. He is also a former Conservative Member of Parliament.
Coventry, 41, is the only woman running for president and the former Olympic swimming champion, who is Zimbabwe’s most decorated Olympian, could become not only the first female president but also the first from Africa.
MALE PRESIDENTS
All IOC presidents have been men, with eight of the nine from Europe and one from the United States.
The 62-year-old Eliasch, head of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), only joined the IOC in July, with the Swedish-born British businessman’s candidacy a surprise for some.
Prince Feisal, 60, is a member of the IOC executive board, having joined the organisation in 2010, while Spaniard Samaranch, with considerable IOC experience in his six years as vice president, headed the coordination commission for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
“The IOC and Olympic movement have made enormous strides over the past decade under the leadership of Mr Bach,” said Samaranch in a statement.
“The IOC now needs a new leader with deep experience of the Olympic movement who can help steer it through this period of upheaval.”
UCI chief Lappartient has been a rapidly rising figure within the sports world after joining the IOC in 2022.
The Frenchman also is in charge of esports within the IOC, having helped seal a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia earlier this year for the Olympic esports Games.
Japan’s Watanabe, 65, has headed the gymnastics federation (FIG) since 2016, having been re-elected twice since, and is his country’s first ever candidate for the IOC presidency.
Under current rules members have to step down when they reach 70, the IOC’s age limit, unless they are given a four-year extension.
-Reuters
There is currently insinuations that proposed certain elements may have smuggled modifications to amend the Statutes of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) when the body holds its General Assembly next month in Kinshasa, Congo next month.
The confederation will be having its 46th General Assembly on 10th October. It is at such gatherings that amendments are made to existing rules.
According to an article authored by Mansour Loum, the editor of Sports News Africa, some national football federations have denied being party to proposed amendments which were linked to them.
One of such is coming from the Equatorial Guinea Football Federation which has denied signing proposals being circulated relating to amendments to CAF Statutes.
It is claimed that a circular dated 8 September has been sent to CAF member associations. Signed by CAF General Secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba, it is titled: “Proposals for amendments to the CAF statutes and regulations for the application of the statutes, as well as the rules of procedure of the CAF General Assembly, presented by the national associations.”
Seven member associations were quoted as sponsoring the amendments. They are: Botswana, Comoros, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania and Niger.
But Equatorial Guinea has denied being party to the proposed amendment which seek to remove age barrier for candidates seeking to be CAF Presidents and also removing zonal considerations in election into FIFA Council.
The current Statute stipulates that a presidential candidate must not be older than 70 as at the date of election.
Most of the national federation members are already approaching that age. In the estimation of the author of the article, Mansour Loum, the current CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, is 62 years old. With the age limit, he could, for example, only run for two more terms.
Continuing, Loum wrote that regarding the elections to the FIFA Council, each zone has a representative on the FIFA Council and candidates for these positions can only be elected by the presidents of the member associations of their group zone.
Thus, the presidents of French-speaking federations can only vote for a French-speaking representative, the English-speakers for the English-speaking group, and so on.
The distribution of seats on the FIFA Council is currently as follows:
Francophone Group – Two members
Anglophone Group – Two members
Arabophone/Lusophone/Hispanophone Group – Two members
One female member elected from among the female candidates, regardless of language groups
The modification of the grouping by zonal unions would mean that all presidents could vote for candidates outside their group, or that the candidates would also no longer be limited to a group.
Several candidates from the same group could be elected to the FIFA Council, while at the same time some groups could no longer be represented.
Equatorial Guinea disputes any request for modification. The football federation president, Venancio Tomas Ndong Micha has reportedly denied being party to the proposed amendments.
“I am writing to you to present the disagreement of the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation with part of the content of the document sent to the CAF Executive Council on September 8, 2024 signed by you (…)
“In this document, there are amendments presented by the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation (…) By this letter, we confirm that the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation has not submitted any amendments to the CAF administration for the 46th CAF Ordinary General Assembly to be held on Thursday, October 10, 2024 in Kinshasa,” he denounces.
Enough to cast doubt on this document sent by the CAF secretary general and the objective targeted. Contacted, a federation president, whose body is not mentioned in the letter, is surprised by these two requests for amendments and wonders about their intentions.
The press release from the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation has sown doubt and now he is questioning the originality of the attachments included in this document which is likely to be talked about between now and the CAF General Assembly.
– Mansour Loum
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