As Inside Sport reported last weekend, Championship clubs headed to EFL headquarters for a summit on the proposed new financial redistribution offer from the Premier League on Thursday.
While no final decisions were made, things – from the EFL’s perspective at least – would appear to be moving in the right direction ahead of the Independent Football Regulator releasing its State of the Game report on Tuesday. The EFL want the extra £1.8bn over 10 years to be split 75 per cent to the second tier, and 15 and 10 to the third and fourth rather than the existing 80/12/8 divvy-up.
While the meeting in Paddington featured plenty of detail and data, it was not without humour. One attendee, from a northern-based club, was more than an hour late, confessing that he had somehow managed to catch a train bound for Glasgow, rather than London.
Another official, perhaps not realising he was still audible to those watching remotely, took a swipe at the FA for what he believed to be its lenient sentencing of Southampton manager Tonda Eckert, who was given a suspended ban for his role in the Spygate scandal.
While many in the room would have privately echoed his comments, listening Saints officials noted them with interest.
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert was handed a suspended ban for his role in the Spygate saga
Sales outside US are sluggish for LA Games
Insiders have disclosed that ticket sales for the LA Olympics in 2028 are going like a train. However, it is understood the IOC are concerned that fewer than five per cent have been purchased from outside the United States.
It would be easy to lay the blame for this at President Donald Trump’s border control and other policies, though this year’s FIFA World Cup proved that sports fans are prepared to travel to the US.
The apparent lack of international interest may well be down to what industry experts have branded a ‘woeful lack of PR and promotion in Europe’, along with other markets to date. A very insular Games is looming.
England set for different ball game
The FA’s revamp of St George’s Park, announced last week, will feature a new addition in the shape of Padel courts. England manager Thomas Tuchel is a fan, along with many of the current squad.
DAZN say no to refunds despite NFL shambles
DAZN is refusing to issue refunds despite a spectacular cock-up during its NFL coverage last weekend. Fans who pay £180 for a season pass were more than three hours into the Buffalo Bills versus New England Patriots match, with a close-fought game on the line.
All of a sudden, with less than a minute remaining and the score delicately poised at 29-26 to visitors New England, the screen went blank and simply failed to return, robbing those watching of the opportunity to see the match-clinching moment.
The brazen broadcaster, seemingly turning a blind eye to what had actually happened, subsequently told furious customers that a refund was not ‘appropriate given the nature and duration of the disruption’.
New England beat Buffalo last week… but DAZN viewers did not see the conclusion
A warning to FIFA
One man watching FIFA’s Council closely next week will be Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, co-founder and Global CEO of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) and former CEO of the European Professional Football Leagues.
Inside Sport has seen a copy of his latest Integrity Line blog, in which he argues that an internal FIFA working group cannot, on its own, provide independent assurance that the organisation’s governance is fit for purpose with under-pressure Gianni Infantino at the helm.
‘An election determines who leads FIFA. It does not establish whether the system through which they lead is fit for purpose,’ writes the sports governance expert, warning that FIFA must realise that without proper scrutiny of its structure, it will only undermine its credibility and alienate football fans further.
It’s been a privilege to follow Charlie
This will be the final Inside Sport column in the Daily Mail, bringing to an end a more than quarter-of-a-century run started by former editor and force of nature Charles Sale with his Sports Agenda, which was first published in 2001. Ironically, Mr Sale was in touch just last week ahead of a book launch event for the former Ipswich Town and FA executive David Sheepshanks.
The central London event was also to be attended by my father-in-law, a former chairman at a once-Premier League club who, like so many others, had occasionally been on the receiving end of his prolific pen.
‘How old is he these days?’ Charlie tentatively enquired. ‘Is he frail or still capable of throwing a punch?’
It has been a privilege to follow in Charlie’s giant footsteps, although thankfully for only one day a week rather than his Herculean six, and to continue to throw some of those jabs, albeit aimed at those a little further from home.
