FAI to attend hearing over knowledge of abuse claims
The FAI apologised to the women but have been repeatedly asked to attend a hearing in front of the Joint Committee to clarify claims they had knowledge of the allegations prior to the release of the findings.The association said a four-week deferral was required to "enable adequate preparation time, given the complexity introduced by the Committee seeking material that relates directly to an ongoing Garda investigation". In their statement, it added this was also due to "key personnel" being on annual leave on 9 July and 16 July - the dates offered for the meeting."The Committee requested a broad range of documents, many that relate specifically to an ongoing Garda investigation," said the FAI."Any disclosure must also be assessed carefully for legal and GDPR compliance given the sensitive and confidential nature of safeguarding information requested."Over the intervening period we will continue to liaise with the Committee to ensure the scope of the session is clearly defined to ensure that no parties could inadvertently compromise an ongoing investigation."The FAI added it will "fully respect the important work" of the Joint Committee and is "fully committed to engaging constructively with the Committee on this matter"."We look forward to them defining a revised date where this session can proceed," it continued.The statement also encouraged anyone involved in Republic of Ireland football who has experienced abuse to report it to the FAI.
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BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
No anthems or special balls - but Champions League starts now
In some ways the purest form of the Champions League starts this is only 38 days since Paris St-Germain demolished Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena in front of the eyes of the world - but the vibe is very different as the new campaign kicks first qualifying round begins on Tuesday at 16:00 BST in Kuopio, Finland, with 28 teams - all of them champions of their country - in action this may be no Champions League anthem before games and clubs just use their own balls but it is the Champions League still - including Virtus, from San Marino, who are eight games away from the league Liechtenstein, who do not have a league, and Russia, who remain banned because of the war with Ukraine, do not get at least one Champions League is a long road to the 2026 final in Budapest in 326 days' time, although it is likely every club kicking off this week will be footnotes by Sport has a look at some of the stories, teams and ties involved this week. Could someone go all the way? Only 10 teams managed to go all the way through from the first round of Champions League qualifying to the group or league phase - including Slovan Bratislava last got past Struga, Celje, Apoel and Midtjylland... before losing all eight league games. But just getting there meant they earned more than £15m. And their 16 matches played were only one fewer than champions a team went all the way through to the final they could end up playing 25 Champions League games (a path that requires them featuring in the the knockout phase play-offs).Only one team have reached the knockout stages after starting in the very first round - Liverpool in Reds were Champions League winners in 2005, but finished fifth in the Premier League - and back then the holders did not automatically qualify. Uefa gave them special dispensation, but they had to start in the first round of got through three rounds of qualifying (as it was back then) - beating TNS, FBK Kaunas and CSKA Sofia - and won their group before a last-16 exit. The 552nd best team Virtus, champions of San Marino, are the lowest-ranked team in the draw by some distance. All of their players and staff have other 10-year club coefficients ranks them 552nd (out of 554 teams), a list that only includes teams who have played in Europe over that period of season was their debut in Europe, as they lost 11-1 to Romanian side FCSB in this round.A second consecutive league title has them competing again - this time against Bosnian champions Zrinjski the club accept they have very little chance of advancing and see it as a privilege to be involved. For one thing no Sammarinese team have ever won a Champions League they are confident of competing well in the Conference League third qualifying round, which the losers of this game will drop president Pier Domenico Giulianelli said: "This is our second time in the Champions League, and we're sure that the experience last year will be useful. "We know these will be two very tough matches, but I'm confident the boys will give their all on the pitch."The club are expecting about 1,000 fans at the San Marino Stadium in Serravalle, with about three-quarters of them coming from Bosnia. They usually get 50-100 people at their home only San Marino international is Alessandro Golinucci, who captained the country to their famous win over Liechtenstein last September which ended a 20-year run without a victory. The new boys The only Champions League debutants in the first round of qualifying are Armenian side FC season they went through every round of Conference League qualifying before reaching the league phase, where they lost one game 8-0 at Yerevan side, who were only formed eight years ago and named after the religious figure Noah, are a team trying to get places quickly under owner Vardges signed 16 players last summer and a new manager in Rui Mota. They went on to win the league and cup Mota left for Ludogorets (more on them in a bit) this summer, with 41-year-old Croatian Sandro Perkovic taking his place. Club development director Anna Ohanyan told BBC Sport: "Taking part in the Champions League qualifiers is a historic moment for FC Noah. "Just two seasons after the new management stepped in, we managed to qualify for the league phase of a European competition, became champions of Armenia, won the Armenian Cup - and now here we are in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. This is only the beginning."We fought hard to win the Armenian championship because we have bigger ambitions for ourselves and for Armenian football. This qualification gives us a chance to show that ambition to the whole of Europe."They play Montenegrin side Buducnost side Pafos FC, who enter at the second-round stage - where they play Maccabi Tel Aviv - are also in the competition for the first time. The regulars Bulgarian champions Ludogorets are in the first round of qualifying for the eighth consecutive six years before that they entered in the second qualifying round - under an old system where the first round only involved a handful of their 14 consecutive league titles have meant 14 years of Champions League qualifying. Twice they reached the groups: in 2014-15, where they earned a 2-2 draw with Liverpool, and 2009 they were an amateur third-tier team, who had never been in the top following year pharmaceutical multi-millionaire Kiril Domuschiev took them over, they won immediate promotion and have won the title in each and every top-flight season they have ever played year they take on Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk. The derbies There are two derbies between teams from neighbouring countries in the first qualifying side Shelbourne and Belfast club Linfield meet in a rematch of the 2005 Setanta Sports Cup, the old competition between the champions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern was also the last year Shels were in the Champions League until now - with a young Wes Hoolahan in the go into the game with a new manager in former West Ham defender Joey O'Brien after the surprise resignation of Damien as 57-time champions of Northern Ireland, are regulars at this stage. They are also managed by an ex-Premier League player, with former Leeds, Preston and Sunderland striker David Healy at the respective grounds are less than a two-hour drive apart - which for Shelbourne is a shorter journey than some league games. However, they have to stay in Belfast the night before the game because of pre-match media legs of that tie will be live on the BBC Sport website and other derby is between Levadia Tallinn of Estonia and Latvian side RFS (which once stood for Riga Football School but is now their name).They could meet again later this year if the irregularly held Livonian Cup - between the champions of Estonia and Latvia is played again. Paulius Jakelis, head of marketing and communications at RFS, told BBC Sport: "From a travel perspective, it's ideal - just a four-hour bus ride and we're there. "It means minimal travel costs, simpler planning and logistics, and much easier access for our fans." How about the British teams? Perennial Welsh champions TNS, who play their home games in England, play Shkendija of North Macedonia. Neutrals will hope it is half as dramatic as when they met at this stage in 2018 with Shkendija winning 5-4 on aggregate. The Macedonians won 5-0 at home, with TNS falling just short in the second leg in Oswestry's Park Hall with a 4-0 Red Imps, champions of British Overseas Territory Gibraltar - the second lowest-ranked league - face Faroese side their squad is 43-year-old Lee Casciaro, who has been with the club since 1998, and scored against Celtic in a shock first-leg win in of Glasgow teams, Rangers enter the Champions League at the second qualifying round against Panathinaikos. Celtic start off at the play-off six representatives - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham - go straight into the league phase. What next for the losers? The teams who lose this round are not out of Europe entirely - dropping into the Conference League would go into the second round of the Conference League but a random draw picked two ties whose losers would go into the third round. San Marino club Virtus and Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps are involved in those two games - meaning they would be only two rounds away from the Conference League group who lose in the second round of Champions League qualifying would go into the third qualifying round of the Europa League by the way, and not the Conference League. Starting in the league phase, watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 BST on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday nights. Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.
Telegraph
43 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The middle class have the most to fear from Labour's wealth tax
A wealth tax would be economically damaging, administratively burdensome and ultimately counterproductive. There is a clear need to push back against calls for one in the UK. Although often framed as a response to rising fiscal pressures, such taxes consistently fail to deliver the revenues promised, distort behaviour and penalise saving, investment and growth. Worse, they divert attention from the deeper structural challenges in public spending and the need for long-term reform. Few countries globally have a wealth tax, with the number in the OECD falling from 12 in 1990 to three now. In those three –Norway, Spain and Switzerland – thresholds have risen and rates fallen. The global retreat from wealth taxation reflects a hard-earned recognition that such levies don't work. While much coverage focuses on the fact that the wealthy will leave, the truth is these taxes fall disproportionately on those who are not internationally mobile – retired savers, small business owners, and households with illiquid assets. The most mobile individuals and capital simply relocate. The middle class would be those with most to fear from a wealth tax. The result would be not just lost revenue, but a damaging shift in the composition of the UK economy. Britain would risk becoming a 'domestic economy' – less open to international capital, talent, and enterprise, and more reliant on taxed domestic wealth and consumption. That is a path to stagnation, not renewal. For the UK to raise a wealth tax would send a negative signal about the outlook, disincentivising entrepreneurs and wealth creators, discouraging them from investing or creating jobs here. An efficient tax is one which does not impact behaviour. A wealth tax would do just that. This is not a defence of billionaires but a focus on the economic reality of how the policy would work. It would deter those considering the UK as a base for innovation and enterprise. Research for The Wealth Tax Commission by academics at the London School of Economics, and endorsed by former Cabinet secretary Gus O'Donnell, is often cited in favour of the idea. Interestingly, its analysis contains many reasons to oppose the very tax it is advocating. For a start, it accepts that it would be more effective to make existing taxes on wealth such as capital gains work better, as opposed to a new one. Worryingly, it acknowledges that even at a very low rate of wealth tax, one in six of those impacted could leave. As the report puts it, 'at a tax rate of 1pc, between 7pc and 17pc of the initial tax base would be lost to behavioural response. This is not a trivial amount'. That research also found that for individuals with taxable wealth over £5m, 87pc is tied up in 'business assets.' It also acknowledged that 'another problem category could be start-ups that are potentially profitable but loss-making in the early years'. A wealth tax would clearly act as a deterrent to those with the potential to create jobs, growth, and future tax revenues. It would be both anti-business and anti-growth. The double taxation involved in capital gains tax, inheritance tax and wealth taxes would, in time, tend to limit domestic savings, investment and capital accumulation. The long-term result would be to reduce the UK's productive capacity, undermine financial resilience and discourage long-term planning. These issues are not new. Dennis Healey, Chancellor between 1974 and 1979, acknowledged: 'We had committed ourselves to a wealth tax, but in five years I found it impossible to draft one which would yield enough revenue to be worth the administrative cost and political hassle.' Perhaps just as well. Ireland, which did impose a wealth tax in 1975, abolished it in 1978. There are also deep issues of liquidity and fairness associated with wealth taxes. An old argument against is that they would hit people who are asset rich but cash poor. Even its advocates accept that it 'may require acceptance of the need to force some additional borrowing and/or asset sales.' Yet, the economic reality is that imperfect capital markets mean it is often difficult for people to raise the cash value of their fixed assets such as houses or precious items. Borrowing, or deferring tax liabilities, would be cumbersome and could depress asset prices, undermining property markets and, in turn, inheritance tax receipts. The Treasury has always argued in favour of taxes where there is a clearly identified income stream, making them easier to collect and harder to avoid. That is clearly not the case with a wealth tax. The administrative burden would be significant. Unlike income, which is transparent and traceable, wealth is often hard to value and easy to shift. Implementing a wealth tax would require annual valuations of illiquid assets and would create strong incentives for avoidance, reclassification and emigration. Worse still, if applied at a rate high enough to raise material revenue, it would amount to a slow expropriation over time. A recurring wealth tax of 2pc would see the state appropriate the full value of a person's assets over 50 years. Alternatively, if imposed at a lower rate - one that households might realistically be able to pay - the revenue raised would likely be minimal, raising the question of whether the disruption would ever justify the return. A progressive tax system is right but in a globally competitive economy, over-taxing mobile assets risks driving talent abroad and deterring investment. The UK's future prosperity will be secured not by taxing wealth more but by creating the conditions for more people to generate it.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Ben Sulayem says F1 could have V8 engines as soon as 2029
July 7 (Reuters) - Formula One could go back to using noisy V8 engines with fully sustainable fuel by 2029 at the earliest, according to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The sport is entering a new engine era next season but the head of the governing body suggested last February that a return to the naturally-aspirated V8s or V10s was being considered after that. The V8 engines were last used in 2013, before the current 1.6-litre V6 units. "The current engine is so complicated, you have no idea, and it is costly," Ben Sulayem told reporters at the weekend's British Grand Prix. "R&D is reaching 200 million (dollars), and the engine is costing approximately 1.8 to 2.1, so if we go with a straight V8, let's see. "Many of the manufacturers produce V8s in their cars, so commercially it's correct. How much is it? You drop it. The target is more than 50% in everything." Ben Sulayem said the V8 engine would also have significant weight advantages and the sound would be welcomed by both nostalgic fans and the new generation. "To us, the V8 is happening. With the teams now, I'm very optimistic, happy about it. FOM (Formula One Management) are supportive, the teams are realising it is the right way," he said. "We need to do it soon... you need three years, so hopefully by 2029 we have something there, but the fuel is also very expensive, and we have to be very careful with that. Transmissions are very expensive." Ben Sulayem also spoke about the possibility of a Chinese team filling the final 12th slot, something he has mentioned before, and said he still felt the sport needed more cars rather than more races. "The time will come when we feel it is right to open an expression of interest," he said of filling the 12th slot. "We are not here to upset other teams. It won't be just go and do it for the sake of doing it. It has to be worth it for us. The team has to add value to sustaining the business of Formula One." General Motors' Cadillac brand is due to become the 11th team next season, a slot won after initial resistance from the other teams and Liberty Media-owned Formula One.
