Chelsea has the 'upper leg' against Palmeiras
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Chelsea, Aston Villa handed UEFA fines, spending restrictions for breaching financial rules
Chelsea and Aston Villa have been fined €31million and €11m respectively after breaching UEFA's financial rules. The Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) announced on Friday a series of disciplinary measures for clubs under monitoring for the 2024-25 season. The unconditional figures are split into a fine for breaking the governing body's football earnings rule (Chelsea €20m and Villa €5m) and another for being in breach of their squad cost rule (€11m and €6m). Advertisement The total fines for each club come to €91m and €26m, with the added conditional fine being part of a settlement agreement with UEFA that covers a four-year period for Chelsea and a three-year period for Villa. Chelsea and Villa were found to have a squad cost ratio above 80 per cent for 2024 and were awarded fines proportionate to the size of the excess. Both clubs will also limited in what they can spend with players on UEFA's List A for club competitions having to hold a positive transfer balance, i.e. the cost of players added must not exceed those being removed. Elsewhere, Barcelona were handed €15m in unconditional fines while Olympique Lyonnais (€12.5m), Besiktas (€900,000) Panathinaikos (€400,000) and Hajduk Split (€300,000) have also been sanctioned. Both Chelsea and Villa sold their women's teams to their respective parent holding companies – Chelsea to Blueco in May and Villa to V Sports at the end of June – in order to generate income and prevent losses that would have them breach the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Unlike the Premier League, however, UEFA does not allow for the sale of tangible assets to sister or parent companies to count towards their Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. The Athletic reported in July that senior figures describe UEFA's squad cost rules as the most serious challenge that faces Villa, with compliance a difficult task. Aston Villa sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to do so publicly, feel comfortable in their abilities to perform on a domestic and European front despite the sanctions. The Athletic has approached Chelsea for comment although club sources in April, also speaking anonymously, noted that co-owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly were relaxed about their position. Advertisement In September 2022, UEFA charged eight clubs with failing to comply with FFP rules, including Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, who were sanctioned with a €10m fine after failing to stay within spending limits. At the same time PSG were hit with a financial sanction, the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) First Chamber, an independent panel within UEFA tasked with policing FFP, announced that Chelsea, along with multiple clubs competing in Europe in 2021-22, were going to be 'monitored closely'.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Crystal Palace in offer for Ajax left-back Borna Sosa
Ajax have received an offer from Crystal Palace to sign left-back Borna Sosa. The 27-year-old is among several options Palace are considering as they look to add depth and competition for Tyrick Mitchell. A proposal has also been made to Sosa by the Premier League club, who hope to be playing Europa League football next season. Advertisement Talks are expected to continue as Palace explore whether an agreement can be reached, while the Croatia international has other options too. In January, Palace moved to strengthen their left wing-back department with a loan deal for Chelsea's Ben Chilwell. The 27-year-old had fallen out of favour under Enzo Maresca before the move to Palace, where he made seven substitute appearances and one start in the Premier League. Sosa spent last season on loan at Torino, featuring 19 times in Serie A as they finished 11th. He did not feature after February for the Turin side after falling out of favour and then suffering an injury. Sosa has been capped 26 times by Croatia. He started five of their six games as they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2022, but featured only once as a substitute at the European Championship last summer. The left-sided player joined Ajax from Stuttgart in the summer of 2023, having previously made 118 appearances for the German side in his five seasons after signing from Dinamo Zagreb in his homeland. Mitchell has been Palace's first choice on the left side of defence since breaking into the first team in 2021. The 25-year-old has only missed six league games in four seasons since the start of the 2021-22 campaign. Palace are awaiting UEFA's decision on whether they will be allowed to play in the Europa League next term, after they qualified by winning the FA Cup but their participation was put in question by John Textor's Eagle Football also having a stake in Ligue 1 side Lyon, who also qualified for next season's competition. The delay relates to UEFA waiting for a decision from French football authorities on whether Lyon will be relegated to Ligue 2 due to financial irregularities, in which scenario they will forfeit their Europa League place. Advertisement Analysis by Crystal Palace correspondent Matt Woosnam If this deal comes off, then Palace will have finally added permanent cover and competition for Mitchell. Chilwell arrived on loan in January only to feature infrequently. Mitchell made 37 Premier League appearances last term, his performances remarkably consistent, but it is a lot to expect him to play with little rest. The England international has often played through minor injuries and niggles due to Palace's absence of cover in his position, but it is testament to how well he has done over the past five years that they have not brought anyone else in beyond Chilwell. It is not the most important position for Palace to strengthen but is one they have been looking at for some time to help Mitchell out. To finally have serious competition may push him to improve his performances even more, even if he has adapted well to being a left wing-back, having only ever previously operated as a defensively-minded left-back before Oliver Glasner took over in February 2024. ()
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Messi expected to travel to Montreal as Inter Miami resumes MLS play Saturday
Inter Miami returns to MLS action on Saturday after its Club World Cup exit, and coach Javier Mascherano said captain Lionel Messi will travel to Montreal with the team and is fit and ready to play. 'Yes, why not?' Mascherano replied, when asked Friday morning if Messi would be traveling and available for the match. The coach dismissed any suggestion that the 38-year-old Argentine legend might stay home to rest following four intense Club World Cup matches. 'No, no, no, luckily we had a long week, and that served us well,' Mascherano said. 'We gave them two days off, especially the ones who had played the most minutes, so, yes, Leo is available and barring anything strange happening he will travel.' That said, Mascherano does plan to do some roster rotation in the coming weeks as Inter Miami has seven games over the next 25 days, including four of the next five on the road. 'Clearly, we have a lot of games coming up, plus all the ones we have already played, so we will need everyone to participate,' he said. 'We'll see how we can manage some roster changes without feeling it too much because I don't like to change six or seven players from one match to the other.' Missing from Miami's game roster on Saturday will be injured players Yannick Bright, Gonzalo Lujan, and David Ruiz, who practiced separately on Friday and are expected to return soon. Noah Allen and Ian Fray, who were injured during the Club World Cup, were not at training, and are out indefinitely. Goalkeeper Drake Callender continues to recover from surgery for a sports hernia. Although facing CF Montreal, the last place team in the Eastern Conference, is not as glamorous as facing European champion Paris Saint-Germain, Brazilian power Palmeiras, Porto of Portugal and African champion Al-Ahly, Mascherano and midfielder Telasco Segovia insisted the team enters Saturday's game highly motivated to climb the MLS standings. Inter Miami has ground to make up, as it slipped from third place to seventh during its Club World Cup break and now sits 11 points behind first-place Philadelphia Union, 10 behind second-place Cincinnati and nine behind third-place Nashville. The top seven qualify for the playoffs, which begin in late October. The eighth and ninth place teams enter a playoff for the final spot. Inter Miami exceeded expectations in the Club World Cup, getting through the group stage undefeated before a 4-0 loss to PSG in the Round of 16. That success injected the team with confidence and motivation, according to Mascherano and his players. 'In a competition like the Club World Cup, where we were one of the weaker teams, that's the truth, we had a great group stage and then, unfortunately, we had to face the most dangerous opponent in the world,' Mascherano said. 'If we could compete at that level, there is no excuse to not compete in our domestic league. That should be a confidence boost for all our players going forward. 'Against opponents like Porto and Palmeiras, all of us from South America know that is such a strong club with a highly respected coach, and we were 10 minutes from beating them.' Segovia echoed his coach's sentiments. 'We had a great tournament overall in the Club World Cup and now we shift our attention to the league,' Segovia said. 'We are motivated against Montreal because we want the earn three points, and we want to be in first place in the league. We have a lot of games this month and we want to win them all. 'The level of competition in the Club World Cup was very high and we benefited from that because it let us know that if we play like we did against Porto and Palmeiras, we can win the league.' Due to its tournament commitments, Miami has played four fewer matches than most of its Eastern Conference rivals and has not played a league match since its 5-1 win over the Columbus Crew in late May. The next stretch of the schedule is jam-packed as the team tries to catch up. Following the Montreal game, Inter Miami plays at New England on July 9, at home against Nashville on July 12, on the road at Cincinnati July 16, on the road at New York Red Bulls on July 19, and then at home against Cincinnati on July 26. As if that weren't enough to keep Messi and his teammates busy, the month-long Leagues Cup, which pits MLS vs. Mexico's Liga MX, kicks off in late-July. Miami's opening group stage match is July 29 against Atlas. 'Our motivation now is to compete in our league, and to achieve something this club has been aiming for year after year,' Mascherano said. 'We want to get as far as we can, qualify for the playoffs, be in position to have home field advantage, and from there we'll see what happens at the end of October.' Meanwhile, Montreal is coming off its first home victory of the season. Last weekend, Montreal beat New York City FC 1-0. The team was missing Caden Clark (knee), Giacomo Vrioni (elbow), Jalen Neal (ankle), Fabian Herbers (hamstring), Joel Waterman (Gold Cup national team duty) and Olger Escobar (Gold Cup national team duty). How to watch Inter Miami vs. CF Montreal: The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m.
