Australian Alireza Faghani to referee Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain
Faghani, a 47-year-old who was born in Iran, worked Brazil's penalty kicks win over Germany in the 2016 men's Olympic soccer final. He worked this year's Club World Cup opener between Miami and Al Ahly, Bayern Munich's group stage game against Boca Juniors and Chelsea's quarterfinal victory over Palmeiras.
He also refereed at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
FIFA made the announcement Friday.
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San Francisco Chronicle
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Argument over 'valid buisiness purpose' for NIL collectives threatens college sports settlement
Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a 'valid business purpose' that collectives making name, image likeness payments to players are supposed to have. The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting deals in which players were receiving money from collectives that were created solely to pay them and don't provide goods or services to the general public for profit. A lead attorney for the players responded by saying those instructions went against settlement terms and asking the CSC to rescind the guidance. 'This process is undermined when the CSC goes off the reservation and issues directions to the schools that are not consistent with the Settlement Agreement terms,' attorney Jeffrey Kessler wrote to NCAA outside counsel Rakesh Kilaru in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. Yahoo Sports first reported details of the letter, in which Kessler threatens to take the issue to a judge assigned with resolving disputes involved in the settlement. Kessler told AP his firm was not commenting on the contents of the letter, and Kilaru did not immediately respond to AP's request for a comment. Yahoo quoted a CSC spokesman as saying the parties are working to resolve differences and that "the guidance issued by the College Sports Commission ... is entirely consistent with the House settlement and the rules that have been agreed upon with class counsel.' When NIL payments became allowed in 2021, boosters formed so-called 'collectives' that were closely tied to universities to work out contracts with the players, who still weren't allowed to be paid directly by the schools. Terms of the House settlement allow schools to make the payments now, but keep the idea of outside payments from collectives, which have to be approved by the CSC if they are worth $600 or more. The CSC, in its letter last week, explained that if a collective reaches a deal, for instance, for an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, that collective does not have a 'valid business purpose' because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit. Another example of a disallowed deal was one an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because, the CSC guidance said, the purpose of 'selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose." Kessler's letter notes that the 'valid business purpose' rule was designed to ensure athletes were not simply being paid to play, and did not prohibit NIL collectives from paying athletes for the type of deals described above. To prevent those payments 'would be to create a new prohibition on payments by a NIL collective that is not provided for or contemplated by the Settlement Agreement, causing injury to the class members who should be free to receive those payments," Kessler wrote. ___
Fox Sports
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It's hard to cut through the clutter in America's greatest metropolis, but one of soccer's biggest summer events did take a super-sized bite out of the Big Apple. Passengers streamed off planes at LaGuardia Airport wearing Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain jerseys. Outside the swanky midtown Manhattan hotels that housed the FIFA Club World Cup finalists, fans dressed head to toe in their team's colors crowded on the sidewalks, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cole Palmer or Ousmane Dembele. At MetLife Stadium, a few miles west of the Hudson River, three military helicopters roared overhead — one of them carrying Donald Trump, who became the first sitting American president ever to attend a major international soccer match. It was a preview of what's to come one year from now, when the New York area (and more specifically, suburban New Jersey) will crown the 2026 World Cup champion on the same field. Culturally speaking, nothing comes close to a World Cup final. Almost 1.5 billion people — more than a sixth of the planet's population — watched the epic 2022 decider between Lionel Messi's Argentina and Kylian Mbappe's France in Qatar. The Super Bowl, by way of comparison, draws a global television audience of less than 200 million. Still, Sunday's Club World Cup final felt like a legitimately big deal around New York. It was also a fitting preview of what will occur next July 19. RELATED: 104 Super Bowls? Five Million Fans? The 2026 World Cup Will Be Colossal in Big Ways The Club World Cup had its detractors before and during the competition. Many of those criticisms were valid. Ticket prices were priced too high initially, forcing FIFA to slash prices later on. Some group stage matches were marked by paltry crowds. There wasn't a huge appetite in Central Florida to see South Korea's Ulsan FC face South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, with that first-round matchup drawing just 3,412 spectators to the 25,000-seat home of MLS side Orlando City. To appease European broadcasters, who didn't want matches being played in the middle of their nights, games were played in searing midday heat instead of in the U.S. evenings. The 63 contests spread over a month still drew an average attendance of almost 40,000 — an astonishing figure, really, one and the same ballpark as several World Cups proper played this century, including South Korea/Japan 2002 (42,269), South Africa 2010 (49,690) and Russia 2018 (47,371). The knockout round saw packed NFL stadiums in Atlanta, Miami and Philadelphia. And despite hosting the last four matches of the tourney over a nine-day stretch, MetLife drew an average of 75,000 for its one quarterfinal and two semifinal matches, then a standing-room-only crowd of 81,118 for Sunday's grand finale. It was clear that the overwhelming majority of those in the house on Sunday were Americans. Sure, some Chelsea and PSG die-hards flew in from London and Paris for the chance to see their team hoist the Tiffany-designed trophy. But the English Premier League has been a staple on streaming services and cable and free TV in the U.S. for decades. As one of the Prem's most successful clubs over the last 20 years (the Blues have won five English, two European and two Europa League titles since 2005), they have a huge stateside following. Meantime, PSG is one of the sport's most glamorous brands, a team that has employed global superstars Messi, Mbappé, Neymar, David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and won the Champions League for the first time in May. The nationality of both sets of supporters on Sunday wasn't given away just by the accents in concourses or concession-stand lines. After Palmer gave Chelsea what proved to be an insurmountable 2-0 lead just a half-hour into the championship, Blues fans broke not into song, as they do at Stamford Bridge, but into a deafening "Let's go Chelsea!" chant instead. There were plenty of neutrals present, too. Spotted in the sea of blue and bleu-blanc-rouge was every other kind of shirt imaginable, from vintage Maradona jerseys to Liga MX's Tigres to Toronto FC to the Greek national team. A sizable contingent wore Ecuador's yellow top or a Chelsea one emblazoned with Moises Caicedo's name and No. 25; New Jersey is home to some 250,000 Ecuadoran expats, more than any other state. They all came to see something compelling and different. FIFA leaned into the latter by testing out referee cams and basketball-style player intros. Legendary boxing announcer Michael Buffer introduced the teams with his signature "let's get ready to rumble!" call. Crews rushed to water the grass during cooling breaks as if they were floor sweepers at an NBA game. And there was the halftime show featuring J Balvin, Doja Cat, and Coldplay that wouldn't have felt out of place at a marquee NFL game. None of it overshadowed the all-world product on the field. While U.S.-based soccer lovers have been money-grabbed by touring European giants every summer since the early 2000s, it's still rare to see them in real high-stakes competition on this side of the Atlantic. The Club World Cup had until this year been little more than an annoyance for top European squads. It only began in the year 2000, was shoehorned into the middle of domestic campaigns, and featured just seven entrants. But since becoming FIFA president in 2016, Gianni Infantino has been determined to expand it as a global counterweight to Europe's vaunted UEFA Champions League. His dream was finally realized this summer, with a 32-team field hosted by the U.S. as a dress rehearsal for the 2026 co-host (along with Canada and Mexico) of what will be a 48-nation World Cup next year, 50-percent larger than any previous edition. Given its novelty, this Club World Cup and Sunday's final in particular can't be considered anything other than a smashing success. So what if it pales in comparison to what's expected 12 months from now? In addition to the bragging rights that come with being christened the "undisputed" best club in the world by FIFA, Chelsea, which finished fourth in England last season, earned a cool $113 million in prize money at this Club World Cup — more than half as much as Liverpool received for winning the Premier League over a grueling, 10-month, 38-match campaign. Clubs and players cared, clearly. It's no surprise then than fans eventually followed their lead. "We value it just as much as winning the Champions League," Chelsea manager Maresca said afterward of the Club World Cup title. "It will be a source of price to wear the winner's badge." This past month was a tasty appetizer. The main course is still to come. Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ ByDougMcIntyre . recommended Item 1 of 2 Get more from the FIFA Club World Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
Fox Sports
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Argument over 'valid buisiness purpose' for NIL collectives threatens college sports settlement
Associated Press Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a 'valid business purpose' that collectives making name, image likeness payments to players are supposed to have. The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting deals in which players were receiving money from collectives that were created solely to pay them and don't provide goods or services to the general public for profit. A lead attorney for the players responded by saying those instructions went against settlement terms and asking the CSC to rescind the guidance. 'This process is undermined when the CSC goes off the reservation and issues directions to the schools that are not consistent with the Settlement Agreement terms,' attorney Jeffrey Kessler wrote to NCAA outside counsel Rakesh Kilaru in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. Yahoo Sports first reported details of the letter, in which Kessler threatens to take the issue to a judge assigned with resolving disputes involved in the settlement. Kessler told AP his firm was not commenting on the contents of the letter, and Kilaru did not immediately respond to AP's request for a comment. Yahoo quoted a CSC spokesman as saying the parties are working to resolve differences and that "the guidance issued by the College Sports Commission ... is entirely consistent with the House settlement and the rules that have been agreed upon with class counsel.' When NIL payments became allowed in 2021, boosters formed so-called 'collectives' that were closely tied to universities to work out contracts with the players, who still weren't allowed to be paid directly by the schools. Terms of the House settlement allow schools to make the payments now, but keep the idea of outside payments from collectives, which have to be approved by the CSC if they are worth $600 or more. The CSC, in its letter last week, explained that if a collective reaches a deal, for instance, for an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, that collective does not have a 'valid business purpose' because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit. Another example of a disallowed deal was one an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because, the CSC guidance said, the purpose of 'selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose." Kessler's letter notes that the 'valid business purpose' rule was designed to ensure athletes were not simply being paid to play, and did not prohibit NIL collectives from paying athletes for the type of deals described above. To prevent those payments 'would be to create a new prohibition on payments by a NIL collective that is not provided for or contemplated by the Settlement Agreement, causing injury to the class members who should be free to receive those payments," Kessler wrote. ___ AP college sports: recommended Item 1 of 3
