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Daily Maverick
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Crying foul — Club World Cup had some shining moments, but it remains divisive
Player welfare remains a major talking point after the first edition of Fifa's global club tournament, which concluded in the US this month. It came in dragging a mixed bowl of ingredients such as controversy, optimism for a new dawn, derision and apprehension. After its conclusion, Fifa's revamped Club World Cup is still a divisive subject. What worked and what didn't work during the month-long spectacle, which was won by English side Chelsea? From a purely footballing perspective there were a few takeaways, not least that Chelsea appear to be heading to much calmer waters since the club was plunged into turbulence in 2022. That year, the UK government sanctioned Chelsea's Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, during a crackdown on Russian oligarchs after Moscow invaded Ukraine. This forced him to sell the club. Blues on the right path Since then, the Blues have endured tough times, despite being taken over by a US consortium headed by American businessperson Todd Boehly. This includes finishing a lowly 12th during the 2022/23 season. Under Enzo Maresca, the third permanent manager Chelsea have had since the US takeover, some stability has been established, as evidenced by the 3-0 demolition of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Club World Cup final. 'The last few years have not been what the club deserves or what the history of this club says. This year, luckily, has gone quite well,' Maresca said. 'We finished top four [in the Premier League] and qualified for the Champions League. In the Conference League, we managed to win it, and now we are in this final. We are very proud to help the club get back to where it deserves to be,' he added. PSG power Despite losing the final, PSG played some of the most enterprising soccer at the tournament. It's a clear sign that Luis Enrique's team will once again be a force to be reckoned with next season – especially as they undertake the daunting task of defending their European Champions League title. Central to this will be Désiré Doué. The young French star impressed in the US, underlining his quality and strengthening the widespread belief that he will become one of the most influential players of his generation. For his twinkle-toed displays in North America, Doué was crowned young player of the tournament. Although a number of teams walked away from the tournament having increased their respective global profiles and fattened their pockets from the $1-billion total prize money, it was the Brazilian teams that truly caught the eye. 'The South American teams coming to this tournament here showed fantastic attitude, to prove a point that they're good teams,' said 1990 Fifa World Cup winner Jürgen Klinsmann. 'And the other teams, the Europeans… they really showed up. They embraced this tournament and we saw fantastic football throughout.' Player welfare Despite some of these positives, the tournament has been the subject of heavy criticism, particularly in relation to player welfare. Footballers such as Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and his former Manchester City teammate Rodri have been vocal about the extra workload that will come with the expanded Club World Cup, even though it is a quadrennial tournament. Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp is another critic of the tournament, which has grown from just seven participating teams to the 32 that played in the US in 2025. Klopp has labelled the showpiece 'the worst idea ever implemented in football'. 'Last year we had the Copa America and European Championship, this year the Club World Cup and next year the World Cup,' Klopp told German news channel Welt. 'This means no real recovery for the players who are there, neither physically nor mentally…' Global soccer player union Fifpro has also spoken out against the Club World Cup for the same reasons as Klopp, and accused world soccer governing body Fifa of being a bully. Scathing attack on Fifa In the aftermath of the tournament, Fifpro president Sergio Marchi released a scathing statement aimed at Fifa. He minced no words as he addressed player welfare as well as the harsh weather conditions in which some matches were played. 'Although the recent Club World Cup generated enthusiasm among many supporters and allowed some of the biggest names in world football to be seen in the same tournament, Fifpro cannot fail to point out, with absolute clarity, that this competition hides a dangerous disconnection with the true reality that most footballers around the world are going through,' Marchi said. 'What was presented as a global festival of football was nothing more than a fiction staged by Fifa, driven by its president, without dialogue, without sensitivity and without respect for those who sustain the game with their daily efforts. 'A grandiloquent staging that inevitably recalls the 'bread and circuses' of Nero's Rome – entertainment for the masses while behind the curtain the inequality, precariousness and lack of protection of the real protagonists deepens,' stated Marchi. 'The tournament also took place under unacceptable conditions, with matches being played in extremely hot weather and at temperatures that put the physical integrity of the players at risk. This situation must not only be denounced, but must also be strongly condemned. Under no circumstances must this happen again at next year's Fifa World Cup. 'You can no longer play with the health of footballers to feed a marketing machine. No spectacle is possible if the voice of the protagonists is turned off.' 'The next best thing' In spite of this harsh criticism, Fifa president Gianni Infantino is upbeat about the future of a tournament that he conceptualised. Infantino believes his idea can only become better in the future, judging from this first iteration. 'The golden age of club football has started. We can definitely say this Club World Cup has been a huge success,' he said. 'We heard that financially it would not work, that nobody is interested. But I can say we generated almost $2.1-billion in revenues, for 63 matches. That makes an average of $33-million per match – no other club competition in the world comes close. It is already the most successful club competition in the world. 'All the teams who have come here have been happy. Some teams who didn't come here because they didn't qualify were calling us to see how they could qualify… 'We created something new, something which is here to stay, something which is changing the landscape of club football.' Whether it is changing club soccer for better or for worse remains a prickly talking point. The next edition of the tournament is set for 2029 and a host is yet to be selected. DM
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK's anti-corruption champion to go to offshore haven on fact-finding mission
The Foreign Office will dispatch the UK's anti-corruption champion, Margaret Hodge, to the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) to find out why the offshore haven is dragging its feet on proposals designed to fight financial crime. Several of the UK's semi-autonomous British overseas territories missed last month's deadline to implement new registers of corporate ownership, a measure targeting the secrecy regimes campaigners say benefit criminals and kleptocrats. But, while territories such as Anguilla and Bermuda are understood to be on the verge of complying, Foreign Office ministers are running out of patience with the BVIs' slow progress. Companies based on the islands have appeared in multiple international investigations into alleged wrongdoing, including the Paradise Papers and revelations about alleged tax evasion by the Russian oligarch and former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich. On Wednesday, the day after meeting leaders of the overseas territories, the Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said he would send the veteran anti-corruption campaigner Lady Hodge to the islands on a 'fact-finding' mission. 'This government is committed to tackling illicit finance and working with our overseas territories is crucial to addressing this issue in the UK and overseas,' said Doughty. 'Some of our overseas territories are making progress towards transparent, accessible registers of company ownership, but we have made clear we need to see rapid, consistent progress across the board. 'As an immediate next step, I have asked Baroness Hodge to undertake a fact-finding visit to the British Virgin Islands and report back to me. I will consider further steps carefully in light of the findings.' Hodge, 80, was named the UK's anti-corruption champion in December last year in recognition of her record in combating illicit finance and advocating for transparency in Britain's offshore financial havens in particular. Hodge, who has held six ministerial posts, was the Labour MP for Barking from 1994 until she stood down before the general election last year. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has vowed to lift the veil of corporate secrecy that allows people to disguise their business dealings in jurisdictions such as the BVIs. Successive governments have been pushing overseas territories, and a separate group of crown dependencies, such as Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, to introduce fully publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership (Parbos). At a meeting in London last November, five overseas territories, including the BVIs, promised to introduce legitimate interest access registers of beneficial interests (Liarbos) as a prelude to further steps. A spokesperson for the BVIs' government said: 'We continue to collaborate closely with international partners, including the UK government, working together to uphold high standards and protect our financial system. 'This week's productive talks in London between premier Natalio Wheatley and minister Stephen Doughty reflect our shared commitment to strengthening governance and democracy in the Virgin Islands. We look forward to building on this cooperation in a spirit of mutual respect.' The Guardian has approached Hodge for comment.
The Irish Sun
14-07-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Chelsea are champions of the world but are they actually any good? Here's why Premier League title charge is unlikely
CHELSEA are the actual champions of the world, despite having not finished in the Premier League's top two for any of the last eight seasons. Advertisement 6 Chelsea have won their second trophy this year 6 The impact it will have on their upcoming Premier League campaign remains to be seen Chelsea are champions of the world, despite the Club World Cup not including the champions of England , Spain or Italy - Liverpool , Barcelona and Napoli . And despite Chelsea having qualified for this thing by virtue of winning the 2021 Champions League , under the ownership of Roman Abramovich and the leadership of Thomas Tuchel , with an entirely different squad, save for Donald Trump's new best friend Reece James . Chelsea might also be champions of Saturn, given that Trump and FIFA overlord Gianni Infantino seemed to present them with a golden replica of that planet after Sunday's 3-0 victory over Paris St Germain. The Blues didn't beat any serious contender at the Club World Cup until that extraordinary demolition of the European champions - playing three clubs from Brazil (losing once), one from Tunisia , one from the MLS , as well as defeating 10-man Benfica in extra-time. Advertisement Read more Chelsea And yet here we are, with Chelsea global champions of the global game and with nobody, not even Chelsea, having the slightest clue what to make of it all. Does this elevate Chelsea's owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali to genius level? Well, the basic business model required to rule the footballing world is now clear and simple - keep signing Brighton's best players and keep offloading your deadwood on Five of the starting eleven who thrashed PSG had previously played for Brighton - Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella , Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro , as well as Levi Colwill who was loaned to the Seagulls. Advertisement Most read in Football Latest Exclusive BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK The £87million prize money Chelsea earned in the United States should be enough to sign at least two of Kaoru Mitoma , Pervis Estupinan and John Paul van Hecke. Wouldn't it have been easier and less expensive for Boehly's crew to have bought Brighton and made them world champions instead? Hilarious moment Trump gets caught inside Chelsea's trophy celebrations as Cole Palmer dances next to beaming Don Meanwhile, Kepa Arrizabalaga - a route previously travelled by Kai Havertz , Jorginho , Raheem Sterling (loan) as well as Willian , David Luiz and Petr Cech in the late Abramovich era. Advertisement But are Chelsea really any good? Until Sunday night the answer appeared to be 'no, not really'. And yet the hammering of PSG in New York was genuinely brilliant - with Pedro . PSG's previous four results against European opposition had read Real Madrid (4-0), Bayern Munich (2-0), Atletico Madrid (4-0) and Inter Milan (5-0 in the Champions League Final). Yet Chelsea shredded them to ribbons inside 45 minutes. Advertisement The pantomime provided by Luis Enrique completely losing his shizzle at the final whistle, Cucurella having his hair pulled and Trump gatecrashing the trophy celebrations added to the weird theatre of FIFA's new jamboree. Palmer was a late, opportunist piece of business when signed from Manchester City two summers ago but is now a Ballon d'Or contender and one of the most compelling and strangely likeable blokes in the game. The signings of Pedro and Liam Delap will lessen the goalscoring burden on Palmer and presumably lead to loose-cannon Nicolas Jackson heading to Arsenal - which isn't a new transfer rumour, just an educated guess. 6 Palmer reminded fans just how good he can be on Sunday Advertisement 6 He and his Chelsea team-mates clearly frustrated PSG Credit: Alamy Chelsea's policy of signing shedloads of young players on long contracts has seen plenty of expensive blunders - Mykhailo Mudryk (£62m and facing a Christopher Nkunku (£52m and rarely fit), Romeo Lavia (£53m and rarely fit), along with £50m on a post-sell-by-date Sterling. And how would the Blues ever balance the books and come close to complying with PSR regulations without the existence of Arsenal? Still, Enzo Maresca has the core of a very good team, as seen in the Big Apple . Advertisement They have now won two trophies in six and a half weeks - along with the Europa Conference League , another new bauble nobody knows how to quantify. So can Chelsea build on this and actually compete for the Premier League title when they haven't even gone close to doing so for so long - their last eight finishes being fourth, sixth, 12th, third, fourth, fourth, third and fifth? Given that they will start this season knackered, it is unlikely. With one month to go until the new campaign, everyone else is rested. Chelsea's exertions in the American heat will have a major impact at some point. Advertisement And what of the Club World Cup? Would PSG swap it for the Champions League? No. But would future European champions prioritise it? Quite possibly. This thing will catch on and end up being bigger than the Champions League as long as FIFA keep throwing billions at it. Advertisement And so long as they make the qualifying criteria more logical, as well as solving the increasing problem of extreme burn-out among elite players. Previous versions of the Club World Cup could never be taken very seriously but Chelsea will probably end up being regarded as its first 'proper' champions. Champions of the world, champions of Saturn, champions of the whole solar system, unless the Saudis take over a crack Martian outfit. But will Chelsea be champions of England or Europe again any time soon? Advertisement Baz-bore THE time-wasting aggro at the end of the day three provided the needle which helped make the Third Test at Lord's an all-time classic. Opener Zak Crawley feigned injury, employing extreme delaying tactics which meant India would bowl only one over at the start of England's second innings on Saturday evening. India skipper Shubman Gill, who'd had a deep-tissue massage in the middle earlier in the match, provided a pot-kettle moment by urging Crawley to 'grow some f***ing balls'. England bowling coach Tim Southee then sarcastically commented that Crawley's fitness would be assessed overnight. Advertisement All good fun until you consider the idea of actively taking the piddle out of paying punters who had paid through their noses to be at Lord's and had suffered funereal over rates for the entire match. There had already been delays due to an attack of ladybirds, a misbehaving TV spidercam, red baseball caps worn behind the bowler's arm and so many drinks breaks you thought you were attending a bottomless brunch rather than a game of cricket . Bazball was supposed to speed up the Test game and thrill the crowds. This was decidedly off-message. 6 Despite the drama, there have been plenty of empty seats at Lord's Credit: Getty Advertisement Eagles Ostracized CRYSTAL PALACE have fallen victims of an inconsistent jobsworthery from Uefa in being The beneficiaries will be Nottingham Forest , whose 'previous' owner Evangelos Marinakis, sorted out similar Uefa concerns over dual ownership of clubs by placing his Forest shares in a 'blind trust' and declaring himself no longer a 'person with significant control'. So we look forward to the big Greek fella being entirely insignificant, and as quiet as a mouse, at the City Ground next season. 6 Palace will be playing in the third tier of Europe despite winning the FA Cup Credit: Getty Advertisement
Scottish Sun
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Chelsea are champions of the world but are they actually any good? Here's why Premier League title charge is unlikely
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CHELSEA are the actual champions of the world, despite having not finished in the Premier League's top two for any of the last eight seasons. Chelsea are champions of the world, despite having not won a domestic trophy for seven years. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Chelsea have won their second trophy this year 6 The impact it will have on their upcoming Premier League campaign remains to be seen Chelsea are champions of the world, despite the Club World Cup not including the champions of England, Spain or Italy - Liverpool, Barcelona and Napoli. And despite Chelsea having qualified for this thing by virtue of winning the 2021 Champions League, under the ownership of Roman Abramovich and the leadership of Thomas Tuchel, with an entirely different squad, save for Donald Trump's new best friend Reece James. Chelsea might also be champions of Saturn, given that Trump and FIFA overlord Gianni Infantino seemed to present them with a golden replica of that planet after Sunday's 3-0 victory over Paris St Germain. The Blues didn't beat any serious contender at the Club World Cup until that extraordinary demolition of the European champions - playing three clubs from Brazil (losing once), one from Tunisia, one from the MLS, as well as defeating 10-man Benfica in extra-time. Read more Chelsea BLUE MURDER Enrique explains why he slapped Pedro as PSG coach faces TOTAL coaching ban And yet here we are, with Chelsea global champions of the global game and with nobody, not even Chelsea, having the slightest clue what to make of it all. Does this elevate Chelsea's owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali to genius level? Well, the basic business model required to rule the footballing world is now clear and simple - keep signing Brighton's best players and keep offloading your deadwood on Arsenal. Five of the starting eleven who thrashed PSG had previously played for Brighton - Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro, as well as Levi Colwill who was loaned to the Seagulls. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK The £87million prize money Chelsea earned in the United States should be enough to sign at least two of Kaoru Mitoma, Pervis Estupinan and John Paul van Hecke. Wouldn't it have been easier and less expensive for Boehly's crew to have bought Brighton and made them world champions instead? Hilarious moment Trump gets caught inside Chelsea's trophy celebrations as Cole Palmer dances next to beaming Don Meanwhile, Noni Madueke narrowly missed out on being a world champion when he was sent down the waste disposal chute to the Emirates, along with Kepa Arrizabalaga - a route previously travelled by Kai Havertz, Jorginho, Raheem Sterling (loan) as well as Willian, David Luiz and Petr Cech in the late Abramovich era. But are Chelsea really any good? Until Sunday night the answer appeared to be 'no, not really'. And yet the hammering of PSG in New York was genuinely brilliant - with Cole Palmer fully re-emerging from his slump with two glorious finishes and an equally sublime assist for Joao Pedro. PSG's previous four results against European opposition had read Real Madrid (4-0), Bayern Munich (2-0), Atletico Madrid (4-0) and Inter Milan (5-0 in the Champions League Final). Yet Chelsea shredded them to ribbons inside 45 minutes. The pantomime provided by Luis Enrique completely losing his shizzle at the final whistle, Cucurella having his hair pulled and Trump gatecrashing the trophy celebrations added to the weird theatre of FIFA's new jamboree. Palmer was a late, opportunist piece of business when signed from Manchester City two summers ago but is now a Ballon d'Or contender and one of the most compelling and strangely likeable blokes in the game. The signings of Pedro and Liam Delap will lessen the goalscoring burden on Palmer and presumably lead to loose-cannon Nicolas Jackson heading to Arsenal - which isn't a new transfer rumour, just an educated guess. 6 Palmer reminded fans just how good he can be on Sunday 6 He and his Chelsea team-mates clearly frustrated PSG Credit: Alamy Chelsea's policy of signing shedloads of young players on long contracts has seen plenty of expensive blunders - Mykhailo Mudryk (£62m and facing a four-year drug ban), Joao Felix (signed twice for a combined £52m), Christopher Nkunku (£52m and rarely fit), Romeo Lavia (£53m and rarely fit), along with £50m on a post-sell-by-date Sterling. And how would the Blues ever balance the books and come close to complying with PSR regulations without the existence of Arsenal? Still, Enzo Maresca has the core of a very good team, as seen in the Big Apple. They have now won two trophies in six and a half weeks - along with the Europa Conference League, another new bauble nobody knows how to quantify. So can Chelsea build on this and actually compete for the Premier League title when they haven't even gone close to doing so for so long - their last eight finishes being fourth, sixth, 12th, third, fourth, fourth, third and fifth? Given that they will start this season knackered, it is unlikely. With one month to go until the new campaign, everyone else is rested. Chelsea's exertions in the American heat will have a major impact at some point. And what of the Club World Cup? Would PSG swap it for the Champions League? No. But would future European champions prioritise it? Quite possibly. This thing will catch on and end up being bigger than the Champions League as long as FIFA keep throwing billions at it. And so long as they make the qualifying criteria more logical, as well as solving the increasing problem of extreme burn-out among elite players. Previous versions of the Club World Cup could never be taken very seriously but Chelsea will probably end up being regarded as its first 'proper' champions. Champions of the world, champions of Saturn, champions of the whole solar system, unless the Saudis take over a crack Martian outfit. But will Chelsea be champions of England or Europe again any time soon? Baz-bore THE time-wasting aggro at the end of the day three provided the needle which helped make the Third Test at Lord's an all-time classic. Opener Zak Crawley feigned injury, employing extreme delaying tactics which meant India would bowl only one over at the start of England's second innings on Saturday evening. India skipper Shubman Gill, who'd had a deep-tissue massage in the middle earlier in the match, provided a pot-kettle moment by urging Crawley to 'grow some f***ing balls'. England bowling coach Tim Southee then sarcastically commented that Crawley's fitness would be assessed overnight. All good fun until you consider the idea of actively taking the piddle out of paying punters who had paid through their noses to be at Lord's and had suffered funereal over rates for the entire match. There had already been delays due to an attack of ladybirds, a misbehaving TV spidercam, red baseball caps worn behind the bowler's arm and so many drinks breaks you thought you were attending a bottomless brunch rather than a game of cricket. Bazball was supposed to speed up the Test game and thrill the crowds. This was decidedly off-message. 6 Despite the drama, there have been plenty of empty seats at Lord's Credit: Getty Eagles Ostracized CRYSTAL PALACE have fallen victims of an inconsistent jobsworthery from Uefa in being relegated from the Europa League to the Conference League. The beneficiaries will be Nottingham Forest, whose 'previous' owner Evangelos Marinakis, sorted out similar Uefa concerns over dual ownership of clubs by placing his Forest shares in a 'blind trust' and declaring himself no longer a 'person with significant control'. So we look forward to the big Greek fella being entirely insignificant, and as quiet as a mouse, at the City Ground next season.
IOL News
09-07-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Chelsea's Club World Cup surge marks a new era of belief
Chelsea players celebrate after their Premier League win over Nottingham Forest, which got them into the Champions League. Image: Ben Stansall / AFP CHELSEA'S run to the final of the revamped FIFA Club World Cup may have caught many by surprise, but it reflects a significant turning point in the club's evolution following seasons of transition and uncertainty. Once a dominant force under Roman Abramovich—clinching the UEFA Champions League in 2012 with coach Roberto Di Matteo in charge and in 2021 led by Thomas Tuchel—Chelsea have in recent years found themselves in unfamiliar territory. Despite continuing to spend big, the club has had to rebuild from the ground up under the new ownership led by Todd Boehly, adopting a strategy focused on youth, long-term development, and a more sustainable approach to success. That rebuild demanded patience, but their results in 2025 suggest that Chelsea are starting to turn the corner. The past two seasons have told a story of gradual progress. Under Mauricio Pochettino in the early months of last season, the team endured mixed results but with the introduction of Enzo Maresca halfway through, they managed to secure a return the Uefa Champions League. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Many believed the former Tottenham Hotspur coach, Pochettinho, had laid the foundation for a return to the club's former heights. But the arrival of Maresca exceeded expectations. His promising league-run in the first months of 2025 and the UEFA Conference League triumph were early statement, but their qualification for the Club World Cup final under his watch has truly raised eyebrows. More importantly, it has restored belief. This campaign has showcased a Chelsea side growing in maturity and tactical discipline. For stretches last season, they even kept pace with Liverpool before falling away due to the expected inconsistency of a young, developing squad. Yet even in that dip, the signs of potential were clear. Now, that potential is blossoming into performance. The young core has grown in confidence, and key additions like Liam Delap and Joao Pedro have proved to be inspired signings—possibly the missing pieces that can elevate them from top-four hopefuls to serious contenders. The only lingering weakness remains in the goalkeeping department, which still needs attention. The current squad looks more balanced, more settled, and increasingly equipped to compete on multiple fronts.
