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Good morning football fans. It’s Monday, August. 3 - FIFA scraps its plans to sell part of the World Cup, the Premier League’s spend gap is widening, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
TOP TALKING POINTS
FIFA Scraps Sell-Off
FIFA has scrapped its plans to sell a stake in the World Cup to private investors, with calls mounting for the governing body’s president, Gianni Infantino, to be removed. Opposition to the plans snowballed throughout the week as Uefa’s initial condemnation was supported by Concacaf (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) and the Asian Football Confederation. Combined, these governing bodies have 143 national associations, over half of Fifa’s 211 members.
"Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place," Infantino said in a statement. "Our purpose has always been - and will always be - to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed."
Now, calls for Infantino’s departure are growing. On Saturday, Uefa—the first governing body to publicly oppose Fifa’s plans—announced a loss of confidence in Infantino, calling for him to leave his role. The European governing body says it will officially trigger a vote of no confidence against Infantino if he refuses to step down, on the proviso that 43 of Uefa’s 55-member nations agree to the vote. A vote of no confidence does not mean much in and of itself, though it would apply political pressure on Fifa. See who may replace Infantino here.
Whistleblowers, speaking to The Times, which initially broke the story, said that Infantino was eyeing a salary of $30m (£22.2m) a year, excluding bonuses, to lead the proposed commercial entity after his Fifa presidency. “After 2031 we can make a serious amount of money here,” Infantino reportedly told one associate, referring to the date he envisaged his presidential term coming to an end. When he was then jokingly asked whether his current pay package of more than $6m was enough, Infantino reportedly replied: “No, I’m talking a serious amount.”
Premier League Spend Gap
Premier League clubs have spent €1.86bn on signings so far in the transfer window, almost as much as Europe’s other four major leagues combined. The next biggest spender is Italy’s top flight with €706m in outgoings, followed by the Bundesliga (€463.45m), La Liga (€419.90m), and Ligue 1 (€304.45m). These figures are accurate as of August 2.
In terms of net spend, the Premier League has also spent by far the most of any league. The English top flight has a net spend of €737.48m, with Serie A (€245.97m) and La Liga (€233.5m) the only other leagues whose clubs have collectively spent more in fees than they have received. Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have both received more than they have spent. Combined, the other four leagues have a net spend of €227.27m, meaning the Premier League’s is €510.2m higher.
With a month remaining in the window, the Premier League has a long way to go before it matches the record spend set in the 2025 transfer window of €3.6bn. However, with the World Cup having delayed some deals, transfer announcements could pick up pace in August. At the time of writing, several big-money signings could materialise, including Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal (around €90m), Bradley Barcola to Liverpool (with PSG reportedly valuing him at €170m), Ayyoub Bouaddi to Man City (around €100m), and Lewis Hall to Man United (with a reported opening bid of £60m).
See every transfer in Europe’s top five leagues here (live tracker).
Points Deduction Escape
Chelsea have been fined £10m and have been handed a suspended two-window transfer ban after admitting to 74 breaches of the FA’s agent rules. The Blues were initially given a suspended six-point deduction, but following an appeal, the points penalty has now been replaced by the registration ban. In short, Chelsea face no immediate sporting punishment, but the ban may be activated if the club commits a breach of the same or a similar nature before 30 June 2027.
The breaches, which relate to secret payments to unregistered agents between 2011 and 2018, were self-reported by the club’s new ownership. In 2022, the club’s new owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, made the FA aware of the payments that were made during Roman Abramovich’s ownership. The transfers involved in the breaches included those of Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, and Willian.
The Premier League’s separate ruling in March, which also didn’t include a points deduction, was criticised for being too lenient and favourable to Chelsea. Sporting sanctions, specifically points deductions, have been handed out to several clubs—Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Leicester City—for arguably less serious breaches of spending limits. However, the FA stated that the recent decision represented “an appropriate penalty,” and it felt the punishment would be enough to "deter similar misconduct and maintain the integrity of the game."
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POLL
Do you think Chelsea’s punishment for breaching agent regulations was sufficient?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> The Gold family has agreed to sell its share of West Ham United to former Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley (More) | The FA is considering handing Southampton manager Tonda Eckert a lengthy (potentially six-month) ban for his involvement in Spygate (More)
> Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk has been cleared to return to football after the FA and the World Anti-Doping Agency “resolved his appeal” against a ban for failing a doping test (More)
> Brentford have paid a club-record £42.5m for midfielder Mamdaou Sangare from Lens (More) | Chelsea have signed Brighton striker Danny Welbeck, 35, on a two-year deal (More); see every transfer in Europe’s top five leagues (More/live tracker)
> Real Madrid have generated €440m from the sale of academy players in the last six years, more than any other club (More) | Roc Nation Sports, the agency that represents Vinicius Jr, Endrick, and Yan Diomande, has released a statement condemning fake media rumours around their players’ transfers (More)
> Celtic play their first game of the Scottish Premiership season on Monday (August 3) against Dundee FC at 19:30 BST (14:30 ET) (More)
Americas
> Vancouver and LAFC remain level on points (34) at the top of the MLS Western Conference following their 1-1 draw (More) | Robert Lewandowski scored a brace during his home MLS debut for Chicago Fire to win 2-1 over Charlotte; watch his first goal in the MLS (Watch); see MLS results (More) and Conference Standings (More)
> Gotham FC extended their unbeaten run to six matches after Sam Kerr scored the winner against Houston Dash to put them top of the NWSL table (More); Washington Spirit could reclaim top spot with a win against San Diego Wave, which concludes shortly after publication (Live Result) | See every NWSL result (More) and Standings (More)
> Tampa Bay Rowdies and Orange County SC are top of the Eastern and Western USL Championship, respectively; see all USL Championship results (More) and Conference Standings (More)
Rest of the World
> The Australian A-League has confirmed that it will adopt three law changes recently introduced by Ifab (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Are FIFA’s plans to sell off parts of the World Cup worse than the proposed European Super League?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (86%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (11%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 W.P: “You kind of expect that show-me-the-money system from clubs, but not world football. As bad an idea as the Super League was, it wasn’t surprising or out of form.”
👍 R.G: “Club football is by and large and at least in its current state a for-profit business. National team football is and should be anything but profit-driven. Fifa’s plans are much worse than the Super League.”
🙅♂️ D.J: “Those saying yes have not considered the shockwaves that the Super League would have sent across the world. It would have been impossible to have proper club football ever again.”
✍️ G.B: “Both were underpinned by greed, the difference being that Fifa was for personal gain whereas the European Super League was greed for the elite clubs. Fifa has no overseeing body, so the individual FA’s have to do what is right for football, not for how much is in the brown paper bags.”
EXTRA TIME
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GAME FACE ON
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I wear the number 7 for my club.
I began my professional career at Flamengo.
I’ve scored the winning goal in a Champions League final.
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
He's one of, if not the god of football, and I want to help.
Answer
Vinicius Jr.