Good morning football fans. It’s Thursday, Apr. 2 - The Premier League's largest-ever financial losses were recorded, the Milan city council are under investigation for its role in the sale of the San Siro stadium, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals (Apr 2): Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Agg 6-2, 17:45 BST / 12:45 ET. Barcelona have won 23 of their 24 meetings with Real Madrid in women’s football, including a 3-0 win at the weekend in the league. The home side’s win on the weekend was also their 15th consecutive league win, putting them 13 points clear and potentially just one game away from the title. OL Lyonnes vs. Wolfsburg, Agg 0-1, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Wolfsburg have progressed from all 25 of their two-legged ties in the Uefa Women’s Champions League when winning the first leg. However, record European champions Lyon will still fancy their chances of progressing from this tie, given they have won all 15 of their competitive home matches this season. See the UWCL bracket here.
Results…
Women’s Champions League quarter-finals: Bayern Munich 2-1 Manchester United (Agg 5-3) | Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal (Agg 2-3)
Intercontinental World Cup qualifying finals: Iraq 2-1 Bolivia | Congo DR 1-0 Jamaica
TOP TALKING POINTS
Prem’s Largest-Ever Loss
Chelsea have announced pre-tax losses of £262.4m ($349.9m) for the 2024-25 season, the largest annual loss in English football history, surpassing Manchester City's previous record of £194.9m in 2010-11. The record loss comes despite Chelsea achieving their second-highest revenue in history at £490.9m, following their Uefa Conference League and Club World Cup victories.
"Operating expenses have risen markedly, driven predominantly by increased matchday costs, due to a return to European football," Chelsea said in a statement. Losses under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium now exceed £420m in three years, when the sale of its own women’s team to parent company BlueCo for almost £200m is excluded.
Nevertheless, Chelsea was deemed compliant with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) for the three-year period ending 2024-25, which allows losses of up to £105m over that period. This is because of the aforementioned sale of the women’s team, plus spending on youth development, women’s football, infrastructure, and similar areas is not included when the league assesses clubs’ losses.
San Siro Sale Investigation
Italian authorities raided Milan city council’s offices on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the sale of the San Siro stadium to AC Milan and Inter Milan, reports The Financial Times. Devices have been seized, with more than 10 people under investigation for bid-rigging, though the football clubs are not under investigation.
In September last year, the city’s council agreed to sell the iconic stadium to the Milan-based clubs for a reported €200m (£174m; $232m). While the clubs have had their €1.5bn renovation and demolition plan approved by the council, activist groups have complained that the sale price of the stadium and its surrounding areas was too low. As such, prosecutors are trying to determine whether the sale favoured the private interests of the clubs' owners over public interests.
Last year, Uefa’s president Aleksander Ceferin criticised the quality of Italian stadiums ahead of the country co-hosting Euro 2032. “Look at what they’ve built in Spain, England, and Germany,” Ceferin pointed out. “Even smaller countries like Albania have made more progress in modernising their football infrastructure.” It’s thought that Italian stadiums have been neglected because most major football stadiums in Italy are owned by local governments rather than football clubs. Criticism has driven recent decisions to sell stadiums to enable redevelopment.
World Cup Cost Concerns
UEFA is lobbying Fifa to increase World Cup prize money and financial support for federations whose national teams are competing in the 2026 World Cup, sources have told The Athletic. The European football governing body has reportedly been asked by several of its member associations, which have not been disclosed, to raise their cost concerns with Fifa.
In February, The Guardian first reported that these federations feared they would lose money sending their national teams to the World Cup. While Fifa has approved record prize money of $655m (£539m), up from $440m, for the tournament, costs to participate are expected to far outstrip those of previous editions. Reports suggest concerns centre on travel demands, unfavourable exchange rates against the dollar, and expensive training facilities, with one federation quoted between $25,000 and $50,000 per day for a training facility. European countries without tax treaties with the United States are also concerned about state taxes.
Every qualified nation will receive at least $10.5m for participation, while the winners will earn $50m, up by $8m from the $42m Argentina received in 2022. See the breakdown of the prize money here.
POLL
With all 48 teams locked in, who do you think will lift this summer's World Cup trophy? (in Fifa ranked order)
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Spain’s Lamine Yamal has condemned "disrespectful and intolerable" anti-Muslim chants during his country's goalless draw with Egypt (More)
> Italy’s sports minister has said that the country’s head of football federation should resign after the country missed out on its third consecutive World Cup (More)
> Roman Abramovich is set to defy the UK government and register a charity to donate the £2.35bn proceeds from the sale of Chelsea, which are currently frozen (More)
> Alexander Isak is expected to return to Liverpool’s training on Thursday after recovering from a broken ankle and fibula (More)
Americas
> FIFA appeared to have a technical problem when it resumed World Cup ticket sales on Wednesday, with the website not stating which games and price categories were available (More)
> Lionel Messi scored and assisted in Argentina’s 5-0 friendly win over Zambia in what will be his last match on Argentine soil (More)
> USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino said his side is “not far away” from beating top-quality teams after losing 2-0 to Portugal in their latest friendly match (More); Christian Pulisic’s scoreless streak has extended to eight games for the national team (More)
> USWNT manager Emma Hayes has announced her 26-player roster for three April friendlies against Japan, including the return of Tierna Davidson and Sophia Wilson (More)
Rest of the World
> Iraq secured the final 2026 World Cup spot following their 2-1 win over Bolivia, while DR Congo also qualified for the tournament with their 1-0 win over Jamaica (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think the proposed 'daylight' offside rule is a good rule for the game?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (71%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (26%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 A.I: “This rule is perfect, and it aligns itself with the other rules in the game. In order for a ball to beat a goal, it must completely pass the goal line. In order for a ball to be out of bounds, it must be completely past the touchline. In order for a ball to be considered a corner kick, it must be completely passed the end line. Arsene Wenger has ensured that his offside rule aligns perfectly with other aspects of the game that require the ball to be completely past the line. Bravo, Wenger.”
🙅♂️ P.D: “This simply shifts the line from one side of the defender to the other. It also introduces subjectivity to what was ultimately a black-or-white law. It does nothing to address the only real issues with the offside rule, which are the time taken for VAR to decide on close calls and the question of interference from a player in an offside position.”
✍️ M.D: “More offence is more fun! It still maintains the offside concept, but is a little more lenient, so I think that’s good. On the other hand, it doesn’t address the issue of assessing if a player is offside. Will they consider ‘clear daylight’ head to toe? Any daylight? What about feet?”
EXTRA TIME
Meet the teams debuting in the World Cup this year.
DR Congo fans run through the streets after World Cup qualification.
What is Roberto De Zerbi’s style of play?
HBO releases trailer for USMNT docu-series.
Has a club won the title with a better goal difference than points tally?
Predicting England's 2026 World Cup squad.
The truth behind Daniel Levy suing Spurs.
GAME FACE ON
Question: How many nations have won the Fifa Men’s World Cup?
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.
After the match, I cried. I cried because of the disappointment of not being able to lead Italy where it deserves to be.
Answer
Eight (Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France, Uruguay, England, Spain).
