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Good morning football fans. It’s Thursday, Apr. 9 - Fans say they feel misled by Fifa over their World Cup ticket allocations, Leicester’s point deduction appeal has been rejected, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
UEFA Europa League quarter-finals leg 1 (April 9): Bologna vs. Aston Villa, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Bologna have lost both European meetings with Aston Villa, including a 2-0 defeat in last year’s Champions League and a 1-0 loss earlier this season in the Europa League. Porto vs. Nottingham Forest, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Porto are one of three sides with a 100% home record in the Europa League this season, along with Aston Villa and Freiburg, winning all five games. However, Forest beat the Portuguese side 2-0 at the City Ground in October in the group stage. Freiburg vs. Celta Vigo, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Celta Vigo have won just one of their six major European matches against German teams, and Freiburg have won their last nine home Europa League matches, with Ajax the last side to win 10 such games in a row between 2016 and 2021. See the Europa League bracket here.
Results…
Champions League quarter-finals: Barcelona 0-2 Atletico | Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Liverpool
Europa League quarter-final: Sporting Braga 1-1 Real Betis
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TOP TALKING POINTS
World Cup Ticket Controversy
Fans have accused Fifa of misleading them with the purchase of their World Cup tickets, reports The Athletic. The report claims that fans feel the governing body, which has been selling tickets by category rather than by specific seat, has misrepresented the locations of the seats being purchased. Even fans who purchased Category 1 tickets, the most premium seating, say they received unfavourable placements, sometimes in sections previously classified as Category 2, once Fifa converted ticket categories to specific seats last week. Fifa told The Athletic that the categories were only “to help fans understand where their seats could be located within a stadium.”
The controversy stems, in part, from the stadium maps used during the sales process being changed multiple times, Henry Bushnell at The Athletic reports. Some sections were reclassified between ticket categories in later versions of the maps, while others were removed or adjusted altogether, adding to confusion among buyers. Fans say these changes were not clearly communicated, meaning the information they relied on at the time of purchase did not always match the final seating allocations.
Fans also said they don’t know of any Category 1 ticket buyers who were assigned a lower-level sideline seat. Fans are theorising that Fifa has reserved these seats for commercial partners and hospitality, based on strong indications from ticket availability and hospitality allocations. Fifa has not confirmed whether this is the case.
Points Deduction Upheld
Leicester City have lost their appeal against their six-point deduction for breaching English Football League financial rules. In February, the Championship side fell from 17th to 20th after the points deduction, but now they are in the relegation zone with five matches remaining after a run of just one win in 12 games across all competitions. See the Championship table here.
Leicester had initially been charged by the Premier League, but were ultimately found to have breached the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) by £20.8m ($28m). The Foxes argued that their PSR assessment should cover 36 months, but due to a delay in submitting their 2023–24 accounts, they were effectively assessed over 37 months. Leicester argued that this extra month unfairly pushed them over the limit, and while the commission agreed the period should be 36 months, the club still breached PSR rules over that timeframe.
"With the matter now at an end and five games of the season remaining, everyone at the club is fully focused on the matches in front of us and on shaping the outcome of our season through our results on the pitch," a Leicester statement said.
Women’s Football Investment Surge
Investment firm Sixth Street has bought a majority stake in the second-tier women’s side Sunderland AFC Women, with some reports suggesting the stake is up to around 80%. This is the firm’s first English team, bought through its Bay Collective subsidiary, as part of a multi-club ownership portfolio which includes strategic partnerships with Barcelona and Real Madrid. Sunderland AFC will retain a minority stake in the women’s side.
In January, Bay Collective added NWSL side Bay FC to its portfolio amid the firm’s confidence that “professional women’s teams [will] become national and consumer brands.” Bay Collective’s acquisition comes shortly after another multi-club ownership group focused on women’s football, Mercury 13, bought a majority stake in second-tier side Bristol City Women.
The move makes Sunderland the fourth Premier League club to sell a stake in their women’s team in the past two years, following Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Everton. Unlike these sales, which were primarily used to comply with the Premier League’s financial rules, Sunderland’s sale is thought to be less financially motivated. “This agreement reflects a shared ambition to see our women’s team thrive at the highest level,” Sunderland’s ownership group chief executive Tom Burwell said. “Bay Collective brings world-class experience and resources, and this partnership creates an exciting platform for sustainable success.”
POLL
Should Arne Slot be Liverpool's manager next season?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Frank Lampard, Alex Neil and Kim Hellberg have been nominated for the Championship Manager of the Season award (More)
> Crystal Palace play Fiorentina in the Conference League quarter-finals on Thursday (Apr 9); see every Conference League fixture (More) | West Ham have complained to Fifa after DR Congo failed to sanction Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s release prior to their loss to Leeds in the FA Cup quarter-final (More)
> Scottish Premiership’s Hearts face a potential final-day title decider against Celtic on May 16 after the league announced the Premiership’s post-split fixtures (More); dive deeper into how the Scottish Premiership fixture split works (More)
> Legendary manager Mircea Lucescu has died at the age of 80, five days after stepping down as Romania's head coach (More)
Americas
> Son Heung-min scored and assisted as LAFC beat Cruz Azul 3-0 in the Concacaf Champions Cup quarter-final (More); see every Champions Cup result (More)
> USMNT striker Patrick Agyemang will miss the World Cup after suffering a ruptured Achilles (More)
Rest of the World
> The Confederation of African Football has confirmed that the Africa Cup of Nations 2027 will run from June 19 to July 18, hosted by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Which team do you think will win the Champions League this season, and why?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏴 Arsenal (21%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇪🇸 Real Madrid (4%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 ⬜️ 🇩🇪 Bayern Munich (49%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇪🇸 Barcelona (11%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid (1%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain (9%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏴 Liverpool (4%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇵🇹 Sporting (1%)
Your punditry takes:
🇩🇪 J.R voted Bayern Munich: “Harry Kane is the most consistent player in Europe right now. He is churning out goals like a factory. I just don't see a team that can rival Bayern at the moment.”
🇩🇪 D.J.F voted Bayern Munich: “Three reasons Bayern will win…. Kane, Olise, Diaz. They are the equivalent of playing against Gretzky, Messier and Kurri in the 1984-85 Stanley Cup Finals. Relentless attack!”
🇫🇷 H.B voted PSG: “Running into great form at the right time. Their press is lethal, and all the injured players have returned. Perfect!”
🇪🇸 A.G voted Barcelona: “If they can get over their reported internal feuds of some players, they seem to be on a roll this season with a good number of top talents in their lineup.”
🏴 J.J voted Arsenal: “They’ll be determined to show the critics that they are a side to be reckoned with and not ’bottlers’ as is continually suggested by the press.”
EXTRA TIME
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Harry Kane teaches you how to score.
Is the Championship heading for financial catastrophe?
Premier League players out of contract this season.
The most valuable teen players in the MLS.
Which team has gone furthest in Europe while being relegated in the same season?
GAME FACE ON
Question: Nine Premier League managers have been sacked or left this season. How many can you name?
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.
I consider you a player and I consider you a friend, I love you very much.
Answer
Nuno Espirito Santo (Nott’m Forest). Graham Potter (West Ham). Ange Postecoglou (Nott’m Forest). Vitor Pereira (Wolves). Enzo Maresca (Chelsea). Ruben Amorim (Man United). Thomas Frank (Tottenham). Sean Dyche (Nott’m Forest). Igor Tudor (Tottenham).
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