Soccer

United Kingdom citizens voted to leave the European Union. With the prospect of leaving the European Economic Area, as well as losing the freedom of movement for workers within the EU, the Premier League could suddenly be on the outside looking in. British leagues and players could be adversely affected by Brexit without some significant legislative changes within the UK, FIFA, and UEFA.

After being expelled from this year's Copa del Rey for fielding ineligible player Denis Cheryshev, Real Madrid will likely struggle to win an appeal to overthrow the RFEF decision

Yesterday in Belgium, FIFPro, the world football (soccer) players’ union, filed a competition law complaint with the Directorate General Competition of the European Commission against FIFA in an attempt to challenge the movement of players.[i] FIFPro is denouncing the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) as anti-competitive and illegal, preventing smaller clubs from competing, limiting player rights, and failing the future growth and success of the sport.

After Barcelona has completed the signing of two players this summer, you may be asking yourself how transfers can happen into a club while it is under a transfer ban. The real ban isn’t from bringing in new players, but in the ability to register them as an active member of the team and have them eligible to participate in competitive matches.

Following an extensive investigation, the United States Department of Justice indicted fourteen individuals from FIFA and sports marketing companies on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, and other related offenses. These individuals were all high-ranking officials and executives who participated in two decades of bribery and kickbacks, turning FIFA into a criminal enterprise for their own gain.

In April, FIFA sanctioned FC Barcelona for violating regulations regarding the international transfer and registration of minors (U-18 players). Barcelona originally appealed FIFA’s decision, during which the FIFA Appeal Committee granted a stay of the initially imposed transfer ban. All aspects of FIFA’s initial ruling were upheldon Wednesday, including fines and a transfer ban that will prevent the club from signing any players in the next two windows (January 2015 and Summer 2015). While the decision has finally arrived, how much affect will it actually have? The FIFA Appeal Committee delayed the ban just late enough for Barcelona to get a majority, if not all, of the club’s current transfer business done for the upcoming season.

On Wednesday, FIFA announced that it has charged Uruguay forward Luis Suarez with biting an Italian opponent and has opened disciplinary proceedings in the incident. What are the possible penalties? What is the precedent? Sean Dotson explains.

“Não vai ter Copa!” they chant in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and several other Brazilian cities that will host World Cup matches in June and July. “There will be no World Cup,” they say, and they mean to be taken seriously. Protests have exploded throughout Brazil on the eve of the World Cup. The protesters’ list of grievances is long and not entirely limited to the problems associated with Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 World Cup, but this landmark event in Brazil’s history has provided the opportunity for people from the middle and working classes to air their grievances on the world stage.

In a season where FC Barcelona is already dealing with adversity, the soccer[i] gods are deciding to pile it on. Not only is the club facing the loss of multiple key players that have been mainstays for a decade (Puyol, Valdes), they are also in the midst of the closest title race in La Liga in years (THREE whole teams within three points). On the business side of the club, Barcelona and Real Madrid are also fighting against a potential new regulation on the sport that would decrease their television revenue advantage over the other clubs. FC Barca LogoCurrently the two clubs make as much as 6.5 times as much as the smallest clubs on television deals, while this new law would shrink that to max out the disparity at a fourfold difference (a likely loss of approximately one third of their current share).