Matt Slater
@mjslater
I cover the business/politics of football & other global sports for The Athletic. In other words, I mainly do bad news.
Might be wishful thinking but I think the FIFA crisis will dial down for a bit. He hasn’t quit & no palace coup, so we’re into a FIFA/UEFA slugfest. Time then to debate a better way to run football. I like this from Belgian Pro League CEO Lorin Parys… 🔗 www.economist.com/by-invitatio...
Are Charlton going to have new owners again so soon? 🤷♂️ Brener & Friedman have been looking for help/an exit for ages. They’ve got a new broker👇. They’re looking for £50m+ but there are lots of comparable clubs on market (that don’t involve dealing w/ Duchatelet!). Non-binding bids due next week.
One for the John Textor completists. Iconic, one of the funds that invested in Eagle, has won its row with him in London’s commercial courts. Textor owes Iconic $99.6m, plus daily interest of $22,602.74! Iconic: “The time has come for him to honour his contractual obligations.”
A small but significant step. The IFR has sent a warning notice to Morecambe’s owners. Sadly, Morecambe got relegated, so are no longer under the IFR’s remit (over to you, FA) but this is the regulator’s first public intervention in the club game. 🔗 www.footballregulator.org.uk/enforcements...
Beautiful evening in the Philadelphia Fan Festival except I’m missing one thing…a beer! The bar staff tell me FIFA says no alcohol after half-time. Saudi Arabia v Uruguay is a famously high-risk fixture.
Quiz time, but only for people not from Philadelphia: how do you pronounce the name of this river?
The World Cup starts in 100 days’ time, so @theathleticfc.bsky.social decided to answer 100 World Cup-related questions. I took a Countryfile approach. Had to pick a quiet lane, as I didn’t want my neighbours to think I’ve become an influencer. 👉 www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...
Ski Sunday fans, a quiz! Can you name all of these chaps? Bonus points for the selfie-hunters in the middle.
With one small but powerful idea (& a brilliant PR strategy) Vladyslav Heraskevych has grabbed the Olympic family’s attention & asked it a difficult question: you say athletes come first, but what about these athletes? This is new IOC president Kirsty Coventry’s first big test.
Lindsay Vonn was the 13th racer in the start list and she was 13 seconds into her run…today was a bad day for triskaidekaphobics. Here’s a video from a subdued/worried women’s downhill course, which is a shame on lots of levels, not least for Breezy Johnson, who was brilliant.
Hugely significant moment at the IOC Session in Milan. Olympic bosses have just voted on whether pineapple is an acceptable pizza topping: Yes - 46 No - 49 Common sense prevailed. Just.
Interesting line from @inttestagency.bsky.social chair Jacques Antenen at IOC Session in Milan. 8% of athletes at Milan Cortina 2026 weren’t drug-tested in pre-Games phase. Some big gaps in coverage, too. 13% of Norwegian team untested, only 1/3 of Finns, French & Swedish tested enough.
Gianni Infantino in Davos. Raced through greatest hits: Fifa has 211 members, more than UN. This session will be “best”. This summer’s WC will be 104 Super Bowls, solve world’s ills etc. Also made two digs at UK (btw, Gianni, no UK arrests at 2010 WC either). Who has he been hanging out with?
Tartan Army, ask for cash for Christmas and get saving. Here’s your World Cup price list…
FIFA is telling each participating FA how much their 8% ticket allocations will cost & where those seats are in the venues. The English FA is still waiting but the Croatian FA has got the scoop. Cheapest ticket for 🏴 v 🇭🇷 is $265, 8x UEFA’s “fan first” tickets in Germany!
You know the meme of The Undertaker sitting up suddenly after being flat out on the canvas? Well, John Textor has just done the same thing, as he’s won the right to appeal against an earlier loss in his war with Eagle partner Iconic. Defeat would be disastrous for him but back to square one we go!
As revealed earlier, they’re back! For those still following the ESL franchise, I make this the 4th iteration of A22’s plan to replace the deeply unpopular Champions League that nobody wants to watch, televise or sponsor. Apparently. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/683...
John Textor’s week: 🇧🇷 Court unpicks attempt to shield Botafogo from Eagle in wake of Lyon meltdown, uneasy ceasefire with Ares continues 🇺🇸 Loses jurisdiction fight in Iconic row 🇨🇭 CAS hearing in late transfer fee battle with Atlanta Utd 🇬🇧 Loses application to stop Iconic case; full hearing next year
Remember when the government was going to bin the independent football regulator? Well, they didn’t & this week we’ve had the formal appointments to the board & now a CEO, ex-EY partner Richard Monks (below). His regulatory know-how should combine well with David Kogan’s media rights expertise.
Despite my efforts to get off the John Textor train, people keep sending “he’s really blown it now” stories from Rio. They may be getting warmer but this week’s crisis is because EFH independent director Chris Mallon has quit. Job done. Ares can nominate a new one but Textor has final say.
Inflation really is getting out of control. £8 for a pint, £106.5m for a Newcastle United share.
Lisa Nandy was asked about Sheffield Wednesday during her DCMS select committee appearance. Said she’s “extremely concerned” by Chansiri’s refusal to invest in club or sell it. Strongly hinted regulator will seize club & force a sale if not resolved. From 11:09… www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...
20,000 holiday-makers get what they paid for the Estádio Algarve tonight: a Ronny hatty. I think João Felix has had three assists, too. It’s Al Nassr 4, Rio Ave 0.
Saudi summers are so hot their football teams go on pre-season to…the Algarve. Decent crowd in for Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr. Evangelos Marinakis’s Rio Ave are playing the Washington Generals role. The great man - Ronaldo, not Evangelos - has just produced a good save from a free kick.
Crystal Palace, all fair-minded neutrals & the spirit of the law vs UEFA, Forest, Lyon, soulless bureaucrats & the letter of the law in Lausanne on August 8. A result on August 11.
The new football season starts in England….tonight?!?! We’ve not had the 5th Test yet, most of us haven’t been on holiday & we’re in music festival season! But with so many PL clubs in Europe, plus the extra league-phase games, it’s the only way to get PL clubs into League Cup.