English Premier League explores global expansion

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014
S P ORTS
English Premier League explores global expansion
LONDON: English clubs’ interest in playing
matches abroad has prompted the Premier
League to explore the possibilities of expansion
overseas.
The league was forced to scrap plans six years
ago to add an extra 39th round of matches at venues across the world amid opposition domestically and from FIFA. But league chief executive
Richard Scudamore recently acknowledged that
clubs still back the idea.
People with knowledge of the situation have
told The Associated Press that clubs have now
asked the league to conduct a feasibility study
into global expansion options. They spoke on con-
dition of anonymity because the discussions have
been in private. Although playing a regular season
game abroad would appear unlikely in the immediate future, the league is looking into organizing
lucrative pre-season friendlies and expanding the
existing Premier League Asia trophy tournament to
other continents.
The international interest in preseason games
was highlighted by Manchester United’s friendly
against Real Madrid in Michigan in August.
Organized by a third party company, it attracted a
crowd of more than 109,000. When asked about
Premier League pre-season or even regular season
games abroad, United managing director Richard
Arnold told the AP: “That’s still an area that’s under
some development. You’ve seen on the tour the
engagement we get abroad.”
Premier League games are broadcast into 650
million homes in 175 countries, according to
league statistics. The league has been wary about
reviving plans to take a game abroad after the initial discussion in 2008 angered both domestic fans
and FIFA, with questions also about upsetting the
balance of the division by inserting an extra fixture.
“The clubs wanted it (the regular season game
abroad in 2008) and they all would still probably
want it now,” Scudamore told the BBC in August. “It
will happen at some point. Whether it is on my
watch, who knows?” Pointing to the crowds at
some pre-season friendlies in the United States,
Scudamore said: “You wouldn’t get more even if
there was three points, six points, or even nine
points riding on that particular game.”
While clubs like United and Liverpool can secure
lucrative deals for pre-season games, it would be
clubs with smaller global fan bases that could benefit from the Premier League helping to organize
fixtures. The Spanish league organized its second
“World Challenge” tour ahead of this season, for
Almeria, Atletico Madrid, Deportivo La Coruna,
Malaga and Valencia as Barcelona and Real Madrid
cut its own deals.— AP
Arsenal star Ozil
out for 12 weeks
BERLIN: Mesut Ozil will miss Germany’s Euro
2016 qualifier against Poland on Saturday and
faces up to 12 weeks out with a knee injury,
the German Football Association (DFB) confirmed yesterday. The 25-year-old Arsenal star
complained of pain in his left knee and was
flown to Munich on Wednesday morning to be
treated by the DFB’s doctor, who diagnosed a
partial tear of the left cruciate knee ligament.
Ozil will miss the Group D qualifiers in
Warsaw and against the Republic of Ireland in
Gelsenkirchen next Tuesday. He also misses a
qualifier against minnows Gibraltar in
Nuremberg on November 14, plus a friendly
against European champions Spain on
November 18.
Ozil is also added to Arsenal manager
Arsene Wenger’s mounting injury list and will
miss the rest of the Gunners’ Champions
League group stage matches, including the
key Group D showdown at home to Borussia
Dortmund on November 26. Germany coach
Joachim Loew is already missing several stars
for the trip to Warsaw with captain Bastian
Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira, Benedikt
Hoewedes, Marco Reus and Mario Gomez all
injured while midfielder Julian Draxler has the
flu. Chelsea forward Andre Schuerrle also
missed training on Wednesday with a muscular problem, but is expected to be fit. “Things
look good for Andre, he received some treatment on Tuesday, so it’s normal that he sat out
training the day after,” said team manager
Oliver Bierhoff.
Draxler, of Schalke, is expected to join the
squad once he recovers from illness. Even
without Ozil, Loew has targeted six points
from their games against Poland and Ireland
to give the Germans control of Group D after
they beat Scotland 2-1 in their opening match.
Bierhoff said Germany are rebuilding after
established stars Philipp Lahm, Per
Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose all retired in
the wake of their World Cup triumph in Brazil
in July.
“We want to win both games and give ourselves a bit of a cushion in the qualifiers,”
added Bierhoff. “It’s going to be a tough
October with two difficult games.
“We have to introduce several new players
into the squad because of injuries and a few
retirements. “The team will have a different
look to how it was two months ago.”
With Schweinsteiger injured, Germany will
be captained by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for
the next two games. “These are key games for
us, it is important to keep playing well after
the win over Scotland,” said Neuer, of Bayern
Munich. Loew is set to hand a first cap to Bayer
Leverkusen attacking midfielder Karim
Bellarabi, who has opted to play for Germany
over Morocco, where his mother was born, on
the back of several impressive displays in the
Bundesliga.— AFP
Mesut Ozil controls the ball in this file photo.
England serious
against San Marino
LONDON: Having launched their 2016 European
Championship qualifying campaign with an
impressive win in Switzerland, England face a
thankless task today when perennial whipping
boys San Marino visit Wembley Stadium.
With San Marino currently 208th and last in
the FIFA world ranking, having scored only one
goal in their last 29 competitive fixtures, even a
handsome victory will not earn Roy Hodgson’s
side any credit.
England won 5-0 and 8-0 when they met San
Marino in qualifying for this year’s World Cup,
after which the microstate in Italy finished with
a goal difference of -53 for the second qualifying
tournament in succession. England now have
control of Group E after winning 2-0 in Basel last
month, but midfielder James Milner believes it
would be dangerous to slacken off in today’s
game. “We can’t let our standards drop,” the inform Manchester City man told a press conference at England’s St George’s Park training base.
“Everyone knows this is a game we should win
and that’s not being disrespectful. But when
teams come and sit, it’s not easy to break them
down.
“The biggest thing is not letting standards
drop, even against lesser opposition. We want to
keep improving.” One man itching to get onto
the pitch against San Marino will be England
captain Wayne Rooney, who is currently serving
a three-match suspension with Manchester
United. With 41 international goals, the 28-yearold needs four more to overtake Jimmy Greaves
as England’s third-highest goal-scorer and he
should have plenty of opportunities to add to
his tally against San Marino.
‘FILL THEIR BOOTS’
The game also represents a useful opportu-
nity for England to hone their tactics against
defensive teams. Hodgson’s side visit Estonia
on Sunday and will also come up against
Lithuania and Slovenia in Group E-none of
whom will be expected to come out and attack
them.
“We’ve been working on how we want to
play in training, preparing for the game exactly
as normal and allowing ourselves to be professional and put in a good performance and get
the three points,” said midfielder Adam Lallana.
“I’m sure players will want to fill their boots
and get goals. That’s the same in any game. If
you’re a striker you want to get on the scoresheet and the same for midfielders, (who) will
be looking for assists as well.”
With Glen Johnson, Kyle Walker and John
Stones all unavailable due to injur y,
Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne will hope to
win his first cap at right-back.
Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph missed
training on Tuesday due to a knock, but he is
expected to be fit to play. San Marino created a
sensation against England in 1993 when they
scored after just eight seconds of a World Cup
qualifying match, only to go on to lose 7-1.
Davide Gualteri’s strike is the only goal they
have scored in four meetings with England,
who have found the net 26 times against them
at an average of 6.5 goals per game.
But San Marino only lost 2-0 to Lithuania in
their opening Euro 2016 qualifier, and captain
Andy Selva has urged his team-mates to build
on the improvements they showed in the second half of that game. “We were braver and
tried to press them high up the pitch, so we
saw a completely different game,” said the 38year-old forward. “We have to play as we did in
the second half in the future.” — AFP
WARSAW: German players run during a training session of Germany’s national soccer team in Frankfurt. Germany will play against Poland in
Group D qualifying match for the Euro 2016 in Warsaw next Saturday. — AP
Nations play catch-up
in race for Euro 2016
PARIS: The campaign to qualify for Euro 2016
intensifies with two rounds of matches played
back-to-back over six days, starting from today,
offering the chance for those countries who
started badly last month to play catch-up.
That is the case for Guus Hiddink ’s
Netherlands, who entertain Kazakhstan and
then go to Iceland looking to bounce back
from a defeat in the Czech Republic, and for
Group A rivals Turkey, who were beaten in
Iceland last time out and now host the Czechs
before an awkward trip to Latvia.
Meanwhile, Portugal will play their first
match under new coach Fernando Santos
when they go to France for a friendly on
Saturday before taking on Denmark away next
Tuesday.
Santos has replaced Paulo Bento, who
departed following the shock 1-0 home defeat
to Albania in September, and has resorted to
recalling experienced faces in 33-year-old
Tiago Mendes, Danny, 31, and Monaco defender Ricardo Carvalho, 36.
Former Greece coach Santos, who is serving
a touchline ban, said of Carvalho: “He was punished for a year for his attitude. I know what I
want and which players can serve me best.
Perhaps other players will emerge in the next
month, but we are thinking about the present.”
Carvalho added: “As we lost our first match,
this has become more important for us. We
need to stick together and adapt to one another as quickly as possible so we come into the
Denmark game at as high a level as possible.”
Elsewhere, England entertain the whipping
boys of world football, San Marino, at Wembley
on Thursday before a trip to Tallinn to face
Estonia in a Group E double -header that
should provide few problems to Roy Hodgson’s
side. Indeed, for England, after winning 2-0 in
Switzerland in their opening qualifier last
month, failure to beat San Marino, who have
lost their last 59 matches, is unthinkable. “You
can’t let your standards drop.
Everyone knows it is a game we should win
and we want to keep improving and play better if we can. You can only beat what is in front
of you,” said midfielder James Milner, who
could see Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne
make his international debut at right-back.
BORISOV: Players of Ukraine’s national soccer team practice during an official training session
in Minsk, Belarus. Ukraine will play against Belarus in Group C qualifying match for the Euro
2016 in the town of Borisov today. — AP
matches that I have played I have not had a genBANANA SKIN
Reigning European champions Spain are on uine chance anyway. I need to keep working and
the road for two Group C fixtures against be ready to take the chance when it comes,” said
Slovakia and Luxembourg, with the first game in the Brazilian-born Chelsea star. Italy coach
Zilina a potential banana skin for Vicente del Antonio Conte has recalled Andrea Pirlo, 35, for
Bosque’s men. “There’s going to be Spanish fever the Azzurri’s Group H matches against
because everyone wants to see a game involv- Azerbaijan in Palermo on Friday and Malta away
ing one of the top teams in the world,” said on Monday. Germany, winners against Scotland
Robert Mak of Slovakia, whose team will rely on in September, go to Poland in Group D before
Napoli star Marek Hamsik to trouble the visitors hosting the Republic of Ireland in Gelsenkirchen,
as they look to build on a 1-0 win in Ukraine last and will do so without Schalke’s Julian Draxler,
month. Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos will who has joined the likes of Bastian
miss the trip east with a calf injury, but Gerard Schweinsteiger and Marco Reus on the sidelines.
The World Cup winners’ superb record in
Pique of Barcelona is back in the squad.
Valencia strike duo Rodrigo and Paco Alcacer, qualifiers could come under threat from a
who scored in the opening 5-1 win over Robert Lewandowski-inspired Poland, who need
Macedonia, also feature, while Diego Costa is results in a tough section in which Scotland will
host Georgia and Ireland take on Gibraltar this
eager to get his first international goal.
“I have still not scored here, but if you see the weekend. — AFP
Leiwekes take a stand against Europe’s US soccer plans
LONDON: Brothers Tod and Tim Leiweke, two of
the most powerful sports entrepreneurs in the
United States, have questioned the value of
European soccer clubs staging matches in the US
and Canada. The brothers, who have been
involved in American sports clubs across different
codes, were reacting on Wednesday to a story in
Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper which suggested
UEFA was considering staging mini-tournaments
outside Europe. Meanwhile, other media reports
said English Premier League clubs have again discussed playing regular season games abroad.
The brothers said they welcomed the debate
on the issue but told the Leaders in Sport Summit
at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium they were
against UEFA’s plans and the recent trend of
European clubs playing pre-season friendlies in
North America. Tod, now the president of Tampa
Bay Sports, said: “One of the challenges I’ve always
thrown out there to the powers that be in football
is ‘Will you be a pirate or will you be a pioneer?’
“Are you going to use North America just as an
opportunity to make some additional dollars or are
you going to commit to taking the sport to the
next level and help to grow Major League Soccer?”
“In the case of Manchester City, they are doing a
phenomenal job in New York. They begin playing
next year. They’ve signed David Villa and Frank
Lampard. “At the same time, you look at the news
about UEFA thinking about moving a meaningful
series of games over to North America. Is that
good or bad for Major League Soccer?
“Is that a pioneer vision or is that a pirate move?
Therein lies the debate.” He said the MLS had progressed over the last decade with US fans understanding the game better and being more discerning about what they watch. “This past summer the
biggest draw in Seattle was not Tottenham playing
Sounders it was Sounders playing Portland in front
of 66,000 people.”
LUCRATIVE GAMES
Tim, who was president and chief executive of
Anschutz Entertainment Group, the owner of
Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy and
who brought David Beckham to the U.S., is now
president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
He questioned whether Premier League matches played outside Britain were good or bad for the
MLS. “Are those competitors our partners or do
they see that North American landscape and want
to take money out of that landscape? Therein lies
the challenge for Major League Soccer.” He added:
“For many years clubs came to America, and were
little more than pirates, they played a nice game
and filled their bags with cash and flew out.
“Fans might have seen the stars play, might not
have seen the stars play, but all that’s changed.”
“The MLS has improved a lot in the last 10 years.”
Jeffrey Webb, president of the CONCACAF
region which covers North America, Central
America and the Caribbean, disagreed with the
Leiwekes and told delegates in another seminar he
was in favor of a Premier League game being
staged in North America. “I think it will bode well
for the future-the game will grow. The U.S market
is a great market, not only for the English Premier
League but other leagues as well. I believe this is
going to be a great promotion for the game. It’s a
win-win situation.” Games in the United States and
Asia have proved particularly popular and lucrative
especially over the last few years for European
clubs with almost 110,000 fans watching
Manchester United play Real Madrid in Michigan
this year. The Premier League’s chief executive
Richard Scudamore was widely criticised six years
ago for a plan to introduce an extra match for each
club-the so-called “39th game”-at venues in Asia,
the United States, Australia and elsewhere.
However, at the start of this season, he claimed
clubs still supported the idea. The new plan, it was
reported yesterday, would be for one of the existing 38 rounds of 10 fixtures to be played at various
venues around the world. — Reuters