Football News: Review Of The Day 18th March 2020

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Nemanja Matic has agreed a 1 year contract extension with Manchester United, which takes it up to 2021.

Malaga's Moroccan winger Hicham Boussefiane has agreed a new deal which will end in 2022.

Transfers

Former Chelsea (and briefly Manchester United) midfielder John Mikel Obi has been released by Trabzonspor.

Disciplinary Charges

Macclesfield Town's points deduction for non-payment of wages and failing to fulfil a fixture has been reduced on appeal. They were originally deducted 6 points with a further four suspended, but this has been reduced to 4 points with a further 3 suspended.

A Manchester City fan has been charged with racially abusing Manchester United midfielder Fred during the Manchester derby. Video footage appear to show him making monkey gestures.

Coronavirus Latest

UEFA made the decision to postpone Euro 2020. All UEFA competitions and matches, friendlies and competitive games, for both clubs and national teams have also been put on hold. The Euro 2020 play-off games and international friendlies which were scheduled for the end of March, have been tentatively scheduled for the international window at the start of June. Aleksander Ceferin announced: "We are at the helm of a sport that vast numbers of people live and breathe that has been laid low by this invisible and fast-moving opponent. It is at times like these that the football community needs to show responsibility, unity, solidarity and altruism. The health of fans, staff and players has to be our number one priority and, in that spirit, UEFA tabled a range of options so that competitions can finish this season safely and I am proud of the response of my colleagues across European football. There was a real spirit of cooperation, with everyone recognising that they had to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best result. It was important that, as the governing body of European football, UEFA led the process and made the biggest sacrifice. Moving EURO 2020 comes at a huge cost for UEFA but we will do our best to ensure that the vital funding for grassroots, women's football and the development of the game in our 55 countries is not affected. Purpose over profit has been our guiding principle in taking this decision for the good of European football as a whole. Football is an uplifting and powerful force in society. The thought of celebrating a pan-European festival of football in empty stadia, with deserted fan zones while the continent sits at home in isolation, is a joyless one and one we could not accept to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the competition. I would like to thank the European Club Association, the European Leagues and FIFPro Europe for their great work today and for their cooperation. I would also like to thank from the bottom of my heart the 55 national associations, their presidents and general secretaries, and my colleagues from the Executive Committee for their support and wise decisions. The fine detail will be worked out in the coming weeks but the basic principles have been agreed and that is a major step forward. We have all shown that we are responsible leaders. We have demonstrated solidarity and unity. Purpose over profit. We've achieved this today. I would also like to thank Alejandro Domínguez and CONMEBOL, who have agreed to move CONMEBOL's 2020 Copa America in order to follow the recommendations issued by the international public health organisations to enact extreme measures and as a result of EURO 2020 being postponed. This means that clubs and leagues in Europe will have as little disruption as possible in the availability of their players. These joint efforts and especially this coordinated and responsible decision, are deeply appreciated by the whole European football community. I would like to thank FIFA and its President, Gianni Infantino, who has indicated it will do whatever is required to make this new calendar work. In the face of this crisis, football has shown its best side with openness, solidarity and tolerance."

The Bundesliga will discuss their next step on March 30, according to their CEO. Christian Seifert said: "Further discussions on the future of the league will take place on March 30. Nobody can say, when and if, we can continue. At the center is the game, but there are also 56,000 jobs dependent on the Bundesliga, not including the many people thousands of people that work in media. We have to find solutions to continue our business. At this point, we are working to ensure that our 36 Bundesliga clubs survive until the day x when we can return."

Valencia have confirmed that 35% of their playing squad and staff have tested positive for the coronavirus. A club statement read: "All cases are asymptomatic and those involved are currently isolated at home, receiving medical assessment and carrying out their scheduled training plan. Despite the strict measures adopted by the club after their Champions League game (...) these latest results show the exposure inherent to such matches has caused a positive test rate of around 35%."

Manchester United have put a return to training on hold. The Red Devils were due back to training on Tuesday and the players will continue working on individual training programmes at home.

A number more players have tested positive for Covid-19. Juventus midfielder Blaise Matuidi and a Hertha Berlin player who has not yet been named have both tested positive.

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has donated over £40,000 to the FCFA, the national committee fighting against coronavirus in his home nation Senegal. All Liverpool players are training individually at home at the moment with the training ground shut down.

Next month's African Nations Championship (CHAN) has been postponed. The tournament is for African players based in their own leagues and was expected to be closed down as defending champions Morocco had pulled out and the host nation Cameroon had requested it be delayed.

Former Burnley manager Brian Laws has asked all Premier League players to donate a month's wages to help lower league clubs avoid financial ruin due to the coronavirus outbreak. Laws told the BBC: "Premier League players could help a lot. Every player in the Premier League is a millionaire. They can afford to live a month having lost the £60,000 or £100,000 that they earn a week. It is not not like they are scraping by like they are in the lower leagues, who are hand-to-mouth. Their futures are safe, if they don't kick another football for the rest of their lives they are millionaires and are secure. You are talking about 30 to 40 players per club, and then you put that in a pot and the Premier League clubs disperse that down the leagues to help support them through this. What you would be asking for is that player's give something up."

Another List

Transfermarkt have decided to revisit their first year of putting values on players, 2004. They have released a list of the top 25 players by value in 2004, the year Jose Mourinho's Porto won the Champions League and Greece won the Euros.
Name Club Value in euros
1. Ronaldinho Barcelona 50m
2. Thierry Henry Arsenal 45m
3. Ronaldo Real Madrid 45m
4. David Beckham Real Madrid 40m
5. Ruud van Nistelrooy Manchester United 40m
6. Wayne Rooney Everton 37m
7. Jose Antonio Reyes Arsenal 35m
8. Andrii Shevchenko AC Milan 35m
9. Francesco Totti AS Roma 35m
10. Patrick Vieira Arsenal 35m
11. Alessandro Nesta AC Milan 33m
12. Michael Owen Real Madrid 30m
13. Roberto Carlos Real Madrid 30m
14. Ricardo Carvalho Porto 30m
15. Didier Drogba Olympique Marseille 30m
16. Michael Ballack Bayern Munich 30m
17. Adriano Inter Milan 30m
18. Gianluca Zambrotta Juventus 28m
19. Pavel Nedved Juventus 28m
20. Emerson Juventus 28m
21. Samuel Eto'o Barcelona 27m
22. Kaka AC Milan 26m
23. Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid 25m
24. Ryan Giggs Manchester United 25m
25. Gennaro Gattuso AC Milan 25m

King Not Selling

Rangers chairman Dave King, who owns a 25.8% stake in the club through his family firm New Oasis Asset Ltd, has ruled out selling his shares. King told the Press Association: "I am not selling any shares. As I said at the AGM, we will raise new funds. No existing shareholders are selling." King is set to step down from his role as chairman.

Written by Tris Burke March 17 2020 20:44:31