Football Today

On March 20th, Boris Johnson announced all pubs, bars and restaurants in the UK would be closed. More than a month later, the pubs remain closed. However, despite their forced closure many pub tenants are being forced to pay their full rent.

Today we look at how coronavirus is affecting British pubs and see how that might affect football's relationship with pubs. 

Guests:

Greg Mulholland, Chair of British Pub Confederation

Martin Whelan, Owner of The Tollington pub

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One day in October 2018, a journalist - Jamal Khashoggi - went into the Saudi Arabian consulate in Instanbul. He would never come out.

Although Saudi Arabia rigorously denied it, it soon became evident that Khashoggi had been killed in an assassination most likely sanctioned by the crown prince - Mohammed bin Salman.

Less than two years later, Mohammed bin Salman is back in the news.

Heading up a consortium to buy Newcastle United off Mike Ashley, the man known more colloquially as MBS finds himself following the footsteps of his mentor MBZ - Mohammed bin Zayed, the owner of Manchester City.

In this episode, we ask: who is Mohammed bin Salman? And why is he buying Newcastle United?

Guest:

Nicholas McGeehan (@NcGeehan) is a human rights activist and researcher

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Barcelona's board is in chaos. Six Barcelona board members have resigned and there has been an allegation of corruption. Josep Maria Bartomeu's presidency is coming under increased pressure by fans, players and board members. 

Today we ask: what is 'Barcagate' and why is there chaos on the Barca board?

Guest:

Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) covers La Liga for ESPN.com and the Guardian. He is also the co-host of the podcast, The Spanish Football Podcast.

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Barcelona's board is in chaos. Six Barcelona board members have resigned and there has been an allegation of corruption. Josep Maria Bartomeu's presidency is coming under increased pressure by fans, players and board members. 

Today we ask: what is 'Barcagate' and why is there chaos on the Barca board?

Guest:

Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) covers La Liga for ESPN.com and the Guardian. He is also the co-host of the podcast, The Spanish Football Podcast.

Follow us:

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Early in the morning on May 27th, 2015, plainclothes policemen started visiting hotels in Zurich, Switzerland and systematically rounding people up.

For years previously, an investigation carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service had been tracking financial irregularities at FIFA, the governing body of world football.

Following this momentous occasion, a stream of indictments had been handed out to individuals involved with FIFA. But slowly, the indictments dried up. It seemed like the trail had gone cold.

Then, last week, a new indictment was unsealed at a District Court in New York. The FIFA corruption trials were back.

In this episode, we ask: what has been happening with FIFA’s corruption charges over the last five years? And why are they suddenly back on the agenda?

Guest:

Ken Bensinger (@kenbensinger ) is an investigative journalist at Buzzfeed and the author of the book, Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World's Biggest Sports Scandal

Follow us:

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www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Early in the morning on May 27th, 2015, plainclothes policemen started visiting hotels in Zurich, Switzerland and systematically rounding people up.

For years previously, an investigation carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service had been tracking financial irregularities at FIFA, the governing body of world football.

Following this momentous occasion, a stream of indictments had been handed out to individuals involved with FIFA. But slowly, the indictments dried up. It seemed like the trail had gone cold.

Then, last week, a new indictment was unsealed at a District Court in New York. The FIFA corruption trials were back.

In this episode, we ask: what has been happening with FIFA’s corruption charges over the last five years? And why are they suddenly back on the agenda?

Guest:

Ken Bensinger (@kenbensinger ) is an investigative journalist at Buzzfeed and the author of the book, Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World's Biggest Sports Scandal

Follow us:

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

On November 18th, 2019, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president David John-Williams opening the country's new football stadium and complex.

The same day of the unveiling, FIFA president Gianni Infantino lauded the work of the T&T Football Association and John-Williams. John-Williams would lose his bid for re-election just 6 days later.

Now less than 6 months later, FIFA is declaring that Trinidad and Tobago's football association is not fit for purpose and has appointed a normalisation committee to run football operations in the country.

Today we look at why Infantino and FIFA made such a drastic u-turn and why might this be a dangerous precedent for football associations around the world.

Guest:

Lasana Liburd (@Lasanaliburd) is the CEO and editor of the website wired868.com, which is where you can find ongoing coverage of this story and other Caribbean football news

Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) is a writer and broadcaster and you can read his exclusive interview with Keith Lok Loy on Josimar.com

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In the last few weeks, it feels like everybody is talking about wages in football.

It’s not just footballer’s wages that have come under scrutiny; across the Premier League, clubs have been coming under criticism for making use of a government furloughing scheme to save imbursing their lower-paid staff.

With more money than ever in football and less money than ever in the economy, people are asking questions about football’s relationship to wealth.

In this episode, we ask: why is everyone talking about wages in football? And how is football being used as… well... a political football.

Guests:

Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) is a freelance journalist whose work can be found in the i paper, BBC Sport and the Totally Football Show amongst others

Will Davies (@davies_will) is Professor in Political Economy at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Follow us:

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

In the last few weeks, it feels like everybody is talking about wages in football.

It’s not just footballer’s wages that have come under scrutiny; across the Premier League, clubs have been coming under criticism for making use of a government furloughing scheme to save imbursing their lower-paid staff.

With more money than ever in football and less money than ever in the economy, people are asking questions about football’s relationship to wealth.

In this episode, we ask: why is everyone talking about wages in football? And how is football being used as… well... a political football.

Guests:

Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) is a freelance journalist whose work can be found in the i paper, BBC Sport and the Totally Football Show amongst others

Will Davies (@davies_will) is Professor in Political Economy at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Follow us:

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com