By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw Women tennis players returning to the professional game after giving birth will enjoy new rules on rankings from next season. Following pressure from the likes of Serena Williams, who had a daughter in 2017 and … Continue reading →

Issue number 263 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the average length of passes by teams from 35 European domestic leagues. The study highlights big discrepancies in playing styles. There are almost 8 meters difference between the teams that executed … Continue reading →

By Jonathan Copping, Lawyer, Stone King, London, UK American telecommunications conglomerate, Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair) has agreed to purchase 21 sports networks from Disney in a deal worth US$10.6 billion. The deal will fulfil one of the key conditions for … Continue reading →

By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw Israel Folau has been sacked by Australia Rugby Union (ARU) for his homophobic remarks and Billy Vunipola has received a formal warning from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for defending his remarks. Folau, a Christian … Continue reading →

By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw WBC world heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder, has been summoned to appear before the WBC in connection with controversial remarks on death in the boxing ring that he made in the lead up to his fight … Continue reading →

By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw According to Olympic 10,000 metres gold medal winner, Jo Pavey, female athletes, who become pregnant, are having their endorsement money frozen by their sponsors. In her case, she has revealed that NIKE “immediately paused” her … Continue reading →

  15 May 2019 Report and Atlas on expatriate footballers disclosed For the third year, the CIES Football Observatory analyses the presence of expatriate players in 147 leagues from 98 national associations. Brazil is clearly at the top of the rankings for … Continue reading →

Production champions: Napoli, Olympiacos, Leeds, and who else?Issue number 262 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the three best and worst teams per league in terms of points that they should have achieved according to their pitch production. Virtual points … Continue reading →

By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw The World Governing Body of Football, FIFA, on 10 May 2019, have banned Italian Dutch ‘Super’ Agent, Mino Raiola, who represents the likes of Paul Pogba, for three months for unspecified reasons. This ban will … Continue reading →

By Jonathan Copping, Lawyer, Stone King, London, UK The FIFA Appeal Committee has rejected Chelsea’s appeal against the transfer ban imposed by FIFA, which, means that the Chelsea will now take its case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. … Continue reading →