The English Premier League has announced a staggering 70 per cent increase in the value of its British television rights for the 2016-19 seasons with Sky and BT Sports paying a combined £5.136 billion to show games.
The new deals will see even more money flood in to the top flight, with the broadcasters paying more than £10 million to screen each game.
It leaves the rest of club football across the world far behind in terms of domestic television income compared to the Premier League – which also still has the lucrative overseas deals to negotiate.
Sky has held on to five of the seven packages totalling 126 matches including the new Friday night slot for 10 games, while BT Sport has two packages making up 42 matches.
Voronin quits
Former Ukraine and Liverpool forward Andrei Voronin has announced his retirement from football at the age of 35.
“It’s difficult to talk about this but I have finished my career as a professional,” he said.
“It was not an easy decision to make. I made it after consulting my family, those who are very close to me, as well as my agent.”
Earlier, agent Andrei Golovash said Voronin had ended his career because of a neck injury.
Voronin played for Liverpool from 2007-09, scoring six goals in 40 appearances.
FIFA candidates pass integrity checks
The four candidates for the FIFA presidency have passed integrity checks and have been formally declared eligible for the election on May 29.
FIFA confirmed that incumbent Sepp Blatter, who will be standing for a fifth mandate, former Portugal forward Luis Figo, Dutch FA president Michael van Praag and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan had all been accepted.
“Each of them underwent an integrity check by the investigatory chamber of the independent ethics committee,” FIFA said.
“Upon receipt of the results of the integrity checks, the ad-hoc electoral committee convened at the home of FIFA to validate that each of the candidatures fulfilled the requirements as stipulated in the FIFA regulations.”
Reus pens new deal
Borussia Dortmund winger Marco Reus has signed a new contract at the Bundesliga club until 2019, ending rumours of a move at the end of the season.
Reus was seen on his way out after rivals Bayern Munich revealed he had a buyout clause in his contract.
“We never let ourselves be influenced by all the transfer rumours and we always saw a good chance that this exceptional player could consciously decide in favour of Dortmund,” CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said in a statement.
Hamsik targets runners-up spot
Napoli have set their sights on leapfrogging Roma to second place in the Serie A standings, midfielder Marek Hamsik said yesterday.
Napoli have won their last four league matches since losing to Juventus in the Serie A last month and are sitting just four points behind second-placed Roma in the standings.
“We’re fighting for the second place and we want to close in as much as possible on Roma,” the 27-year-old Hamsik said.
“On Sunday we have a very difficult away game against Palermo but we want to continue on our way to get closer to Roma.”
Swans look to buy Liberty Stadium
Swansea City have opened talks to buy the Liberty Stadium, the city council has confirmed.
The English Premier League club currently share the council-owned stadium with rugby union side Ospreys through a 50-year lease.
Swansea were a third-tier side when the stadium opened in 2005 but they have since established themselves in the top flight and are keen to increase the capacity of the 20,800 venue.
“Positive, exploratory discussions with the Swans have now started about selling the Liberty Stadium to them,” Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart said.
“This would give the Swans complete control of the stadium and further support their expansion plans in future, but it’s important we protect the needs of the Ospreys, too.”
Midfielder Diarra set to join West Ham
Former Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra is training with West Ham United who are considering offering the Frenchman a short-term deal until the end of the season.
Diarra, 29, who has also played for Arsenal, Chelsea and Portsmouth in England, Anzhi Makhachkala and Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia and Le Havre in France, has been a free agent since being released by Lokomotiv last year.
“As soon as we get him fit he will be a very good addition to our squad,” Hammers manager Sam Allardyce said.
“I certainly hope that he would be close (to playing) after training for seven to 10 days with the lads if he finally signs the contract,” he added.