July 4, 2022
The brief from today:
Safe standing areas allowed
The UK government announced today that beginning next season—2022/23—Premier League and Championship teams will be allowed to have safe standing areas in stadiums. The two Manchester sides (City and United), Chelsea, Tottenham, and Cardiff City, were the teams who tested out the option in the latter half of last season. The experiment was considered a success, and now clubs that go through the application process permitting, them to include licensed safe standing areas, can join the aforementioned teams. So far, Premier League sides: Brentford and Wolves have been added to the list alongside Championship team Queens Park Rangers. In reference to the decision, culture secretary Nadine Dorries said, “Thanks to a robust trial, thorough evidence and modern engineering, we are now ready to allow standing once again in our grounds.” Of course, the crowd chaos at Wembley during last summer’s Euro 2020 final, and the Premier League pitch invasions last season, which saw fans getting physical with players and managers, still linger in the background after today’s announcement.
Chelsea fans in the standing area of Stamford Bridge last season
City Football Group expands
City Football Group has added another club to their portfolio. An 80 percent stake of Italian Serie B side, Palermo, was purchased today, making that the 11th club they currently own. The Sicilian side, once a respectable presence in Serie A, has been mired in financial and administrative trouble since 2019. Those two issues contributed to their disqualification from professional football, before a new phoenix club—a business entity founded to replace an original team—was approved allowing them to take part in Italy’s lowest division: Serie D. They have since gained promotion twice, with the most recent one being last season from Serie C to Serie B. City Football Group’s majority owner is the Abu Dhabi United Group, with minority owners: China Media Capital and Silver Lake each holding 12.4 percent, and 10.4 percent respectively. Along with the ownership group consisting of organizations from three different countries—United Arab Emirates, China, and the US—the 11 clubs they administer are equally diverse including: the aforementioned, Palermo, as well as Manchester City, Melbourne City FC, Montevideo City Torque, Troyes AC, Lommel SK, New York City FC, Mumbai City FC, Girona FC, Sichuan Jiuniu FC, and Yokohama Marinos. The group’s influence and presence in football, spanning five continents, continues to grow with this latest addition.
