June 15, 2022
The brief from today:
Dani Alves says goodbye, again
Mr. “Good Crazy”, Dani Alves, announced today that he wouldn’t be extending his one year contract with Barcelona, which expired this summer. The Brazilian, now 39, previously played for Barca from 2008-2016 before moving on and having brief stints at: Juventus, PSG, and São Paulo, before returning to Catalunya last year. Alves made 408 appearances in total over his two spells at Barcelona, winning the following: six La Liga crowns, four Copa del Rey trophies, and three Champions League titles. He will now try and find playing time somewhere else to ensure he retains his place in the Brazil squad for the World Cup in five months.
Namibia hires a fellow Namibian
Namibia announced that former captain, Collin Benjamin, would be the new coach of the national team. The 43 year old has been granted a five year contract just as qualifying for the 2023 AFCON commenced last week. It is an improving trend in Africa, where for a long time, foreigners were routinely appointed as coaches of the national teams. Currently, however, 29 out of 57 nations on the continent have a fellow countryman on the bench. Benjamin, who played club football for 10 years in Germany with Hamburg and 1860 Munich—where he was eventually part of the coaching staff—will hope to transfer some of his knowledge and experience to his new role.
Benjamin (R) will hope to bring his previous experience to the national team
Tebas on a mission
La Liga President, Javier Tebas, announced today that the associaciation filed a complaint with UEFA last week regarding PSG. This is the second filing made after the first in April targeting Manchester City. La Liga’s gripe is that the two sides, both owned by sovereign wealth funds—Abu Dhabi United Group with City, and Qatar Sports Investment with PSG—are operating beyond the parameters of Financial Fair Play. The complaints allege that both teams are routinely pumping ownership money directly into the teams, either through cash, or by recording inflated state sponsorship deals in the financials that aren’t congruent with actual market value. A key component of Financial Fair Play is that teams’ revenue should be from football related matters, and La Liga asserts that the methods used by PSG and City endanger “the ecosystem and the sustainability of football” as a whole.
Tebas is taking on a big fight, time will tell if he will succeed