November 7, 2022
The brief from today:
Red card final in Argentina
The domestic cup final in Argentina between Boca Juniors and Racing was certainly one for the books following the antics of the Boca players. The two sides playing the final actually finished first and second in the Primera Division league standings last month, with Boca besting Racing to the title, but in this match the reverse happened. Racing would go on to win 2-1, but the game itself actually had to be abandoned after an astounding 10 players were sent off. The reason the match, which went deep into extra time, couldn’t conclude was because Boca didn’t have the required number of players needed to continue a match. Following a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes, the match went to extra time, and in the 117th minute Racing’s Carlos Alcaraz headed his side into the lead. His celebrations in front of the Boca fans led to Boca players surrounding him, pulling his ear, and throwing a ball at his head. This melee naturally resulted in the referee, Facundo Tello, being forced to step in where he would eventually issue five red cards to Boca players, two of which were substitutes, and two red cards to Racing, including one for the goalscorer Alcaraz. The problem for Boca was that those five red cards came on the back of two others that were issued earlier in the match leaving them with only six players, and with the rules requiring a side to have at least seven players, the match couldn’t continue. In the end, Racing would collect three red cards in total to Boca’s seven causing an abrupt end to a tightly contested match. As for referee Tello, he is one of the referees selected by FIFA for the World Cup, so any teams that decide to get into skirmishes will now have an idea what his approach to discipline is.
Liverpool up for sale
Premier League side, Liverpool, has been put up for sale today by their owners: Fenway Sports Group (FSG). The American owners released a statement saying, “FSG has frequently received expressions of interest from third parties seeking to become shareholders in Liverpool. FSG has said before that under the right terms and conditions we would consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club.” FSG took over Liverpool from Americans, George Gillet Jr. and Tom Hicks, in 2010 for approximately £300 million, and in the time since have invested in the club’s infrastructure building a brand new training complex, as well as adding a new stand to the home stadium: Anfield, which is meant to increase the capacity by almost 20,000. In addition to that, the ownership group have also pumped money into the first team squad resulting in a first Premier League and Champions League title in 29 and 13 years respectively. Following the sale of Chelsea earlier this year for roughly £4 billion, many believe that FSG simply see this as the most opportune time to cash in on their investment with a potential sale expected to be close to the figures of the Chelsea sale. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the two banks that have been hired by FSG to facilitate the evaluation and sale process, but there is no indication as to how quickly, or slowly, things will progress.
FSG owner, John Henry, has decided the time is right to put Liverpool up for sale