The growing phenomenon of diaspora teams is discussed by Simon Kuper in the Financial Times. . In eight squads at the tournament, the majority of players were born outside the country they are representing, comprising Curaçao (25 of whose 26 players were born in the mainland Netherlands), DR Congo, Morocco, Bosnia, Algeria, Haiti, Tunisia and Cape Verde. These countries have mostly recruited from their western European diasporas. Overall, 23.6 per cent of players in this year’s tournament were born outside the country they are representing — up from 9.6 per cent in 2006, according to an Oxford university study. That is the case because western Europe excels at producing footballers. Its social democracies make amateur football widely available and affordable, enlarging the region’s talent base. And since the average player does not have the ball for about 89 minutes a game, the most basic question in football is, “Where should I be now?” Western Europeans learn to answer that fro...
Hull’s owner Acun Ilicali, the Turkish businessman, has accepted that promotion came on the back of an overspend last season to raise questions over their compliance with Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). He told a fans’ forum this month there is a need to raise £6million before the financial year is out. That leaves Hull with seven days to raise the necessary funds or run the risk of being handed a points deduction in their first season back in England’s top flight. In a word, Hull’s situation is precarious. This coming season ushers in a new era of financial controls in the Premier League through Squad Cost Rules (SCR) but all 20 clubs are first assessed for the final time through the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Hull are permitted to lose £39 million after allowable deductions over the three-year monitoring period as an EFL club and without action over the next week, there is forecast to be a breach.The numbers that are currently available, coverin...