The Political Economy of Football V2

Globalisation may be under threat elsewhere, but it persists and indeed accelerates in football, La Liga want to stage December’s scheduled domestic league fixture between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami. According to multiple sources familiar with the discussions, who asked The Athletic to remain anonymous to protect relationships, the Spanish top-flight league have held preliminary discussions to relocate the fixture, which would ordinarily take place at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica home in eastern Spain, to instead be staged in Florida. It would be the first time a European top-flight league fixture has taken place in the United States. On Monday, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will discuss their approval of the proposal, which if granted, would lead to UEFA being asked to initiate the procedures for FIFA to grant authorisation for the fixture change. The Spanish league first attempted to stage a match abroad in 2018 with a proposal for Girona’s home league ...

Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale go head to head in the Champions League final later today. The French heavyweights would be first-time winners, while the Italian Serie A runners-up are chasing a fourth triumph. Off the pitch, the two clubs say a lot about the state of the game. PSG are owned by Qatar Sports Investments, a vehicle of the Gulf state that took majority ownership of the club from 2011. Distressed debt investor Oaktree seized control of Inter from Suning last year after the Chinese retail group failed to repay a €400mn loan in time. Whereas Inter will feel confident of defying the odds after beating FC Barcelona in the semi-finals, the Italian club’s finances are also overshadowed by PSG. The French side’s operating revenue, bolstered by sponsorships with Qatar Airways and Visit Qatar, came to more than €800mn in 2023-24, roughly double the equivalent figure at Inter, according to Football Benchmark. PSG’s staff costs of €659mn equated to 82 per cent of those...