Sports
‘UEFA Must Change Revenue Distribution’
European football’s governing body, UEFA must change how it hands out Champions League money, says Crystal Palace chairman, Steve Parish.
Parish says UEFA’s coefficient ranking system has helped Europe’s elite clubs become entitled with winning.
He feels that has also contributed to a two-speed Premier League.
“There’s a top half and a bottom half, and that disparity will get bigger and bigger unless we put some rules in to try to control it,” Parish added.
The Palace chairman was speaking at the recent launch of the Union of European Clubs (UEC) in Brussels.
The UEC’s general secretary, Dennis Gudasic, said that of the 22billion euros (£19.5billion) in revenue earned by UEFA from club competitions over the past 25 years, 34percentof it has been distributed to a group of just 12 clubs.
Currently 30 percent of Champions League revenue handed out to the 32 clubs in the group stage is determined by their coefficient ranking, which based on how that club has performed in Europe over the past decade. Clubs who have played in Europe regularly over that period get more of that 30percent than those who have not.
While Parish accepts the value of the Premier League’s television broadcast deals means the distortion caused by European earnings is less stark in England than in other leagues, he believes Europe’s top clubs have an unfair financial advantage.
“We’ve got six, now probably seven, teams [in England] where the amount of capital they have is either unlimited or is enormous compared to us, and qualifying for European football is almost impossible,” he said.
“It still doesn’t feel like a meritocracy entirely. And with the coefficient, it feels more and more that there’s a two-speed Premier League.
“You’re up against the situation where people have become so entitled with winning that they don’t accept any system which challenges the status quo or threatens it, and I think that’s what we have really got to look at across Europe.”The UEC is an organisation which seeks to give a voice to more than 1,000 professional clubs in Europe.
Representatives from 103 clubs were present for the UEC launch in person or online, with Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton and Watford the other English clubs represented.
The UEC believes there are around 1,400 professional clubs in Europe who do not have a voice and should be represented on UEFA decision-making boards in the same way that member clubs of the European Club Associations (ECA) are.
The UEC says only 130 clubs have voting rights within the ECA.
Parish also said UEFA’s position as a regulator and commercial operator “seems a massive conflict of interest”.
“I do believe there needs to be bigger separation of ‘church and state’, if you like,” he said. “The people organising the tournaments and the people regulating them, and taxing those tournaments for the greater good, should be two different people.”
The Nigeria Football Federation has defended the recent quarter-finals draw for the 2025 President Federation Cup, saying it was conducted in line with best global practices.
A member of the NFF Executive Committee Board, George Aluo, stated that criticism over venues for the quarterfinals was unfortunate.
Going by the fixtures released on Saturday by the football body, Abakaliki FC will take on Nasarawa United in Benin, Wikki Tourists will clash with Ikorodu City in Bwari, Abuja, Akwa United and Kwara United will fight it out in Enugu, just as Area 3, Abuja, will host the encounter between Rangers International and Plateau United. All matches are scheduled for May 3rd for the emergence of semifinalists in a leg affair.
However, there have been criticisms over the Ikorodu United vs Wikki Tourist tie billed for Abuja, with a section of the press saying the venue is skewed in favour of the Bauchi team.
Aluo, also the Chairman of the Nigeria National League (NNL), said: “Some of our media men need better education, and newsmen should not be like the fans out there on the streets. In the English FA Cup, it is always a one-legged pairing that can see a club like Arsenal host Manchester United at home”.
A new contract that will see Act Sports Di Oyibo Limited managing the career of Nigerian teqball specialist, Victor Oyemade, has been signed in Lagos.
The deal gives exclusive rights to Act Sports to manage, and exercise power of attorney over issues relating to the player’s welfare as it concerns his transactions, engagement for professional, promotional, sponsorships, endorsements, and exhibition purposes.
In signing the document, both parties also agreed that proper safeguards would be put in place to protect and promote the player’s interest at all times.
Director of Act Sports, Di Oyibo Limited, Pastor Samuel Robinson Oyibo, excited about the deal, said it would benefit both parties in the area of spreading the message of the sport, as well as laying a firm foundation for his new client’s future.
“Teqball is one of the world’s fastest-growing ball sports, and Victor Oyemade is the face of the sport here in Nigeria and Africa. That is why we are excited about this partnership that gives Act Sports official authorisation to manage his career, just as it will lay the foundation for its rapid growth in our country,” Pastor Oyibo said.
Oyemade was no less excited about the deal, saying it would help his growth in the sport.
Coaches of Nigeria’s U-18 and U-20 women’s handball teams have released their final lists of 14 players ahead of the IHF Women’s Trophy Zonal Phase, which will be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that commenced yesterday to end 24th of this month.
The two teams have been training at the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos, for close to two weeks and departed for the competition on Thursday.
Coach John Uzor of the national U-18 team has included Omole Joy of Defender Babes and her sister Omole Shola alongside Ojie Princess of Funad Academy alongside right back Faisat Balogun in the mix while Success Duru, Chetachi Ngaodurubie of COAS Babes and Sharon Okonkwo make the cut, amongst other players.
In the U-20 team, Coach Shittu Agboola has largely stuck with the players he has been grooming since their U-18 days. The team is led by Captain Chidera Ogbusimba alongside, her Rima Queens teammates the Samuel Sisters, Amina Mohammed and Joy Peters.
Israel-based Rahima Bello, Kehinde Babatunde of ASPAC HBC of Benin Republic and Esther Mathew, who is also based in Benin Republic, keep their places.
Coach Shittu believes his team will make Nigeria proud just as they did previously at the U-18 level.
“I am really upset that Taiwo Babatunde will not be part of the team for this competition as her school, Yaba College of Technology, insisted that they will not release her for national service because of examinations.
“We did everything humanly possible to secure her release and they didn’t care that it is a national service for the interest of Nigeria and the growth of sports. We have other players who are also students and they got a release from their schools but for no tangible reason, Yabatech refused to release Taiwo despite the fact that we did everything possible to secure her release. It’s sad and I hope the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Sports Commission will work in tandem so that schools will support our goal in making Nigeria proud in sporting events”.