Sports
Chelsea Face Severe Points Sanction
Chelsea reportedly face the threat of a more severe points deduction than Everton and Nottingham Forest as a result of their elaborate spending.
Since the Todd Boehly-led ownership team took charge at Stamford Bridge in May 2022, the Blues have splashed out more than £1 billion ($1.3bn) in the transfer market. Premier League teams are only allowed to post losses of up to £105million ($134m) across a three-year period, leaving Chelsea at serious risk of incurring the same kind of penalties as Everton and Forest , who have had six and four points taken off them respectively in the 2023-24 campaign.
Football Finance expert, Stefan Borson, has told Tidesports source of where Chelsea stand at present: “There was an assumption with Mason Mount, because he was announced on Manchester United’s website on July 1 that [his sale] had been put into this current season. So the £55million ($70m) of profit was in this season. It now transpires that Mason Mount appears to have been transacted in 2022-23 and that is how they got through [FFP rules]. We also know from the BlueCo accounts that they are currently, from the post-balance sheet events, that they are something like £48million ($61m) in profit for this year. But of course, this year from an operating perspective, is going to be even worse than last year because they’ve got no Champions League and no Europe at all.”
He added on what Chelsea need from the next window: “Really, they have to find buyers for Trevoh Chalobah for £20million ($26m), Armando Broja for £40milliom ($51m), and Conor Gallagher for £50million ($64m). It’s those sort of deals that need to be done. And by the way, they all need to be done by June 30. That, as we know, is articulated within the Forest decision. There’s a whole conversation about how hard it is to sell players in the period before June. The Premier League actually suggested that more or less that it was impossible.”
With that in mind, and with the Blues struggling to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), Borson went on to say when asked if the west London heavyweights could be stung with harsher punishments than those that have already been handed out: “Yeah. Well, possibly more severe. I think the scale of the losses they’re currently forecasting, to me, appear to be vastly in excess of both Everton and Nottingham Forest.”
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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