Category: Sports

Working at the tournament, I remember a feeling there was an extra edge in the build-up to the final in Rabat, compared to previous editions.

What stood out were the allegations – on social media – that hosts Morocco were getting the rub of the green when it came to refereeing decisions. It was becoming a big part of the managers’ pre-match news conferences.

The conspiracy theories seemed to be linked to a perceived close relationship between Morocco’s football federation and the Confederation of African Football (Caf).

Morocco have become a powerhouse in African football – regularly hosting tournaments like the Women’s Afcon, and helping Caf by hosting many qualifying matches for nations who can’t play at home.

There was chaos when Senegal arrived in Rabat for the final, and pictures of the players walking through huge crowds – with seemingly minimal security – went viral. Complaints followed from Senegal’s football federation that their original hotel wasn’t good enough – and that they didn’t have enough tickets for their fans.

It felt almost inevitable that a controversial moment during the game would lead to an incident – but no-one could have foreseen a group of players walking off the pitch as Senegal did in that chaotic conclusion to normal time.

Now, the two best teams on the continent are at loggerheads. Even before Tuesday’s decision, Senegal’s prime minister had complained about the prison sentences given to 18 people from the country after being convicted of hooliganism offences during the final. Many of the Senegal players spoke out in support of those fans.

The teams will meet again soon – potentially even in the next Afcon final – and you wonder, with relations at an all-time low, what sort of occasion that will be.

Referee Jean-Jacques Ndala blew the final whistle of that match in Rabat almost two months ago, but the ramifications of events during the game will impact African football for a long time to come.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this decision was not taken in any way on the basis of Ms Byrne’s political views or beliefs, which she has expressed freely and in a public manner for the duration of her directorship,” the Trivela Group’s statement said.

“Rather, this decision followed a statement made regarding private discussions with Club ownership.

“This not only caused a breakdown in the trust and confidence necessary for her to continue in the role as a director of the Club, but also sharpened the governance concerns that had been the topic of those original discussions.”

Speaking after the Trivela Group’s statement, Byrne said on RTE, external that the statement was “deeply emotive for me and quite upsetting”, but was “not surprising” as she reiterated she would not resign.

“This is nothing more than a formal follow-on in writing by Trivela Group from the meeting on 16 February where expectations for me to resign were expressed after I was told my position as Chairperson was untenable. I stated at that stage I would not resign and that remains my position today,” she said.

“I am under no illusion that this is solely as a result of my comments in my capacity as Sinn Fein Spokesperson on sport that the Ireland v Israel match should not go ahead, and I think people will see it for what it is.

“I will now consider the options open to me and proceed from there.”

Drogheda’s principal sponsor, Sullivan and Lambe, issued a statement on social media last month showing support for Byrne, and said it would be “actively reviewing” its position as sponsor, which it has held since the start of 2025.

Fulham are closing in on a £28.5m deal for PSV Eindhoven striker Ricardo Pepi, who has arrived in London for a medical.

The 23-year-old was the subject of a similar bid in January, but the Dutch top-flight club opted to keep him until the summer as they were unable to find a suitable replacement.

Fulham have now returned to finalise a move for the United States international, who is expected to sign a contract until 2031 at Craven Cottage.

Pepi would join the Cottagers in the summer, with striker Raul Jimenez out of contract at the end of the season.

PSV will have additional time during the longer summer transfer window to secure a replacement before next season.

Pepi is expected to complete the move after the 2026 World Cup, when he is likely to feature for the USA who, along with Canada and Mexico, are co-hosts of the tournament.

Having started his career in his native Texas, Pepi moved to German club Augsburg in 2022, immediately joining FC Groningen on loan in the Netherlands before earning a permanent move to PSV, one of the country’s traditional ‘big three’ clubs.

Pepi has scored 13 goals in 29 appearances this season, including three in five Champions League matches.

Fulham are currently 11th in the Premier League table.

Portsmouth chairman Michael Eisner has warned of a looming financial catastrophe in the Championship after Pompey became the latest second-tier club to post losses.

While the £4.36m loss for the 2024-25 financial year is relatively modest compared to rivals Hull City, who reported a £41.7m loss in December, and Coventry City, who last month posted a £21.6m loss, it follows the same uncomfortable trend.

Eisner, 84, the former CEO of Disney, fears English football has become dangerously imbalanced with the wealth of the Premier League masking the problems below.

“There are dark clouds hovering over the English football pyramid and it seems to me there could be a real collapse where only the Premier League survives,” said Eisner.

“Every single club in the Championship lost money last year. The combined operating loss of the 24 teams for the last full set of published results in 2023-24 was £411m.

“No club can survive for the long-term in this system and if that continues, catastrophe will happen.

“If the forces that control the pyramid from the top tiers to the bottom tiers do not make football more sustainable and do it quickly, those dark clouds will deliver more soaking red ink beyond what one can imagine.

“We need effective player salary cost controls, real attention to fairer distribution of media revenues and for English football to join the rest of the sports world in more advanced commercialisation of the broadcast and streaming product.

“My family is walking headstrong into this storm, but if I was a historic fan in Portsmouth, I’d scream for change in the structure to protect the beautiful game and our clubs and their communities for generations to come.”

It’s been an extremely difficult season for the Baggies on the field, but these figures should be seen as a huge boost off it.

Albion have had to tread an incredibly fine and precarious line in recent years thanks to the mismanagement of the club’s finances under the disastrous reign of absent owner Guochan Lai.

Shilen Patel may also be primarily based abroad but the American businessman’s presence is far from anonymous when it comes to the club’s accounts.

Since his company, Bilkul Football WBA, took over the club in February 2024, he has invested £31.5m up to the end of June 2025.

This has largely been to cover losses, as well as debts inherited from the previous regime, including loans from American financiers MSD Holdings.

One for £20m was taken out in December 2022, with the club’s stadium and training ground used as leverage, while another was taken out three months before Patel’s arrival.

It is understood there is a remaining balance of £25.7m left to pay to MSD, which will finally be settled by December this year.

Having to sell a host of players over the past couple of years has inevitably left the squad weaker, but they are also younger, fresher, and, most importantly, the era of irresponsible signings on bloated wages should now be a thing of the past.

The club has had to learn a harsh lesson of living within its means, particularly without parachute payments since 2023.

However, tackling their financial issues has got Albion to a point where they will have some wiggle room to improve the squad this summer.

Their finances will still be judged by the three-year rolling period of P&S for 2025-26, but regardless of what division they find themselves in, Albion are believed to be comfortable in the knowledge that arguably the darkest period in their history is in the rear view mirror.

There can be plenty of questions asked about the footballing decisions taken by Bilkul that could have a detrimental impact in the short term, but the financial choices they have made may well have saved the club from a much bleaker long-term future.

“And they have done so well this season, but I think a lot of people externally think that probably Rangers or Celtic will just nick it.

“That is what a lot of people are thinking, so I am not sure the pressure is with Hearts.

“But there will be internal pressure, pressure they put on themselves after having such a good season and, because they are in this situation, they want to go the full distance.”

Pressley’s side head to Edinburgh unbeaten in five games after Sunday’s draw in their city derby, but he is braced for a backlash from a side who have yet to lose at Tynecastle in the Premiership this season.

“It makes it a really intense game at the weekend but a game that our players should be really looking forward to,” he said.

“After the result last week against Kilmarnock, they will be a wounded animal. They are at home, they have the best home form in the league, they will be determined to get back on track, so I think the one thing that we need to be ready for is a very determined and aggressive Hearts team.

“They are very good at home, so it is going to take, in my opinion, our best performance of the season to win at Tynecastle this weekend. That is how big a challenge I think this weekend is.”

Dundee sit eighth in the table after just one defeat in seven league games – having scored twice in stoppage time to salvage a point against Dundee United.

“They embrace challenge, they embrace adversity,” Pressley added while stressing his side will need to improve on their derby performance.

“In the last five or six weeks, they have demonstrated time and time again with late goals their resilience and their grit.”

Andy Carroll has taken over as caretaker manager at National League South club Dagenham & Redbridge.

The former England striker has stepped into the role after manager Lee Bradbury was sacked eight months into the job following the 3-2 win at Farnborough on Tuesday evening.

“We are very grateful to Lee for his focus, professionalism, and commitment during his time at the club,” read a club statement.

“Dagenham & Redbridge wish him every success in his future endeavours.

“Andy Carroll will take the team on an interim basis, and further updates will be communicated in due course.”

Carroll, 37, who has been sidelined since December through injury, is a shareholder as well as a player with the mid-table Daggers.

He will face a two-day trial in January 2027 after denying breaching a non-molestation order by repeatedly calling his ex-wife.

His appointment follows the arrival of YouTuber KSI, who joined the club as a shareholder and strategic partner this month, declaring his aim to take the club to the Premier League, external.

Everton and Nottingham Forest received points deductions for breaking Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) in recent years but despite making “obvious and deliberate breaches” which “involved deception and concealment in relation to financial matters”, Chelsea were spared a sporting sanction.

When the punishment was announced Chelsea said: “From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators.”

Because the breaches came during former owner Roman Abramovich’s time in charge, and new owners BlueCo made voluntary disclosures and showed “exceptional co-operation”, that was viewed as enough mitigation to avoid more severe punishment.

“This is essentially a litany of offences related to how you conduct transfer business, so a transfer ban makes sense,” Purslow said.

“But to see that ban suspended in full, again, seems extremely lenient.

“That must really rankle with clubs like Everton and Forest who I don’t think have had much credit in the past where they have co-operated.”

The Premier League has previously stated, when handing Everton a points deduction, that “a financial penalty for a club that enjoys the support of a wealthy owner is not a sufficient penalty”.

That verdict also stated “the requirements of deterrence, vindication of compliant clubs, and the protection of the integrity of the sport demand a sporting sanction in the form of a points deduction”.

Chelsea signed players such as Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz and Nemanja Matic as they won seven majors honours between 2011 and 2018, including two Premier League titles and the Champions League.

“Sporting sanctions first came into the frame as an acknowledgement that sometimes punishing with a fine just didn’t fit the crime,” Purslow added.

“In other words, when football clubs had gained meaningful football advantage, you needed to sanction with sporting penalty to compensate.

“It is blindingly obvious that sporting benefits were attained through this transfer activity.”

“We felt that the jury wasn’t there to uphold the law, but to carry out an order.

“We will stop at nothing. The law is on our side. The fight is far from over. Senegal will defend its rights to the very end.”

Some Senegal players have suggested they will not relinquish their winners’ medals.

“We know what we experienced that evening in Rabat. And no-one can take that away from us,” Senegal and Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye said on social media.

The walk-off by Senegal prompted the International Football Association Board (Ifab), football’s lawmaking body, to open a consultation on how to deal with situations when “players unilaterally decide to leave the field of play, or team officials instigate such action, as a means of protest against a referee’s decision”.

Senegal’s players, apart from Sadio Mane, left the pitch after the award of a penalty for Morocco by referee Jean Jacques Ndala shortly after he had disallowed a goal by Ismaila Sarr at the other end.

Ndala gave the penalty in the 98th minute after being advised by the video assistant referee (VAR) to consult the pitchside monitor and review defender El Hadji Malick Diouf’s challenge on Diaz.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said it was “unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner” and that the scenes “must be condemned and never repeated”.

During the tournament there was much debate about refereeing decisions and VAR, with accusations from some journalists that Morocco were treated favourably by some officials.

Senegal complained before the final about how they had been treated and expressed “serious concerns” over security when they arrived in Rabat for the game.