PeterJM

#cpfc fan

[Giulia Bould @GiuliaBould]

It's interesting Everton's financial breach saw the Premier League suggest a 12 point deduction. A panel ruled the sanction at -10 before an appeal said -6

74 charges for Chelsea saw the suggested sanction of -15, greater than Everton's, but it was then worked down to 0 points

[Martyn Ziegler @martynziegler]

Hugely significant and brave statement to AP's Graham Dunbar from FIFA's chief operating officer Kevin Lamour

[Rob Draper @draper_rob]

Someone is going to have to take issue with @gerardtbaker in @thetimes today.

So let’s start with the big lie

That opposing a sale of the World Cup to private equity is just a typical British/EU anti-growth hysteria

Even though he admits there’s little to like about Gianni + less to like about FIFA

In massively underplaying FIFA’s client/charity cash release structure that is open to massive corruption, he is able to avoid issue No.1 + quickly move on to why the scheme is actually a brilliant wheeze.

But Gianni (+ FIFA) is the problem! The system is wholly corruptible (and given FIFA’s history, likely is corrupt) Fish rots from head down

So let’s deal with scheme itself. Why would FIFA be selling itself (essentially FIFA is nothing without men’s World Cup) so cheap?

What motive could there be to hand over control (20% =control if you understand FIFA) of WC for money up front now + paltry returns in 2038?

Men’s World Cup turned over $7.7bn in 2022 and $15bn in 2026. So revenue is x2 over 4 years but now we need some special people (coincidentally related by marriage to Trump) to help us max revenues?

If there’s so much unrealised capital upside, why give away this golden goose? If Joshua Kushner (Gianni’s partner) is such a magic man + can make so much more money, just hire him and keep the IP, admin + profits in house?

(alternative explanation: Joshua has limited talent + no special magic beans to make the revenue tree grow. But his special gift is proximity to power to gather up valuable assets on cheap + leverage them for future gain for family)

Here’s Joshua’s big plan in full: charge $10k per ticket per match and $100k for the final. That’s it. TV + sponsorship revenue will rise but not enough to satisfy private equity. It’s all in ratcheting up ticket prices.

As per @SophiaCai99 people close to the Kushner investment crew have deduced that in a world of AI + tech ‘live sporting events will become an even hotter ticket’

That’s the genius they’re bringing to the table is ‘We can get people to pay more for this. Especially in the USA’

But the crucial bit in 21st century capitalism (as opposed to useful capitalism) is; ‘We have proximity to the people who own this + so can fix the deal at a very low price so we can all get rich’

But the part that *really* annoyed me in Baker’s analysis …

‘In just about every field it has entered, capitalism has a track record of being extraordinarily good not only at maximising the money on the table but at deploying it effectively and generating vast additional multiples from it’

Let’s acknowledge that the free market can bring efficiency and do good. For example, FIFA could sell 20%, raise cash + fix ticket prices til 2038 so that this life giving festival is accesible to more than the ultra rich

There are times when PE money brings growth, necessary investment, added quality

But in most 21st century prívate equity plays, life has got worse for consumers.

Thames Water, Man Utd - these are bywords for corporate greed

It’s summed up in Kraft’s takeover (LBO) of debt free Cadbury’s in 2010

Cadbury’s was founded by imperfect billionaires who, yes, got ‘filthy rich’ but who avoided using slave labour + also built Bourneville model village so workers had decent housing, access to education, health care, green space

Kraft bought it, placed massive debt on the company, closed down the UK factory, made the product worse + put up prices

Yes capitalism can do some good. But so much PE investment - vets, dentists, foster care - just means lower quality and higher prices. Because Thatcherism never had a mechanism for controlling unbridled greed

So here we are in 2026 + private equity is a dirty word. I wish it weren’t so. But it is the case. Especially in THIS case. So forgive us, Gerard, if we don’t buy the lie one more time

[Martyn Ziegler @martynziegler]

Latest breaking news
This is incredible. FIFA yesterday issued brief to possibly expand World Cup to 64 teams - decision by August 14.
I wonder who would benefit most... maybe private investors...

[Five Year Plan 🏆🏆🏆 @FYPFanzine]

Literally pointless anyone else bothering at this point of this is how they treat SEVENTY FOUR breaches of the rules.

[L.A. Matthews @TheLAMatthews]

Do you have any idea how shit at your job you have to be to have 55 European countries actually agree on something 😂

[Alfie | HITC Sevens @HITCSevens]

In light of Gianni Infantino’s poor judgement this week, I am beginning to question whether Donald Trump was a worthy recipient of the FIFA Peace Prize after all.

[PeterJM @PeterJM83]

@Alitheeagle1 Its not happening is it?!? 😞

[PeterJM @PeterJM83]

@BBCNews Absolutely the right decision. Well done UEFA

[BBC News (UK) @BBCNews]

Uefa to boycott World Cup if Fifa plans go through https://t.co/8Pt08BU02p

[Miguel Delaney @MiguelDelaney]

The entire Fifa story just reflects so much of the modern world

Billionaires buying up things of public interest, and that somehow being sold as for wider good

https://t.co/E1s4XsADXz

[Premier League @premierleague]

The Premier League is a founder member of the European Leagues and fully supports this statement.

[UEFA @UEFA]

Further UEFA statement on FIFA plans: ⬇️

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

UEFA are suggesting starting a new Football Governing body to replace the corrupt FIFA.

An excellent idea!

[HLTCO @HLTCO]

When you’ve got Sepp Blatter speaking as the voice of reason, you know the game is fully gone.

Infantino is a genuine stain on the sport, you’ll struggle to find anyone in the sport’s history who’s been so nakedly desperate to secure the bag by any means necessary.

[PeterJM @PeterJM83]

@PalaceReport @Santi_J_FM Know nothing about him but im willing to trust our scouting/analytics team. My only worry is the age of our CBs. We seem to be ending up with a load of young talents with potential. Among that we need another experienced head beside Chris Richards.

[Palace Report @PalaceReport]

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[Falkland Islands @falklands_utd]

Bummer! Congratulations to Argentina on their win tonight. Some excellent banter on here. 😆

On reflection, it would have been amazing to beat you on the pitch tonight and we’d have given you plenty of stick.. but similar to 1986 and Diego’s grubby right hand (nevermind 1998 and Simones lack of core strength) it doesn’t give you the win that you’ll never have. 😘🇫🇰🇬🇧

[Benny Blanco @Benny_Blanco40]

Rice gone off with illness.

They need to put him in a bowl of mobile phones overnight and he’ll be fine.

[PeterJM @PeterJM83]

@HLTCO We all laughed at the time. We're not laughing now