The conversation about technology in soccer reached a fever pitch following FIFA’s use of Video Assistant Referees at the Club World Cup. Video replay technology has long been an area of fierce debate, but it’s finally beginning to make headway after the unmitigated success of goal-line technology.
Alex Morgan may have left the NWSL on a six-month loan to France’s Lyon, but she’s still the face of the women’s game in America. Recently speaking with British newspaper The Guardian, Morgan stated that a labor strike for the USWNT players is still a possibility in the weeks or months ahead.
In a move that’s set to massively boost the income of both Minnesota United and MLS, the club and league have announced a partnership with Minnesota-based retailer Target, the 38th-ranked company in the Fortune 500 list. Minnesota’s 2017 jersey will now feature the Target bullseye logo.
After an endeavor to make the Old Lady young again, Juventus FC have a new logo:
Agnelli: "This new logo is a symbol of the Juventus way of living." #2beJUVENTUS pic.twitter.com/x5B3fapqGJ
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 16, 2017
Hold your horses and put away the torches, I’m not here to tell you that Neymar is better than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Although the top two players in the world might still outclass the young Brazilian on the pitch, they are not nearly as valuable as Barcelona’s number 11 according to a study from the CIES Football Observatory.
China is not a nation you’d list when thinking about the world’s footballing elite. But President Xi Jinping is hoping to change that. Last year, China unveiled a plan to “become a footballing juggernaut by 2050”. The country is spending more money to attract players, including some of the game’s biggest names, to move to China.
Apparently January is the time of year to purchase a NWSL club, in case you had been considering it. Following Monday’s announcement that the Western New York Flash had been purchased and relocated to North Carolina, the league announced yet another club being sold. This time, the two-time NWSL champions FC Kansas City were getting a new owner.
After Missouri Governor-elect Eric Greitens called public funding for stadiums "welfare for millionaires", the bill pledging $80 million in public funds for a soccer stadium in St. Louis seemed like a long shot. Now, the bill is officially dead.
The FIFA World Cup is set to undergo its first expansion since the current format of 32 teams was employed at the 1998 World Cup in France. The 2026 World Cup, as unanimously approved by members of the FIFA Council on Tuesday, will feature 48 teams.
The 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will stick to the 32-team format, meaning that the expanded tournament will likely make its debut in the CONCACAF region come 2026.
FIFA’s plan to expand the World Cup to 48 teams will be given the green light on Tuesday according to reports. The plan, long expounded by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, could yet encounter resistance as qualifying places for the tournament have yet to be explained. Also, nations like Germany directly oppose the plan.