February 19, 2020 Ethics / Soccer / Sponsorships

UEFA Calls Penalty, Bans Manchester City from Champions League for Two Seasons

Last week, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made waves among the soccer universe when it announced Manchester City Football Club (Man City) has been banned from the Champions League for two years, as well as fined 30 million euros (roughly 32.4 million USD).

First, some brief background. In 2018, emails were hacked and released that showed senior officials within Man City discussing implicit attempts to circumvent UEFA’s financial regulations. According to Spiegel International, a German newspaper, the released articles demonstrated that – among …

December 16, 2019 Doping / Fraud / Olympics / Soccer

Russia Banned From 2020 and 2022 Olympics, 2022 World Cup for Doping Violations

Russia has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) from participating in or hosting various sporting events, including the 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup.

As we reported earlier, the Russian track-and-field team was banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics by the International Association of Athletics Federations. This ban was a result of a systematic doping cover-up and the lack of compliance from the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). The Russian Olympic team was later banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics due to extensive doping …

May 28, 2015 Soccer

FIFA Under Fire: United States and Switzerland Each Alleging Corruption

On Wednesday, May 27, more than a dozen Swiss law enforcement officials arrived at the Baur au Lac, a luxury hotel in Zurich, where they proceeded to arrest several top soccer officials and extradite them to the United States on federal corruption charges. The U.S. Justice Department announced that it had charged nine current and former FIFA officials and five others with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, in connection with their participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through …

February 13, 2014 Concussions / Soccer

Former Portland Timbers Soccer Player Files Concussion Lawsuit Against Team

Former Portland Timbers soccer player Eddie Johnson’s lawsuit is the latest development in the ever-evolving arena of concussion lawsuits by amateur and professional athletes. This is the second concussion suit brought by a player against an MLS club; Bryan Namoff sued DC United in 2012 and that litigation is ongoing.

Johnson filed his Complaint in Oregon state court against the team and its medical staff, alleging that his career ended prematurely because they negligently allowed him to play while he was still suffering from concussion-related …

August 20, 2012 Antitrust / Soccer

ChampionsWorld Shut Out in Antitrust Suit Against US Soccer

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and Major League Soccer (MLS) recently prevailed in an antitrust suit brought by former soccer promoter ChampionsWorld LLC in Illinois federal court.

ChampionsWorld had claimed that USSF perpetuated the idea that it was in charge of all professional soccer in the U.S. (including games played by foreign teams) in order to restrain competition against MLS, thereby driving ChampionsWorld out of business.

The federal judge ruled for the US soccer bodies by granting USSF’s petition to confirm an arbitration award …