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 …

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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 …

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U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Ordered to Reveal Sponsorship Income

In March 2019, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) filed suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In their complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that the USSF violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for paying the women’s soccer team players less than the U.S. Men’s National Team.

On October 28, 2019, the USSF filed a motion to compel disclosure. The USSF seeks documents from the …

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The Fight for Equal Pay: USWNT’s Gender Discrimination Lawsuit

The pay of U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) players as compared to U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) players has been a highly contentious legal debate in recent years, but the key issues are not straightforward – they involve a mix of anti-discrimination and contract and labor laws, which remain unresolved.

Members of the USWNT, including stars Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, and Megan Rapinoe, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, accusing it of gender discrimination. The players maintain that U.S. soccer has engaged in …

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FIFA Bans Brazilian Soccer Official

On April 15, 2019, Jose Maria Marin, a Brazilian soccer official, was officially banned for life by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). In August 2018, the 86-year-old Marin was sentenced to four years in United States prison for racketeering, money laundering, and wire fraud. According to FIFA, Marin was also guilty of taking bribes linked to media and marketing rights for South American and Brazilian soccer competitions. During his 2017 trial, federal prosecutors said that Marin received $6.6 million in bribes and was …

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Court Rejects Televisa’s Motion to Dismiss FIFA Bribery Class Action

On Monday, March 25, a New York judge ruled that Mexico’s Televisa Group will not be let off the hook for allegations of participation in a FIFA bribery scheme of over $15 million. The scheme was allegedly an attempt by the mass media company to obtain the broadcasting rights to FIFA World Cup soccer games. U.S. District Court Judge Louis L. Stanton determined that Televisa’s shareholders had described their allegations with necessary specificity, ruling that Televisa must face its investors’ claims of securities fraud.

Originally …

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MLS Joins eSports Phenomenon

On January 12, 2018, Major League Soccer (MLS) announced that it partnered with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) to create an eSports league, eMLS. The league will feature the best EA Sports FIFA 18 players in the United States and Canada. eSports is a form of competitive video gaming where gamers participate in  tournaments such as the International, the League of Legends World Championship, the Evolution Championship Series, and the Intel Extreme Masters, in order to win cash prizes.

Nineteen of the 23 MLS teams will

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Professional Soccer Expansion in North Carolina

Soccer in North Carolina is growing. On December 6, 2016, the Carolina Railhawks, currently part of the North American Soccer League, rebranded to North Carolina FC and announced their plans to potentially move into MLS within 18 months. On January 31, 2017, North Carolina FC officially submitted their bid to join MLS. The Raleigh-Durham area is one of 10 finalist markets for MLS expansion. In order to facilitate a successful transition to MLS, Steve Malik, the owner of North Carolina FC, has been …

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St. Louis Soccer Stadium Proposal Stays Alive but Faces Uphill Battle to Make Ballot

After it looked like the St. Louis soccer stadium proposal for an MLS franchise was dead, a last-ditch effort has revived the proposed legislation. On January 26, 2017, the MLS bill was voted down by the Aldermanic Ways and Means Committee 6-2. After the vote, the parties quickly negotiated to amend the bill and bout an hour later, the parties presented the amended bill. The new proposal was slightly different: The main change included an amount of $12.5-$17 million dollars in projected revenue be …

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The Road for MLS Expansion in St. Louis Takes a Wild Turn

On November 17, 2016, an ownership group known as SC STL revealed an official plan to build a 20,000 seat stadium to lure an expansion MLS franchise to St. Louis. The proposed $200 million stadium would be built west of Union Station and have the capability to expand to 28,000 seats if demand dictated. Per SC STL’s plan, private investors would pay at least 60 percent of the stadium costs. The remaining 40 percent, or around $80 million, would be funded with public money subject …

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