The Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) will vote on Friday on a "historic change of statutes that, if approved, will allow the integration of women's players as members with the same rights and advantages as their male counterparts." The AFE has been working for months with the Spanish Association of Women's Players (AEJF) on its integration. AFE President Luis Rubiales said, "The professional women's players are as much a part of football as the men and because of this it is important that they are integrated in the AFE" (AS, 6/15).
CONCACAF announced on Wednesday that a prize money pool of $1.2M will be doled out to the semifinalists for the '16-17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League. The winning team will earn $500,000, with the runner-up earning $300,000 and the other two semifinalists taking home $200,000 each.
The prize money awarded to the semifinalists is a significant increase over what teams had been given before and is part of a larger investment of $5.5M by CONCACAF into the 24-team Champions League competition. Much of the rest of that money will be earmarked for traveling expenses and other operating expenses (CONCACAF).
Former English footballers Michael Owen and Mark Wright plan to help China develop football schools and coach education.
As part of their plans, the two "have set up a joint venture named Red Sports for further expansion in China." At present, they are in discussions with eight Chinese provinces, to promote their training program.
Red Sports "will be responsible for the future programme’s activation in China," to include football schools and academies, coach education programs and stadium games (YUTANG SPORTS, 6/15).
