Nine of the teams that were part of the "ill-fated launch of a breakaway Super League have been welcomed back" into the European Club Association, the decision-making organization overseeing the European club game. Six English clubs -- Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, ManU and Tottenham -- along with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid will be ECA members again. But Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are "refusing to giving up on the largely closed breakaway competition," prolonging the rift with UEFA and their European counterparts. All 12 founding Super League clubs quit the ECA in April when they "reneged on previous commitments to UEFA to launch the Super League." 

The ECA is now chaired by PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi, whose club never signed up to the Super League. The ECA said there was "an exhaustive process of re-engagement by the clubs and re-assessment" before its exec board allowed them to withdraw their previous resignations (AP, 8/16).

Hopfen signed a three-year contract that will begin in JanuaryDFL

The German Football League (DFL) will have a female CEO for the first time next year after naming Donata Hopfen as Christian Seifert's replacement. The DFL, which governs the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga, announced on Saturday that Hopfen signed a three-year contract that will begin in January. DFL Supervisory Board Chair Peter Peters said, "Hopfen is the right personality for one of the most important positions in German soccer." The 45-year-old Hopfen is currently managing director of a corporate investment firm and she previously spent 14 years at the Axel Springer media group, including as managing director of the Bild tabloid group. Seifert was "initially to remain in charge" through June '22 but he agreed with the DFL to end the contract earlier than planned (AP, 8/14).

Hopfen, who was voted as "Media Woman of the Year" in '14 in Germany, started her career at management consulting firm Accenture (XINHUA, 8/15).

The second iteration of the Women’s International Champions Cup takes place this week at Portland’s Providence Park, and event organizer Relevent Sports Group is trying to make the event into the club world championship. For this year’s tournament, the participating teams – Olympique Lyonnais, FC Barcelona and the NWSL’s Portland Thorns and Houston Dash -- had to qualify to gain entry. The WICC hopes to expand in ‘22, according to WICC Head Susie Fiore. "We're looking to go up to six teams, most likely four European teams, the champions of each of the top four European leagues -- Spanish, French, German and English -- and then two NWSL teams, to enhance the experience," she said.

Fiore said, "There’s a real business case to invest in women's sports." Pointing to women only receiving 4% of sports media coverage, she said, "It’s not checking the box. This is a moment where it’s important to show equal representation of men and women. ... This is a great property to support."

Meanwhile, ticket sales for this week’s event are at 50% of the overall goal for the event, according to RSG CEO Daniel Sillman. However, the organization is optimistic that attendance will be in the 15,000-16,000 range, roughly the same average attendance figures for the Thorns at the stadium.

arsenal

Arsenal has renewed its sleeve sponsorship with Visit Rwanda in a new four year deal until '25. The EPL side signed a three-year sponsorship deal in 2018 worth more than £30M ($41.5M) with the "Visit Rwanda" logo displayed on Arsenal shirt sleeves. The new deal is understood to be worth up to £10M ($13.8M) a year. However, some have "levelled criticism" at the deal suggesting that it is an "example of an authoritarian government subsidising a wealthy football club." Rwanda President Paul Kagame has previously been outspoken on Arsenal via social media, criticizing owner Stan Kroenke with his most recent rant coming after the Gunners' opening EPL game of the season defeat to Brentford (FOOTBALL.LONDON, 8/16).

Prior to Barcelona's 4-2 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday, D Gerard Pique had renounced a sum close to 50% of his salary over the next three years so that his club "could meet La Liga's FFP regulations" and be allowed to register F Memphis Depay, D Eric Garcia and F Rey Manaj. That made Pique's goal, Barcelona's first of the post-Lionel Messi era, "something beyond historic." Pique's voluntary pay cut is, "in pure financial terms," probably "unequalled in the history of professional football." The 30,000 Barcelona fans in attendance chanted "Pique President!" throughout the match. Some of Pique's salary deferral will give Barcelona "immediate relief on what they owe" -- the club currently has $1.6B in debt. But, crucially, he is reportedly forsaking a "significant eight-figure sum across three years" (ESPN.com, 8/16).

While revealing the club's staggering financial losses, Barcelona President Joan Laporta on Monday responded to previous President Josep Maria Bartomeu "accusing him of playing a key role in the club's current financial problems." Bartomeu "left Barca in financial disarray" and Laporta has "revealed the full extent of the mess." Laporta: "The entity's controls were bypassed. Invoices were divided up, such as those of 'I3 Ventures' with 'Barcagate,' invoices of 'Espai Barca' and of the debt contracted were also divided so as not to go through the Assembly. Bartomeu's letter is full of lies" (GOAL, 8/16). Laporta used his press conference to "dismantle Bartomeu's claims point by point" in a "response that lasted more than 10 minutes." Laporta also said he will "try to demand accountability for the former board's mismanagement" (MARCA, 8/16).

Meanwhile, seven years after the club approved of the Espai Barça project to renovate Camp Nou and the surrounding area, Laporta announced that the club will once again present a financing plan for the project during the club's members' assembly in October. Laporta's intention is for the work to begin in summer '22 (AS, 8/16).

Mercedes is reportedly set to quit Formula E, with an announcement expected to be made "in the coming days." This comes after Mercedes signed a delayed option to begin car development for the new Gen3 rules, which will be introduced for the '22-23 season, but the company has still "not officially committed to the regulations." Mercedes issued a statement after prolonging its registration, outlining that it wanted "clarification" over “important details regarding the structure of the series." However, it is now expected that Mercedes will withdraw from Formula E, following a decision from the Daimler boardroom. Mercedes F1 Team Principal Toto Wolff confirmed that "a decision has been taken” with regards to Gen3 (MOTORSPORT, 8/15). Should Mercedes leave, it would be a "huge blow to Formula E." The series has "already lost Audi and BMW, two other big-name automotive companies that brought credibility -- and a little bit of hope -- to the series" (JALOPNIK, 8/15).

Russia confirmed it is preparing a bid for the '36 Games, with St. Petersburg its leading candidate. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has "pledged to explore staging the Olympics again," saying the city could bid for the Games in '36 or '40. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "The bids are being prepared. We have several cities. St. Petersburg for sure, and I believe Kazan as well." Russia was banned from bidding for the '32 Games after being found guilty of running a state-sponsored doping program. Indonesia has vowed to bid for the 2036 Olympics, while Turkey and India are expected to put forward Istanbul and Ahmedabad, respectively (CITY A.M., 8/16).

Meanwhile, the IOC has "confirmed that karate won't feature" at the '24 Paris Games despite protests from French Gold Medal-winning karateka Steven Da Costa and "growing support for it in political circles" in France. It has been known since '19 that karate "wouldn't feature among the four additional sports added to the Paris Games program," but Da Costa "reignited the debate" after winning Gold in Tokyo. French Minister Delegate for Sports Roxana Maracineanu "indicated that she would 'support the work of Steven Da Costa'" in fighting for karate's inclusion in '24, and last Friday, 114 French politicians "signed a letter addressed to Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet" regarding the sport's status. There will be a "limited number of athletes" in '24, with 10,500 in Paris compared to 11,090 in Tokyo (L'EQUIPE, 8/15).

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced funding of £232M ($321M), or about £77.4M ($107M) annually, for the next Olympic cycle to "support the British Olympics and Paralympics teams after their success at this year’s Tokyo Games." The increase in funding to UK Sport represents a 43% "rise on the funding received in the run-up" to the Tokyo -- about £54M ($75M) a year. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said that the investment "would also support athletes and coaches hopeful of further success at the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as aiding the search for the next generation of Olympic competitors." The fresh funding will be "used to coach TeamGB and ParalympicsGB athletes, in addition to funding from the National Lottery" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 8/16).

Chinese esports organization LGD Gaming has signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas for the LGD Gaming Honor of Kings women’s team. Financial terms were not disclosed. But as a part of the deal, the adidas X9000 L4 running shoes will be the first product to be promoted and featured with five LGD female Honor of Kings players. The team will compete in the Honor of Kings Women Open. But as a new tournament series, it’s not clear whether this event will connect to China’s top Honor of Kings competition, the King Pro League, which already has exclusive apparel sponsor in Puma (Hongyu Chen, SBJ).

Liverpool condemned "offensive and inappropriate" homophobic chanting aimed at Norwich MF Billy Gilmour on Saturday. The chants were called out online by Kop Outs, Liverpool’s LGBT+ Fans Group, with the condemnation retweeted by the club, which called the chant "offensive and inappropriate" (London GUARDIAN, 8/14).

EPL side Crystal Palace named Facebank, Inc. its sleeve partner for the '21-22 season (Crystal Palace).

British Cycling named former Southampton Head of Partnerships Darren Henry as its new Commercial Director (British Cycling).

Portuguese club Benfica has signed a three-year deal with Premier Bet, which will become the club’s official betting partner in Angola and Mozambique (Premier Bet).

South Canterbury (New Zealand) rugby is "on the hunt to find a new name for their Heartland team which will be reflective of the region and depict the values of the organisation" (STUFF, 8/16).

"We’re using football to express ideas about society. If you want to talk about racism, bigotry, homophobia, or if you want to talk community and belief and passion: All of that, you can with football" -- Eddy Frankel, co-founder of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium-adjacent art gallery OOF, on the idea behind the gallery (N.Y. TIMES, 8/16).

"We're seeing more and more individuals willing to trade up. That’s everything from the average ticket buyer who’s willing to spend just a bit more because they’re really excited about coming back to sport, through to the 'VVIP' experience where people are willing to almost say price isn’t a factor" -- Jockey Club CCO Charlie Boss, on the current level of demand to attend sporting events (FINANCIAL TIMES, 8/13).

"Let's not kid ourseves. The place given to sports in our schools is pathetic" -- Knicks and French National Team G Evan Fournier, in an op-ed for the Huffington Post, blasting the French government for not putting enough resources into team sports at the youth level (HUFFINGTON POST, 8/16).

"I will be on crutches for many weeks and then also out of the game for many months. I want to be healthy. I want to be running around later, as well, and I want to give myself a glimmer of hope to return to the tour in some shape or form" -- Roger Feder, on his hope to return to the ATP Tour after surgery (CITY A.M., 8/16).

The Age's Roy Masters wonders if expansion within the Australian Football League's women's division could "spark a decline of Australia’s Olympic success" in other sports.

The London Telegraph's Oliver Brown makes the case that it is "time for Roger Federer to walk away with his dignity intact."

. @LEVIS x Naomi 🐻🌸, a limited edition collab, dropping 08.24.21 pic.twitter.com/AlWgkcA29A

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) August 16, 2021

Don't call it "engagement".
"The @guardian reported in 2019 that a total of £14.4 billion was lost by people betting in the UK between April 2017 and March 2018, up from £13.8 billion the previous year."
How much longer we will see these brands in football? pic.twitter.com/6KORdtRP6m

— Ricardo Fort (@SportByFort) August 16, 2021