A number of countries preparing for the 2018 World Cup -- including England -- "are thought to have decided against a Moscow training base" because of the "gridlocked" city center traffic system. The FA "had initially viewed the Russian capital as a possibility because of its central location." But with Germany, Sweden and Belgium, as well as England, "all well under way with tournament preparations," the state of the city’s roads are proving a "major concern" (London DAILY MAIL, 6/26).
Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari believes midfielder Paulinho's proposed move to Barcelona is unlikely to happen as the CSL's transfer regulations "make it too expensive to find a replacement." Scolari: "His release clause is €40 million ($44.7M) and none of the Chinese clubs will let their key players go because it would be difficult and expensive to find a replacement due to the new rules" (REUTERS, 6/26).
RECORD CROWDS: The German Football League (DFL) announced the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga broke attendance records in the '16-17 season. A total of 19,049,362 spectators attended a total of 612 live matches. That is an increase of 1.3% on the figure from the previous season. Despite having clubs with smaller grounds in the top division because of promotion and relegation, Bundesliga attendances remained at a very high level, averaging 40,693 per match. The percentage of occupied seats also rose to over 91% (DFL).
La Liga and Spanish second division games combined "to draw more than 14 million fans to stadiums" during the '16-17 season. La Liga announced that a total of 14,052,134 fans attended matches at the 42 La Liga and second division stadiums, a year after a total of 14,014,099 fans attended matches. For La Liga matches, the percentage of occupied seats jumped to 71.51%, "up almost one percentage point from '15-16" (EP, 6/26).
