This year's Copa Libertadores -- with the second leg of the final between Boca Juniors and River Plate yet to be played -- "has already set records for total attendance and ticket revenue." The total to this point of 3,484,814 fans who have attended games exceeds the previous record of 3,029,746, which was set in '17. This year's games have also generated ticket revenue of $49.8M, while last year's games generated less than $43M (OLÉ, 11/18).
Richard Scudamore will receive £5M from the Premier League over the next three years.GETTY IMAGES
Concerns that Richard Scudamore would take a job at La Liga or a rival sports organization, such as the NFL, were "decisive in pacifying" those clubs who opposed his £5M ($6.4M) payment. Scudamore will receive the money direct from the Premier League’s central fund over the next three years, rather than as a direct series of £250,000 ($321,000) payments from clubs (London TELEGRAPH, 11/18).
An open letter calling on Professional Footballers' Association CEO Gordon Taylor to step down was endorsed by more than 200 "high-profile" current and former players. It is understood the letter will call for the election of a new CEO to bring an end to Taylor's 37-year tenure and supports the call by PFA Chair Ben Purkiss for an independent review of the union (London GUARDIAN, 11/18).
A special prosecutor said that a top Swiss federal prosecutor was "cleared of wrongdoing after being suspended amid questions about his conduct" during investigations into suspected corruption surrounding FIFA. Olivier Thormann will "nevertheless leave his job" as head of the Office of the Attorney General's white-collar crimes unit, the OAG said. Ulrich Weder, a Zurich prosecutor who had been appointed to investigate, confirmed that his probe into Thormann’s behavior was dropped (REUTERS, 11/16).
