Prem lobbying exposed

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering the Premier League lobbying the UK government, the Diarra transfer ruling and much more. First time reading? Sign up here. Share us with a friend on WhatsApp with this link. 

PREMIER LEAGUE GW7 STATS

Brighton 3 – 2 Tottenham. This is the 10th time that Tottenham have lost a Premier League game in which they led by 2+ goals, the first club to hit double figures for this. Aston Villa 0 – 0 Manchester United. With eight points, this is United's lowest tally in their opening seven matches of a league season since 1989-90, when they finished 13th under Sir Alex Ferguson. Crystal Palace 0 – 1 Liverpool. Arne Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win as many as nine of his first 10 games in charge of the club. Full Premier League MW7 results here.

Plus…

• Liverpool’s Alisson could be out for weeks, says Slot (More)

• Erik ten Hag confident in owners’ support after Aston Villa draw (More)

• Cristiano Ronaldo wants Kevin De Bruyne at Al-Nassr (More) / in Spanish

• Robert Lewandowski bags hat-trick in Barcelona’s 3 – 0 win over Alaves (Highlights)

• Bayern Munich drop points after conceding late equaliser in 3 — 3 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt (Highlights)

• David de Gea saves two penalties in Fiorentina’s 2 — 1 over Milan (More)

INDEPENDENT REGULATOR FREEBIES

Premier League’s £100,000 government ‘freebies’ amid battle over new regulator, White Paper reveals

The Premier League and top clubs have handed giveaways worth more than £100,000 to UK Members of Parliament (MPs), a new White Paper reveals. Since the proposal for an independent football regulator in 2021, the value of giveaways has steadily increased – and this year has seen over double the next-largest sum. It suggests the English top flight is upping the ante in its fight against introducing an independent regulator.

The Premier League has been a vocal lobbyist against a football regulator. CEO Richard Masters warned that a regulator could risk undermining “the Premier League’s global success” amid Labour’s reintroduction of the bill to establish the independent regulator. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has supported plans for an independent regulator. That’s despite a warning from Uefa that government interference in football could see England banned from European competitions. So, while the freebies are unlikely to curtail the introduction of a regulator, there are concerns that it may impact what powers it has. One key battleground will be whether the government gives the regulator power over the Premier League’s parachute payments for regulated clubs. But there’s no evidence to suggest the government plans to change what it has set out in its bill.

POLL

HEAD START

😬 Arsenal explore new matchday protocols. The Gunners are looking to stop players mingling with corporate guests post-match after Conor McGregor was filmed play-fighting with Bukayo Saka. Arsenal are investigating the situation and are likely to change their matchday protocols. The former UFC champion was reportedly asked to leave after entering the pitch without permission.

📅 Prem denies City’s request to postpone start. Pep Guardiola confirmed that the league rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season. The request came because City and Chelsea are competing in the Fifa Club World Cup which starts on June 15 and lasts a month. The Premier League season will begin in August.

💉 Pogba ban reduced to 18 months. Paul Pogba says his “nightmare is over” after a four-year ban for a doping offence was reduced to 18 months. The suspension started on September 11 2023. As such, the Juventus midfielder will be available to play by the end of the season. But Pogba is expected to leave the Italian side.

FIFA TRANSFER SAGA

Fifa rules on player transfers break EU law, verdict could change transfer market

Fifa’s rules on the transfers of footballers break EU rules on free movement, Brussels’ top court has said. The verdict could disrupt the European transfer market. Fifa has downplayed the ruling, arguing that it “only puts into question two paragraphs of two articles” of transfer rules.

The court’s decision comes after Lassana Diarra challenged the rules in a 10-year dispute with his former club Lokomotiv Moscow. The former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder claimed his search for a new club was unfairly impeded by Fifa’s rules. More detail on this story in Thursday’s edition here.

Diarra’s lawyers said that the ECJ’s ruling “paves the way for a modernisation of governance” in football, “in particular through collective bargaining between employees and employers”. Whether or not collective bargaining is introduced, it seems likely that players will be able to walk away from their contracts. The court has determined that players should have more power to move and work where they wish, and that Fifa rules should be less restrictive. Fifa’s chief legal and compliance officer said that the decision “does not change the core principles of the transfer at all”. No doubt you’ll be hearing more on story this in the coming weeks.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

🇫🇷 France national team: France coach Didier Deschamps is reportedly shocked after seeing Kylian Mbappe included in Real Madrid’s weekend squad after he wasn’t selected for the Nations League (More) / in French

🇺🇸 MLS: Inter Miami stands just one victory away from breaking the record for most points earned in a single MLS season after a last-minute winner (More)

🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal suffered a cruciate ligament injury; but the club extends his contract to June 2026 (More)

🇺🇾 Uruguay national team: Federico Valverde agrees with Luis Suarez that head coach Marcelo Bielsa was difficult to work with (More)

LOWER LEAGUE LOUNGE

Championship

Sunderland and Sheffield United level at the top. A birthday double for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi gave Sheffield United a 2 – 0 win over Luton, putting the Blades level on points with Sunderland. A 97th-minute winner gave Plymouth a 2 – 1 win over Blackburn. Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney was sent off minutes before during Blackburn’s equaliser. West Brom failed to turn home advantage their way again as they drew 0 — 0 against Millwall at The Hawthorns. After Tuesday’s 1-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough, the Baggies struggled in front of goal once more as they made it three games without a win. Championship table here.

League One

Wrexham maintained this season's 100% winning home record in League One. They cruised to a 4 – 1 victory over Northampton Town, taking Wrexham to second in the league. Birmingham’s seven-game winning streak comes to an end. Despite remaining top of the league with a game in hand, the Blues lost 1 – 0 to Charlton. League One table here.

League Two

Four teams are joint on points at the top of the table. Walsall, Gillingham, Barrow and Doncaster all have 19 points after 10 league games. League Two table here.

ROUTER’S VOICE

On Friday, we asked you: Is it fair that Club World Cup entrants get an early transfer window?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👎 Nope, it's unfair... (88%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🔋 Yes, more games need more resources... (12%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👎 K.Y: “It gives these clubs first dibs over player transfers. We should try to make the game as fair as possible so that clubs can succeed on merit – not increase the gap between top and bottom.”

• 👎 P.D: “There’s no problem introducing it, as long as the rules are the same for everyone.”

• 👎 G.S: “These clubs will have more constraints on their squads, that’s true. But the commercial upside of participating in the Club World Cup will be enough to offset this.”

EXTRA TIME

When Alex Ferguson exploited the bonus system for good.

BBC’s Premier League team of the week.

Everton’s admin takes a dig at Anthony Gordon’s penalty miss.

Manchester United’s 25-26 away kit will feature iconic snowflake graphic.

Espanyol use pre-match to rehome dogs.

Final episode of Jude Bellingham’s documentary. / YouTube

New footage shows Nicolas Jackson slapping Nottingham Forest’s Mortata…

… and Cole Palmer takes a seat during the clash.

A young Antoine Griezmann asking Thierry Henry for an autograph at the 1998 World Cup.

Del Piero on why Italian football has fallen behind other nations.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Which club has Lionel Messi scored 32 goals against in his career, but never in the Champions League?

Clue: Mattress Makers.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

EFL League Two

• Bradford vs Newport (20:00)

Major League Soccer

• Portland vs Dallas (00:00)

*All times in UK. EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Atletico Madrid. The Argentinian played all 360 minutes of Barca’s two double-legged knockout clashes in 2014 and 2016 with Diego Simeone’s side but couldn’t breach their backline.

And if you’re wondering about the clue… Atletico Madrid are called "Los Colchoneros" or "The Mattress Makers" due to their red and white striped uniforms, resembling traditional mattress ticking fabric. This nickname reflects the club's working-class roots and contrasts with their wealthy rivals, Real Madrid.