Premier League Clubs Vote Against Use of Five Substitutes; 55 Arsenal Staff Including Head of Recruitment to be Furloughed and More (Football Round-Up)
After the resumption of the games in June, Premier League clubs were permitted to increase the number of substitutes in the game from three per match.
The English Premier League clubs voted against the continuation of the five substitute per game rule next season.
“At the Premier League’s Annual General Meeting today, Shareholders agreed to rules relating to VAR and substitute players for the 2020/21 season.” tweeted the Premier League on August 6.
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“Clubs also agreed to revert back to using up to three substitute players per match, with a maximum of seven substitutes on the bench,” it added.
After the resumption of games in June, clubs were permitted to increase the number of substitutes in the game from three per match.
IFAB, the rule making body of football, changed the maximum substitute rule that was put in place to help the teams complete the season in a shorter duration but the final decision was left to the individual federation and leagues to decide in case they wanted the rule adopted.
Arsenal Staff Furloughed
The Head of recruitment of Arsenal, Francis Cagigao is one of the 55 staff members to be furloughed due to the pandemic and lockdown-induced financial crunch.
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Cagigao, who has played for Arsenal as a youngster and had built a great reputation in his 24 years of service at the club, was informed that his services are terminated and he will have to leave after the parties finalised the terms.
Many other members of the scouting department including the head of UK recruitment, Pete Clarke, and the former Reading and Leeds manager Brian McDermott were also laid off while others are also under the fear of losing their position during the revamping of the club.
Releasing Cagigao with his remarkable background of being one of the world’s top talent spotters has attracted scrutiny. He is known for scouting Cesc Fàbregas, Héctor Bellerín and Gabriel Martinelli among others and has been productive in the various other high profile deals in the last twenty years.
Homophobic Slur in Video
A leading bookmaker, Paddy Power, issued an apology for using a homophobic slur in a one of the marketting video of ‘Fan Denial’ series about Chelsea fans in the FA Cup final. In the video, they mock the fan’s comments on social media.
Power said it "does not condone the use of such derogatory terms". Further adding that it was reviewing its content process and policy.
After attracting grave criticism from several fan groups including the charity, Kick It Out, Chelsea Pride, Gay Gooners and Proud Baggies, the video was removed.
“We are very sorry for any offence caused before it was removed," said Paddy Power. "We are reviewing our approval processes on content produced by third parties to ensure content on our platform is in line with our values as a brand.
Sanjay Bhandari, chairman of Kick It Out said, "An advert like this is designed to provoke and does nothing to further inclusion in football.”
"All it will do is encourage people to keep using this hideous language, not just on social media but in matches too," he added.
Bucharest Saved
The domestic football federation of Romania (FRF) announced that its leagues have increased the number of teams from 14 to 16 to save one of the most popular clubs of the country, Dinamo Bucharest, from being relegated.
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Bucharest, who won the Romanian championship 18- times, were unable to proceed with their last five matches due to the lockdown after a rise in the number of coronavirus cases at the club. They were on the brink of being relegated to the second tier after ending the season in 13th position. The relegation group is decided by the final position on a point-per-game basis.
However, the decision made by Romania’s FRF will help Bucharest remain the top flight.
The FRF stated that the 30 regular season rounds of next season will be followed by matches among the top six teams, and playoffs among the bottom 10 clubs.
CFR Cluj won their third successive Romanian title on Monday with 3-1 win against Universitatea Craiova.
US Billionaire Buys Roma
US billionaire Dan Friedkin, in a deal worth 591 million euros ($700m), has agreed to buy Italian Serie A club AS Roma.
"All of us at The Friedkin Group are so happy to have taken the steps to become a part of this iconic city and club," Friedkin said in a statement. "We look forward to closing the purchase as soon as possible and immersing ourselves in the AS Roma family."
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The transaction would be wound up by the end of August. Friedkin will replace James Pallotta, the current owner of the club. Pallotta is also an American who took over the club in 2011. Roma finished as Serie A runners-up three times and has also reached the 2018 semifinals of the Champions League under Pallotta’s ownership.
Roma claimed the fifth position in Serie A this season and have resumed the Europa League campaign. .
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