By Matt Hughes

Copyright cityam

LaLiga’s hopes of staging a match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami in December have suffered another setback with Fifa opting against ruling on the request at its forthcoming council meeting next month.

Sources with knowledge of Fifa’s deliberations have told City AM that it has no plans to formally discuss the controversial issue of playing league games abroad until a position has been taken by Uefa, which deferred its own decision on the matter at a meeting of its executive committee in Tirana earlier this month.

The Fifa Council is due to meet in Zurich on 2 October, when LaLiga had been hopeful of gaining approval to move the Villarreal-Barcelona game to the US, in what would be the first competitive league fixture to be staged in an overseas territory.

With Fifa following Uefa’s lead in postponing its decision, LaLiga is running out of time however, and there is a growing acceptance that the proposed Miami match will not take place as planned.

Fifa’s next council meeting is not scheduled until December, just weeks before Villarreal’s rescheduled “home” game against Barcelona in the Hard Rock Stadium on 20 December.

Uefa has committed to a wide-ranging consultation involving all stakeholders, including supporters, which is unlikely to be a speedy process. Its next executive committee meeting will take place on 3 December in Nyon, leaving LaLiga frustrated at what it regards as a lack of urgency.

Fifa also plans to wait for the host federation and confederation, US Soccer and Concacaf, to give their approval before considering the matter themselves.

Redknapp unable to act for own agency

The announcement earlier this month that Jamie Redknapp has launched a football agency in partnership with his long-term management company, M+C Saatchi, has raised eyebrows in the industry as the former England midfield player does not possess an agent’s license.

City AM has confirmed that Redknapp is not on the FA’s most recent list of agents licensed to work in this country, which was published on 12 September, although his business partner Udo Onwere of law firm Bray and Krais does feature.

Fifa introduced updated Football Agent Regulations two years ago requiring agents to possess a Fifa licence and be registered in the country in which they are operating. The rules also prohibit players and coaches from engaging with an unregistered or unlicensed agent.

Redknapp will not be charged with a breach of regulations as unlicensed agents are permitted to own agencies, but Fifa is aware of the situation, with sources telling City AM that he will be unable to provide any football services on behalf of M+C Saatchi Football, including negotiation transfers and contracts or finding clubs for players.

In the press release announcing the launch earlier this month, Redknapp said: “Football has given me a lot and I’m looking forward to giving something back – helping young players find their way with the right support from the start.” But his input in the short-term at least will be restricted by Fifa’s regulations.

Sky Sports swerves partisan coverage

Sky Sports will resist the temptation to follow US broadcaster NBC Sports’ lead in adopting a partisan tone to their coverage of the Ryder Cup this weekend.

Tommy Roy, the executive producer of NBC, told the Daily Telegraph earlier this month that “We’re going to have a partisan booth,” in an approach he claimed was inspired by the BBC’s Olympics coverage.

“If you listen to the Brits’ track and field, they are literally blatantly rooting for the UK athletes,” he added.

Sky are planning what sources described as a “fair and balanced” approach to the Ryder Cup however, which is reflected in their Bethpage-based commentary team, which includes Americans Rich Beem and Hunter Mahan alongside Nick Faldo and Paul McGinley.

Premier League gets value for money

The Premier League’s chief football officer Tony Scholes presented his analysis of the club’s summer transfer spending at their shareholders meeting yesterday, which included an observation that 46 of the top 100 ranked players in the world are now playing in England.

Scholes told the clubs that number was double the number of top 100 players in any other league, which will have provided some reassurance following their cumulative summer spending of over £3bn.

Nike blow to UK Athletics

Great Britain’s worst performance at the World Athletics Championship for 22 years in Tokyo, where they failed to win a single gold medal, will have financial implications for cash-strapped UK Athletics, who came close to bankruptcy two years ago before Nike agreed to front-load their sponsorship payments.

The lack of medals in Japan means that UK Athletics will miss out on bonus payments from Nike and other commercial partners, which will add to their projected losses of £400,000 for this year.