PPL’s deal to sponsor and acquire the naming rights to Philadelphia Union’s stadium will be a 10-year, $20 million deal, according to the Sports Business Journal (registration required to read). Nothing official from the team though.
Union manager Peter Nowak promises a tough training camp. (Has any new coach ever promised an easy one?)
Soccer by Ives takes a look at the value of Major League Soccer’s top allocation spot, which the Union have put to good use through a series of trades.
U.S. U-20 women’s team wins the U-20 CONCACAF title and will play in the Confederations Cup in Germany this summer.
ESPN has an update on the MLS collective bargaining agreement talks, and Goal.com has another.
Egypt beat Ghana in the African Cup of Nations final on Sunday.
Naturally, it’s overshadowed by the Confederation of African Football’s disgraceful decision to ban Togo from next two African Nations Cups because of alleged “government interference” in deciding to pull their team out of this year’s tourney after an armed ambush on their team convoy.
People overwhelmingly think Donovan should stay at Everton, according to a Goal.com poll.
Adu to Johnson for a goal – in Greece. (Goal is around the 2-minute mark.)
Does anyone know if Algeria’s 3 red cards in the semifinal affect player eligibility for their first world cup match? Can suspensions be served in friendlies? Do suspensions even affect the world cup at all?
My understanding is that red card-driven suspensions carry over to the World Cup, but yellow card accumulations do not. So those Algerian players would in fact be suspended for the first match — if FIFA sticks to the rules. Check out http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/fifa_dc_en_34118.pdf for more, if interested.
Thanks. Yeah, it’s easy to imagine FIFA not enforcing it or letting it slide somehow. Seems like it could be potentially rough for the Algerians, as the suspended players seemed like some of their top contributers.