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Referee, VAR taken off Prem duty after Onana penalty error

Published

1 year ago

August 15, 2023

Simon Hooper and Michael Salisbury will not be included in the referee appointments for next weekend’s Premier League games after they failed to award a stoppage-time penalty to Wolverhampton Wanderers in Monday night’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Goalkeeper André Onana clattered into Wolves’ Sasa Kalajdzic in the sixth added minute at Old Trafford, but on-field referee Hooper did not award a penalty and the VAR, Salisbury, failed to intervene. Richard West, the assistant VAR for the match, will also not be selected.

Salisbury initiated a lengthy VAR check but cleared the incident as not a clear and obvious error.

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said afterwards that Jon Moss, the manager of the Select Group 1 officials who referee in the Premier League, had told him it was a mistake.

“I was told live that they didn’t think that it was a clear and obvious error,” O’Neil said. “But having spoken to Jonathan Moss, and fair play to him for coming straight out, he has apologised and said it was a blatant penalty that should have been given.

“I feel bad because he has come out honestly. I spent the afternoon with him, trying to understand the new guidelines and trying not to get myself booked with the new guidelines, which I failed to do.

“Fair play to Jon saying it was a clear and obvious error. He can’t believe the on-field referee didn’t give it and VAR didn’t intervene. That probably makes me feel even worse. Once you know you’re right, you feel worse leaving with nothing.”

Since Howard Webb took over as chief refereeing officer for refereeing in the Premier League the organisation has admitted errors and taken action against officials who make mistakes to show greater transparency.

It is the second time Salisbury has been stood down in recent months. In April, he was the VAR for the controversial game between Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion. PGMOL apologised after Kaoru Mitoma was denied a penalty after being caught by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, with Salisbury taken off duty for the following weekend and not selected as a VAR for the next 3½ weeks.

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Ambrose Ijeh

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How To Stream AC Milan vs Liverpool Match Online For Free

Published

2 months ago

September 17, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

How To Stream AC Milan vs Liverpool Match Online For Free

An online streaming service has exclusive rights to the big Champions League match – but it’s easy to watch it for free.

Liverpool will be returning to the Champions League on Tuesday night, hoping to get back to winning ways on the opening night of the new campaign, facing old foes AC Milan.

The side, who previously faced Milan in the 2005 and 2007, suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, so they will be hoping to get back to winning ways this week.

However, Milan have also had a tumultuous ride so far, with the team currently in 9th after four games, despite a solid 4-0 win over Venezia at the weekend.

It’s shaping up to be a thrilling match, then, with both teams having plenty to prove, and you can watch it for free on Amazon Prime Video.

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Published

2 months ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga has unveiled state-run China Media Group (CMG) as its official broadcast partner in the country.

Through a deal announced today, CMG returns as a Chinese broadcaster of the 20-team Spanish league.

The tie-up has come with the 2024-25 campaign already four matchdays in and follows a memorandum of understanding between the two parties in late July.

Last season (2023-24), LaLiga action was shown in China by the Migu streaming service, while rights for 2024-25 have also been snapped up by the iQiyi digital broadcaster.

Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, has said: “China remains a key market for LaLiga, and we are thrilled to bring our league’s unique passion and excitement to Chinese fans through one of the most influential media platforms in the country.”

Over the last few weeks, LaLiga has been scrambling to add more partners to its stable of broadcasters for this season.

Earlier this month, a significant deal across numerous African markets was unveiled with SportyTV, while mid-August saw BeIN Sports extend its exclusive rights deals across the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Domestically, DAZN and Movistar are the main rights-holders through deals running between 2022 and 2027.

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Belgium’s Pro League Launches Five-Season Domestic Rights Tender

Published

2 months ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Belgian soccer’s top-tier Pro League has gone to market with a domestic media rights tender for the five seasons between 2025 and 2030.

The tender was launched recently (September 9), and the Pro League is being strategically supported by the heavyweight IMG agency – through a deal unveiled last October – during the process.

The deadline for prospective rights-holders to submit bids is October 16, with a Pro League general assembly to then evaluate the bids on October 18.

Interested parties can obtain the tender documents by contacting tender2025@proleague.be.

The 16-team Pro League’s domestic and international rights are currently held by global sports streaming service DAZN – which acquired previous rights-holder Eleven Sports in 2023 – in a five-year deal running through the 2024-25 season. Eleven tapped sports agency Mediapro to distribute international rights in partnership with the league.

In total, eight rights packages are available for purchase – three specifically for the Pro League (others cover the second-tier Challenger Pro League and various domestic cup competitions).

A new development in this tender is that the packages are platform-neutral, meaning they cover both linear and streaming rights.

In terms of kick-off times for games across the five seasons covered by the tender, meanwhile, the Pro League has said these “remain virtually unchanged.”

IMG, meanwhile, also has a contract in place to collect and commercialize the Pro League’s fastpath data in a five-year agreement with European Leagues running from 2022-23 to 2027-28.