Kaveh Solhekol

Chelsea’s sporting leadership are now discussing what to do next. They are taking stock of the situation after last night’s shocking performance at Brighton. Although the club have backed Liam Rosenior up to this point, football is ultimately a results business. It’s too early to say whether Rosenior will definitely be in charge for the Leeds game on Sunday. As things stand, he remains in charge, but the situation could change. Chelsea players have the day off today.

As Islamic Republic officials use the internet freely to announce the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, don't forget the 90+ million people in Iran cut off from the internet for 50 days. Access to the internet is a human right. Authorities must immediately restore internet access.

⏱️ It's now day 45 of #Iran's internet blackout, with international connectivity severed for over 1056 hours. Regime figures and whitelisted influencers post freely on social media while they silence a population of 90 million whom they claim to serve.

Remember the Iranian people, an excellent article by @VictoriaPeckham reflecting on the horror of daily life - especially for women & girls - before and still now in Iran Enjoy this article for free. thetimes.com/comment/column…

Iran has publicly executed Saleh Mohammadi, a teenage member of the country’s national wrestling team, who was arrested during January’s protests. He was executed despite evidence that his family said proved he had been elsewhere at the time 🔗: telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

Tottenham majority owners the Lewis family trust have put another £100m into the club and more could be on the way. A source close to the family said: “This is initial additional funding. As the club’s management decides what’s needed to deliver success, more money will be available. The Lewis family is committed to backing the club to be successful.”

Burnley owner Alan Pace has completed takeover of Espanyol through his company Velocity Sports Partners. Deal worth up to €200m. Will not impact or take resources away from Burnley.

Tottenham takeover: Spurs not for sale after third prospective buyer confirms no intention to bid skysports.com/football/news/…

Tottenham are not for sale. There were three expressions of interest – of varying degrees of seriousness - in buying the club. As some Tottenham shares are still held by private investors, prospective bidders had to make their intentions clear, as set out in the Takeover Code. They have all now confirmed they will not be making bids. That means they cannot bid for six months – unless someone else enters talks about buying the club. The Lewis family are committed to owning Tottenham and are looking forward to a sustained period of stability and long-term success.

Firehawk and Earick consortiums will not be making bids for Tottenham Hotspur. PCP International Finance (Amanda Staveley) said last month they would not be making a bid. Tottenham no longer in offer period.

Get ready for a Spanish LaLiga game 5,000 miles away in Miami and an Italian Serie A game 8,000 miles away in Australia. UEFA have "reluctantly" approved Villarreal v Barcelona being played in Miami in December and AC Milan v Como in Perth in February. The games still have to be approved by FIFA, CONCACAF and the United States Soccer Federation (Villarreal v Barcelona) and FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation and Football Australia (Milan v Como). Rival cubs, including Real Madrid, and supporters’ groups are strongly opposed to domestic league games being played outside their home country. If the remaining hurdles are cleared, Villarreal v Barcelona will become the first major European league game to be played in a foreign country. Villarreal have offered to pay travel costs for their season tickets holders to watch their “home” game in Miami. As Real Madrid have pointed out, the integrity of LaLiga could be undermined because Barcelona will play Villarreal twice at home this season - once in Barcelona and once in Miami, where the vast majority of fans will be supporting them. FIFA is expected to drop its opposition to competitive domestic matches being played abroad after settling a legal challenge by US events promotion and media rights company Relevant Sports. UEFA's executive committee was due to decide whether to approve the requests from the Spanish and Italian federations last month. It delayed making a decision in order to consult more widely with stakeholders. UEFA says the consultations confirmed its position that games should not be played abroad, but FIFA regulations - currently under review - are not clear so it will allow these two games to go ahead: "This decision is exceptional and shall not be seen as setting a precedent". It is not clear whether Villarreal v Barcelona can be played on the scheduled date of 21 December as the Miami Dolphins are playing the Cincinnati Bengals on 22 December at the Hard Rock Stadium. The Premier League have no plans at all to play games outside England.

#202020: Who have been your club's three best Premier League signings since 2020? skysports.com/football/news/…

FIFA wants football to come together and draw a line under legal disputes between stakeholders and the governing body. FIFPro and European Leagues have complained to the European Commission about changes to the international match calendar which they believe were made without proper consultation. There was a rallying call for the game to unite at today’s FIFA council meeting in Zurich. FIFA believes an attack on FIFA is an attack on football.

Expanded World Cup and Club World Cup were not on the agenda when the FIFA Council met in Zurich today. The South America confederation CONMEBOL wants a 64-team World Cup in 2030. There has also been talk of the Club World Cup expanding from 32 to 48 teams and being held every two years instead of every four years. Today’s Council meeting ended with a presentation about this summer’s 2025 Club World Cup in the United States. FIFA say the Council “were provided with a debrief of the successful Club World Cup” and European Club Association chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi “re-iterated the global success of the tournament and the excitement from clubs for the future of the competition”. According to FIFA, the total attendance at the Club World Cup was 2.5 million, there were no serious safety or security issues at any of the 63 games, fans from 168 countries bought tickets, 72 nationalities were represented in matches, clubs from five confederations won at least one game, $1 billion in prize money was shared between 32 clubs and there is a target of $250 million in solidarity payments for clubs around the world.

Plan is for Nuno Espírito Santo to take West Ham training this afternoon

Nuno Espírito Santo to be next West Ham head coach

Graham Potter no longer West Ham head coach

A 64-team World Cup is back on the agenda after some of the most powerful executives in South American football met FIFA yesterday to present their proposals for an expanded tournament in 2030. Next summer’s 2026 World Cup will be the biggest ever with 48 teams but that is still not enough for the South American confederation CONMEBOL who are determined to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the tournament by hosting as many games as possible on their continent in 2030. The first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay and the 2030 tournament is being held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco with three opening matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. CONMEBOL want more games and more teams and they made their case when their president Alejandro Dominguez met his FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino at Trump Tower in New York yesterday. FIFA are duty bound to consider proposals and ideas which are put forward by member associations and a 64-team tournament is not something which is a policy priority for the current FIFA administration at the moment. A 64-team World Cup would see almost a third of FIFA’s 211 member associations playing in the finals and it would make qualifying little more than a formality for the strongest sides. UEFA and CONCACAF have said they are opposed to another expansion. The 64-team proposal was first raised at the FIFA Council meeting in March by Uruguay FA president Ignacio Alonso. In May, his confederation president Dominguez said “no one should be left out” of the 2030 World Cup.

West Ham board are considering all their options after another defeat yesterday. They wanted to see a reaction from Graham Potter’s side but despite an improved performance West Ham lost again. They had in mind a target of four or five points from the three games before the next international break - against Palace, Everton and Arsenal.  Although it’s difficult to see how that target can be achieved now with two tough away games, no decision has been made as of this afternoon about Potter’s futures.  Potter signed a two-and-a-half-year contract when he replaced Julen Lopetegui in January. Such a contract at West Ham would typically have a break clause after 18 months. Options such as Nuno Espirito Santo and Slaven Bilic are being considered in case the decision is made to make a change.