The Russian billionaire Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has some James Bond technology in his
yacht.
And no I don't mean the two helipads, two swimming pools, the movie screens in all the guest rooms,
the mini-submarine or the missile-proof windows.
He's got a paparazzi shield:
Lasers sweep the surroundings and when they detect a CCD, they fire a bolt of light
right at the camera to obliterate any photograph.
Every club has one. That vital cog that keeps the team wheels turning. With the season in its
infancy, supporters up and down the land are still harbouring dreams of glory (or at the very least
over achievement, given that short of a billionaire Sheikh turning up on your doorstep, thoughts of
the title are confined to a privileged few these days).
A lot has been said about Serie A's decline over the past couple of years. Critics have
claimed the English Premiership and Spain's La Liga have become Europe's best leagues leaving Serie
A to challenge the Bundesliga for third spot.
Sadly, Serie A has witnessed a sharp decline in the past few years that cannot be attributed to
the lack of financial means alone.
A big story that broke late Friday was this one in The Times which stated the actual figure paid
for Carlos Tevez was £47 million rather than the more widely reported (at the time of the
transfer) £25 million:
Manchester City are paying an astonishing £47 million fee to Carlos Tévez's private "owners"
in a move that obliterates the British transfer record.
UEFA have approved plans to bar high-rolling Barclays Premier League clubs from the Champions
League if they spend beyond their means.
Michel Platini has got his way on 'financial fair play' rules that in principle will ban clubs from
spending more than they make from their revenues.
Extra Time. We can end the debate about where the seven minutes of extra time
came from in the Manchester derby. They were taken from the Bundesliga's three Sunday fixtures,
where the refs decided to call it a day after pretty much exactly 90 minutes. It's not really a
coincidence but rather an annoying habit.
Russian side want Andrey back, but they can't have him!
Zenit St Petersburg have announced their intentions to lure former star Andrey Arshavin
away from Arsenal and back to Russia after a huge financial injection from billionaire gas giants,
Gazprom.
Global fuel providers, Gazprom, have decided to substantially increase their investment in the
2008 UEFA Cup winners in an attempt to create a European super-force to compete with the like of
Manchester United, Barcelona, and Real Madrid.
Plans are afoot to prevent clubs from spending more than they make from their revenues and aim to
curb billionaire owners throwing cash around.
The new rules are going to be in place from the 2012/13 season and clubs could be thrown out of
European competition if they do not abide by the regulations.
