Business

MANCHESTER, England - It has certainly been a year of sporting contrasts for American businessman Joel Glazer.

In February, he was in celebratory mood, raising the Vince Lombardi trophy as his NFL team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, led by veteran quarterback Tom Brady.

Three months later, Glazer's Premier League soccer team, Manchester United, had to call off their match against rivals Liverpool following violent protests against the American's ownership of the club.

Back in December of 2019, UEFA revealed its plans for a revamped Women’s Champions League beginning with the 2021-22 season. After a brief nightmare concerning the ramifications of the harebrained European Super League on the women’s game, we can now get back to celebrating the changes that were approved by UEFA’s Executive Committee last week.

LONDON — JPMorgan said on Friday it regretted supporting soccer clubs in launching a breakaway European Super League after the plan collapsed earlier this week due to a storm of protest from fans and politicians.

"We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future," a representative for the bank said. "We will learn from this."

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City started the process of withdrawing from the breakaway European Super League on Tuesday less than 72 hours after agreeing to join, with Chelsea also reported to be quitting in a major blow for the proposed new competition.

City confirmed they wanted to pull out while fellow English club Chelsea were reported by local media to be preparing the paperwork to leave a project backed by U.S. investment bank JP Morgan and headed by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

Following are the ownership details and Champions League records of the 12 top European clubs who announced on Sunday the launch of a breakaway Super League, and similar details on Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich, two major European clubs not taking part in the Super League:

Who Would Be In European Super League?

ARSENAL

Barcelona have leapfrogged Spanish rivals Real Madrid to become the world's most valuable soccer club with a valuation of $4.76 billion, according to a list published by business magazine Forbes on Monday.

Real Madrid, who have topped the list five times in the past, edged Barcelona 2-1 in El Clásico on Saturday but find themselves second best off the pitch with a valuation of $4.75 billion.

PSG and Brazil star Neymar will become the first athlete to be part of the popular video game Fortnite, Epic Games announced.

As part of the launch of the sixth season of the "Primal" game, players will be able to fight as Neymar as they compete to win it all in Battle Royale.

Weston McKennie’s path to become the greatest USMNT midfielder of all time took a giant leap on Wednesday when Juventus announced it’s cashing in on the American.

McKennie has been on loan from Schalke this season with the option for the Italian giants to buy the 22-year-old. After choosing to buy, the final bill for McKennie was $22 million, with his contract running until June 2025.