GIVE ZIMA A RED CARD
An NFT of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland sold for more than $600,000, surpassing a record set by one of Cristiano Ronaldo. The NFT of Haaland generated a lot of public interest from people all over the world, unsurprisingly, considering he is one of the most coveted young talents in the sport at the moment. The digital soccer trading card was sold through an online auction, and as it entered the final minute, the value of the top bid almost doubled. In the end, user Zima Blue secured the NFT with a winning bid of 265.1 Ethereum, valued at the time at $687,000.
PLASTIC IS BAD
Manchester City and Tottenham have joined forces with Heineken UK for a new campaign to remove plastic fans from football. The #NoPlasticFansHere campaign wants to remove fans of plastic from football and instead push them towards more sustainable alternatives. Heineken commissioned a sculptor to create life sized plastic fan sculptures made of recyclable plastic waste. The sculptures were on display at both Tottenham’s and Manchester City’s home stadium to highlight the sustainability efforts both clubs have made and are making. Tottenham was named the Premier League’s greenest club last year, while Man City’s initiatives saw them successfully install a new pitch that recovers two thirds of irrigation, 70% of which is captured rainfall. This means that all watering of the pitch is 100% rainwater, reducing their water usage. Heineken, for their part, offer more sustainable cups for events as alternatives to single use plastic.
MORE RULES FROM FIFA
FIFA have announced new rules which will limit the number of players clubs can sign and send out on loan internationally. Clubs will be limited to eight international loan signings in and eight loaned out from next season, which will drop to seven the following year and then remain at six from the 2024-25 season onwards. With this new rule, FIFA are hoping to improve the development of young players, promote competitive balance and prevent clubs from hoarding players. These rules will not apply to homegrown players or those under 21 years of age. A limit will also be placed on players being loaned out per season between the same two clubs, three, while sub-loaning to a third club will be prohibited. Although these rules affect international transfers, FIFA said national associations will have three years to bring their own similar rules to cover domestic loans.
DID YOU KNOW?
▪ David de Gea (right) was the first goalkeeper in six years to win the Player of the Month award. The Manchester United keeper won the award for January. Southampton’s Fraser Forster was the last keeper to win the award back in 2016.
▪ The United States’ World Cup qualifier against Honduras was played in freezing temperatures, -17 degrees Celsius or 1 degree Fahrenheit. It was so cold that two Honduran players came off due to hypothermia.
PUNCH ABOVE
World champion boxer Oleksandr Usyk made his professional football debut, coming on as a substitute for Ukrainian second-division side FC Polissya. The 35-year-old fighter has been training with Polissya during the club’s winter training camp as they prepare for the league opener in March. This switch in sports comes potentially weeks ahead of his second fight and rematch with Anthony Joshua. Usyk defeated Joshua back in September at Tottenham’s stadium. Whether or not Usyk makes the move to football permanent depends on how the club feels about him. According to the club director, if Usyk strengthens the team, they will offer him a professional contract.
YOU'RE SUCH A CARD
Torino defender Alessandro Buongiorno really wanted to get booked in the match against Udinese so he would be safe to play the derby with Juventus. Unfortunately for him, the ref knew exactly what he was up to and didn’t give him the caution he wanted. With one yellow card away from suspension and not wanting to risk picking one up the following game, which would make him miss the derby, Buongiorno decided to take off his jersey while being substituted and even walked up to the referee to show him that. The ref saw right through that and refused to give him a yellow card.
20-TEAM TOURNEY SOON?
There are reports that Serie A may be planning a 20-team tournament in the United States during the World Cup later this year. The league plans to host a tournament in order to keep the Serie A players not taking part in the World Cup active during the break. Serie A’s CEO and marketing director recently spent some time in New York, to see if there would be some “interest” (money). Whether or not this goes ahead remains to be seen as many details need to be finalized, but one thing is for sure, Italian soccer fans would rather be watching Italy at Qatar then some random tournament in the United States.
DUSAN CARE ABOUT $$$
Dusan Vlahovic is one of Juventus’ most expensive signings following his transfer from Fiorentina. The 22-year-old joined the Turin club in a deal worth €80 million in total, with a further
