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Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Jamie Rudd. European football has drawn a line

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in the grass and FIFA is standing on the other

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side of it. UEFA's fifty five member associations have voted

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to boycott all FIFA competitions if Jianni Infantino's plan to

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bring private investors into FIFA's competitions goes ahead. That means

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the dispute is no longer a statement, a leaked letter,

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or a disagreement behind closed doors. UEFA is threatening to

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walk away from the Men's and Women's World Cups, the

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Club World Cup and every other FIFA competition covered by

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its position. The reason is FIFA's proposal to create a

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commercial subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise and allow outside investors

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to buy minority, non controlling stakes connected to FIFA's biggest events.

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FIFA says the plan would unlock more money for development.

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UEFA's answer is that the World Cup is not an

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investment product. Its statement put the argument in blunt terms.

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The World Cup is not for sale. That is the

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sentence to remember here, because this is not just about accounting.

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It is about ownership, influence and whether the people financing

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the tournament eventually get a meaningful say in the way

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football's biggest event is packaged and sold. The proposal needs

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approval from FIFA's two eleven member associations. UEFA's fifty five

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votes are not enough by themselves to block it, but

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they are a huge political warning. CONQUERCAFF, representing forty one

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associations in North and Central America and the Caribbean, has

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also said its members rejected the proposal and objected to

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what it called a lack of due process and an

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artificially short deadline. The Asian Football Confederation has raised similar

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concerns about the way FIFA handled the plan. That is

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a remarkable coalition forming around the same complaint. The money

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may be attractive, but the process has not been transparent

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enough and the stakes are too high to rush. The

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first serious test could arrive as early as the Women's

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World Cup qualifying calendar. UEFA's position is supposed to apply

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until the investment plan is abandoned, so this is not

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an empty threat aimed at some distant tournament. It could

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affect competitions in the near future, including women's football, which

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should not be treated as a convenient bargaining chip in

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a fight between administrators, and that is the uncomfortable part

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of this story. Players and supporters built the value of

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these competitions over generations. FIFA controls the tournaments, but it

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did not create their meaning by itself. The World Cup

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belongs to the teams that qualify, the countries that host it,

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and the people who fill the stadiums and watch from

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everywhere else. If Infantino's plan goes to a vote, UEFA

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has already told the world what it will do if

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it loses. Now, a sad and very different story football

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has lost Franco Barezi at the age of sixty six.

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Barezi was not simply a great defender. He was one

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of the players who changed the way a defender could

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control a match. He spent his entire senior career with

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AC Milan, twenty seasons, seven hundred and nineteen official appearances,

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and a level of authority that made the position look

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like a command post. He captained Milan through the club's

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great era under Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello. Six Sera

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AR titles, three European Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, four Italian

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Super Cups. AC Milan retired his number six shirt, and

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that tells you what the club believed he represented. Barezi's

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greatness was not about being loud. It was about reading

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the danger before it became danger. He could step forward,

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organize the line, win the ball and start the next

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attack before the opponent had processed what had happened. For

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a generation of defenders, the lesson was simple. Defending was

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not just about surviving, It was about taking control. Ac

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Milan said their former cap had died at sixty six.

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The tributes are going to focus on the trophies, and

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they should, but the lasting memory is the elegance Barisi

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made discipline look like artistry. Now to the pitch, where

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Chelsea opened their Sydney Super Cup campaign with a ridiculous

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six In this sanem At four win over Western Sydney Wanderers.

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It was not a cautious preseason exercise. It was a shootout.

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Chelsea's goals came from Dustan Satpaiev, Dario Esugo, Jamie Gittens

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and jo O Pedro, who scored a hat trick in

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a nine minute burst. That is the kind of cameo

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that turns a friendly into a headline. Jacques al Pedro

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did not simply find the net once and settle into

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the rhythm of the match he took over a stretch

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of it completely. The warning is obvious. Chelsea scored six,

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but they conceded four in preseason. The result is not

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the whole story. Are testing combinations, players are building fitness

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and defensive structure can be a work in progress, but

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conceding four still tells us something. Chelsea may be entertaining quickly,

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but they are not yet giving their manager a calm afternoon.

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The next Sydney Super Cup question is Chelsea against Tottenham.

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Chelsea will want another attacking performance, but they will also

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want a much cleaner defensive one. Tottenham, with their own

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new ideas and their own need to build rhythm, should

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provide a better test of whether Chelsea's movement can survive

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against a more familiar level of pressure. That is the

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pre season story worth watching, not whether either team lifts

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a friendly trophy, but which parts of the new ideas

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look repeatable when the opponent is Premier League quality. And

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then there is rod Ree. Real Madrid's interest in the

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Manchester City midfielder remains one of the summer's biggest transfer stories,

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but the latest reports do not describe a completed deal.

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Sky Sports reports that Madrid are expected to make a

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bid after prolonged interest. Other reports say the club has

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paused the pursuit while it deals with other priorities. So

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the accurate version is also the most interesting one. Real

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Madrid want Rodri, but there is no transfer to announce.

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For Manchester City, the calculation is obvious. Rodri is one

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of the most important midfielders in the world and losing

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him would change the team's entire balance. For Madrid, the

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calculation is about timing, cost and whether the right player

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is available at the right moment. Until there is a bid,

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an agreement, and a medical, this is a pressure story,

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not a done deal. In American soccer, Lionel Messi is

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back in into Miami training after Argentina's World Cup final

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against Spain. ESPN has reported, citing sources, that Messi and

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Rodrigo de Pol were expected to sit out Miami's next

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two matches while they recovered from their World Cup involvement.

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The important update is that Messi has returned to training.

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The important caution is that training is not the same

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thing as being ready to play. Miami will need to

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manage the transition carefully. Messi's presence changes the team, but

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the club also has to think beyond one match and

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make sure its biggest player is actually ready to return

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at full speed. And that is the day in soccer,

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UEFA threatening a FIFA boycott over the proposed private investment structure,

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the loss of Franco Barezi, six goals for Chelsea in Sydney,

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and a transfer story about Rodriy that remains unfinished. For

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the Messi Effect, I'm Jamie Rudd. Quick note This show

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is produced with the help of AI