Slow Newsletter: Bundesliga 2, Egypt, Salary caps, Scottish football investments – game of the people
THE LAST eight of the DFB Pokal this season features four Bundesliga 2 sides, all of whom have been drawn against each other. St. Pauli, who are top of the German second tier, face Fortuna Düsseldorf, while Hertha Berlin are up against Kaiserslautern. Bundesliga 2 is full of big names, including Hamburg, Hannover and those great underachievers, Schalke 04. Little wonder the division has an average crowd of over 28,000 – Schalke are still attracting 60,000 gates and there are seven clubs with an average of 35,000-plus. St. Pauli are currently filling their 29,000 capacity Millerntor-stadion. They play second-placed Fürth on February 3. Bundesliga 2 is the best supported second tier competition in Europe, some 5,000 more than the Championship and three times the attendances in the Spanish second league.
Egypt’s disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign ended against DR Congo, who beat their highly-rated opponents on penalties. The game ended 1-1 and the extensive shoot-out saw DR Congo keeper Lionel Mpasi scoring the deciding kick. DR Congo went ahead when Meschack Elia headed Yoane Wissa’s cross into the net on 37 minutes. Their lead lasted nine minutes before Mostafa Mohamed scored a penalty on the stroke of half-time. Egypt finished with 10 men after left-back Mohamed Hamdy was shown a second yellow card seven minutes in extra time for a lunge on Simon Banza. In the absence of Mohamed Salah, Egypt ended the tournament winless.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has ruled out any plans for a Europe-wide salary cap. Ceferin is concerned that implementing a cap would possibly drive players to seek money from elsewhere. That said, he is not over-concerned about the threat of the Saudi Pro League. Caps exist in the US, acting as a form of leveller among clubs. UEFA has constantly avoided such discussions, but introduced rules stating that by 2025, clubs’ spending on transfer fees and salaries must be no more than 70% of overall revenue. He told the Guardian there were hurdles to attempting to curb players’ earning potential: “One point of view is the legal part, where the EU is quite complicated about it. The second is that, with money now coming out of Europe, if you limit European clubs significantly it’s a question of competitiveness in the future.”
English club owners seem to have developed an appetite for Scottish football club. Bill Foley, the owner of Bournemouth, is set to buy a minority stake in Hibernian. “We’re not going to be a controlling shareholder,” said Foley. “We’re going to be an investor, but we certainly want to coordinate acquisition and disposition of players with Hibs and I know they can use the help.” The Hibs deal is not the only one in play at the moment. Tony Bloom, the Brighton owner, is known to considering an investment in a Scottish club. Burnley’s owner, ALK Capital, has confirmed a partnership with Dundee. “The Scottish Premiership is an excellent proving ground to progress young and emerging talent, as well as providing a potential gateway to European competition,” said Burnley chairman, Alan Pace. As for the Hibs deal, some fans are enthused by the possibilities and hope that it will enable the Edinburgh club to reduce the massive gap with Celtic and Rangers.
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