Finance & Law

World football’s governing body Fifa has said it is confident of meeting its revenue targets for the 2018 World Cup despite multiple challenges.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU), governing body of rugby union in England, posted revenues of £184.9m (€210m/$250m) for 2016-17, although the organisation suffered an operating loss of £6m in the first reporting period following the country's staging of the Rugby World Cup in 2015.

Carlos Nuzman, the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) and figurehead of the Rio 2016 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, was arrested earlier today (Thursday) amid a probe into an alleged vote-buying scandal.

Arsenal has broken through the £400m (€434.4m/$517.7m) revenue barrier for the first time in its history, with the English Premier League football club also reporting a significant rise in its pre-tax profit.

Italian Serie A football club Juventus has reported major increases in revenue and profit for the 2016-17 season, with the Turin giant’s financial results boosted by the then-record transfer of Paul Pogba.

Uefa, football’s European governing body, has launched an investigation into Paris Saint-Germain’s finances following the French Ligue 1 club’s record-breaking spending spree in the summer transfer window.

Liberty Media has “eliminated an extensive $1bn tier of debt” associated with Formula One, according to the motor-racing championship’s chief executive, Chase Carey.

As the Chinese government seeks to control the overseas flow of its currency, Simon Chadwick, professor of sports enterprise at Salford University Manchester and founding co-director of the China Soccer Observatory at the University of Nottingham, looks at a history of government intervention in the creation of the country’s sports economy.

A Spanish court has today (Friday) withdrawn a 21-month sentence handed to Lionel Messi for tax fraud, and instead issued the Argentine football superstar with a fine of €250,000 ($285,600).

English Premier League football clubs posted record revenues, but still a collective pre-tax loss of £110m (€131m/$141m) in the 2015-16 season, according to the latest figures from accountancy firm Deloitte.

Williams Grand Prix Holdings, the holdings company which includes the eponymous Formula One team, has returned to profit and has reported a significant increase in revenue as it stated its confidence in the future of the motor racing series under the stewardship of new owner Liberty Media.

German sportswear company Puma has posted a 33-per-cent increase in operating profit to continue its financial improvement on the back of a year of major sporting events.

Kevin Roberts considers the impact of the disruptive Chinese Super League's mega-millions on football's established superpowers.

Manchester United has dislodged Real Madrid as the top revenue-generating football club in the world for the first time in 11 seasons, according to Deloitte’s annual Money League rankings.

English Premier League football club Chelsea has reported a net loss of £70.6m (€84.2m/$88.1m) for the 2015-16 financial year despite posting record turnover.

The Wanda Sports division of Dalian Wanda is targeting a double-digit profit margin by 2020 with a view to listing on the stock exchange, according to chairman of the Chinese conglomerate, Wang Jianlin.