By Nick Harris 25 July 2016 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was aware Russia ran a state-sponsored doping programme in which the head of that nation’s WADA-accredited lab was a central figure as long ago as the first week of July 2013. I know this because I told them. I told them on the phone […]
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Euro 2016 squads: cost £2.2bn but worth more than double
By Nick Harris 10 June 2016 Two interesting and credible studies published this week have attempted to quantify the cost (and separately, the value) of the 24 squads that will contest Euro 2016, which begins this evening in Paris when hosts France face Romania at the Stade de France. The first was conducted by Profit […]
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From Matt Le Tiss to Mao’s last mistress: an Independent life
By Nick Harris 26 March 2016 Goodbye to The Independent as a newspaper, published on paper for the final time on Saturday. It’s been inevitable for some time. It won’t be the last paper […]
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MOTD at 50: ‘Interesting, very interesting … Oh look at his face, just look at his face’
* By Nick Harris 22 August 2014 When the first episode of Match of the Day was screened 50 years ago today, there were more than twice as many people inside Anfield watching Liverpool beat Arsenal 3-2 than there were watching on TV later. MoTD was a one-game show then, screening whatever was deemed to […]
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Winning in global sport: Often about the money, money, money ….. (but not always)
By Nick Harris 5 May 2014 It was self-evident in the 2012-13 Premier League that Queens Park Rangers provided their owner with the worst value for money. He spent many tens of millions on buying players and many tens of millions more on paying their wages. And they were ignominiously relegated anyway. But precisely how […]
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REVEALED: Barcelona best at producing ‘Big 5’ players, Ajax most across Europe
By Nick Harris 21 January 2014 Barcelona produce more first-team footballers across Europe’s elite ‘Big 5′ divisions than any other club in the world, according to new analysis by the CIES Football Observatory and published today by Sportingintelligence. The Spanish giants have developed 44 players currently with top-flight clubs in Spain’s La Liga, England’s Premier […]
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‘Fluke or finance, the title processions in Europe in 2012-13 should be a serious concern’
* EUROPE’S major leagues delivered a string of titles by procession in Spring 2013 as a group of the biggest, richest clubs across the continent romped to runaway victories. Most leagues have always had one or two dominant clubs but is there something else afoot now? And what if anything does that say about the […]
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Arsene Wenger – what is he good for?
* ARSENE Wenger has helped to transform English football, on and off the pitch, since his arrival at Arsenal from Japan in 1996. Silverware and plaudits followed but since 2005, when the ‘big money era’ of Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour’s Manchester City have led to increased competition in the Premier League, the Gunners […]
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Number-crunched: Premier League summer transfers by club, country, age and position
By Nick Harris 9 September 2013 When the summer 2013 transfer window closed a week ago, the 20 clubs of the Premier League had collectively spent £631,369,000 buying or hiring new players on a permanent basis, not including any players on loan or youth contracts. Sportingintelligence has assessed each club’s total spend and net spend […]
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Fixing, doping, whistle-blowing: secrets that tennis prefers not to discuss
By Nick Harris 24 June 2013 As tennis’s most prestigious grass court tournament begins at Wimbledon today, the presence of one particular American qualifier in the men’s singles draw highlights the sport’s deeply complex relationship with match-fixing, doping and whistle-blowing. Wayne Odesnik, 27, is the world No107 and has previously been ranked inside the world’s […]
