• Sportswashing and the tangled web of Europe's biggest clubs

    Governments wield power over many Champions League clubs and the ties that bind owners, sponsors and Uefa are strikingThe game is about glory, a wise man once said. For many years it has been about money, too. Right now an updated version of Danny Blanchflower’s famous quote would point out something else: that the game is also about politics and placement, about soft power, about presenting a face to the world.As the Champions League knockout stage kicks in, this element of Big Football i
  • Gazprom v Abu Dhabi: an alternative guide to the Champions League ties

    Other states, hedge funds and a tax haven also feature in our look at how club owners and partners stack up in the last 16Schalke 04 Related: Sportswashing and the tangled web of Europe's biggest clubs Russia 
    Peaceful protest heavily restricted. State controlled media used by authorities to smear human rights defenders and political opponents. State-sponsored persecution of LGBTI people. Military role in Syria especially brutal. Continue reading...

Follow @Champ_League_UK on Twitter!