Sports Burst – Griezmann’s Hidden Cost to Barcelona
Punishing fine handed out to Barcelona after guilty verdict for way to early Antoine Griezmann negotiations
By Tim Stannard
Barcelona given $321 fine by Spanish FA for discussing Barcelona move while Griezmann was still Atletico Madrid player
Neymar better start renegotiating that deal with PSG as the French forward is not going anytime soon.
A fine handed out by the Spanish Football Association for talking contract turkey with Antoine Griezmann while the footballer was still with Atletico Madrid and without the club’s permission is certainly going to put a dent in club’s coffers.
$321 is the huge sum that Barcelona has to find for breaking the rules. Atletico Madrid have argued that these early negotiations cost the club $80 million as the price of the player at that time was significantly higher than the eventual buyout clause of $120 million.
Also going on in the Barcelona world and unfortunately, Lionel Messi now has a lot of free time on his hands with another muscle injury seeing the footballer potentially out of action until the middle of October, due to the international break.
So, Messi put the time to good use by organizing a team dinner for the players in Barcelona on Thursday night and bringing along MotoGP rider, Marc Marquez for good measure.
Let's see if those fun and frolics work ahead of Barcelona's visit to take on Getafe on Saturday - live at 10AM ET - as Barca has racked up a draw and two defeats in La Liga so far this season. That match is just the start of a huge day in the Spanish capital with the Madrid derby taking place at 3PM ET live on beIN SPORTS.
Chicharito with chance to stop another Sevilla slip
Thursday sees Sevilla with the chance to remedy the team's reputation for being enormous chokers in the Spanish league. Unfortunately, whenever the team gets into a potentially dominating situation in La Liga, it all tends to go all wobbly.
The home defeat to Real Madrid last weekend being a case in point when Sevilla had the chance to cement a spot at the top of the standings but lost out 1-0.
Sevilla are back in action and away at Eibar in a game kicking off at 1PM ET / 10AM PT live on beIN SPORTS and have the chance to move into second with a win. Also, remember that Sevilla means....CHICHARITO TIME!
That match featuring the Mexican maestro is followed by Real Sociedad hosting Alaves. The hosts also have the chance to move into second with a victory to nestle behind Real Madrid.
The Copa Sudamericana continues on Thursday. The first semifinal is done and dusted and it saw the mighty Ecuadorian outfit, Independiente del Valle, reaching the final after overcoming Corinthians.
Fellow Brazilians, Atletico Mineiro, have quite the job on their hands though by hosting Argentinean side Colon, 2-1 down from the first leg.
That match is live on beIN SPORTS at 8:30PM ET / 5:30PM ET.
USA make World Cup rugby debut as Antonio Brown plots return
When football (that's Football! football) players in the US discover the concept of rugby then the nation will be world-beaters for an eternity.
There are three distinct attractions to playing the sport. There is significantly less chance of brain damage and significantly more chance of achieving more than three professional seasons before complete body breakdown. Most attractively of all, there is no reason to deal with Roger Goodell and the NFL organization.
But for the moment, rugby very much remains a niche sport in the US so few eyeballs were on the national team's debut in the rugby World Cup in Japan in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The plucky USA Eagles were up against one of the tournament favorites England - whose dastardly coach accused their rivals of being made up of '15 Trumps' - and were beaten 45-7.
Earlier, Canada lost out 48-7 to Italy.
But Football! football continues on Thursday night with a pretty good match up as happy-go-lucky Aaron Rogers and the 3-0 Green Bay Packers host the visiting Philadelphia Eagles.
Meanwhile, Antonio Brown's self-proclaimed retirement from the NFL may have been a little hasty. The agent of the currently outcast wide receiver, Drew Rosenhaus, said on a podcast on Wednesday that discussions with other franchises had been taking place. "It's my hope, it's Antonio's hope that he'll be back playing as soon as possible," declared Rosenhaus.
Playing rugby perhaps? Just a thought.