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Mid-Day Ticker: Tottenham tied to stadium fraud charge, Glazers lower Man U debt, and more

West Ham United are poised to take over as the tenant at the vacant and still new Olympic Stadium in east London. The Hammers’ bid was challenged by English Premier League rival Tottenham a year ago, and now it appears that the Spurs tried a little too hard to win the bid to make the stadium their new home.

Whether Tottenham are very much complicit is unknown. But according to a Telegraph report, the club hired investigators to help its bid for the stadium, and those investigators have been charged with fraud in illegally obtaining the private phone records of a West Ham executive.

West Ham is awaiting confirmation of its bid to play in the 80,000-seat facility, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies plus track and field events at the 2012 London Olympics.

Here are more stories from around the world of soccer:

Report: Glazers have lowered Man U’s debt

The Glazer family, the U.S.-based owners of Manchester United, has lowered the club’s huge deficit below 400 million pounds for the first time since the Glazers took over as owners in 2005, according to a report out of England.

Putting Manchester United shares on the New York Stock Exchange helped raise money to add to the club’s coffers, lowering the debt from 436.5 million pounds to 359.7 million. The signing of new sponsorship deals also helped.

While player salaries won’t help the budget deficit, Man U is exploring offers to play friendlies in Sydney, Australia, as well as India and the Far East next summer. That, too, will provide income.

Bebeto’s son earns Brazil U-20 callup

U.S. soccer fans will remember Bebeto, the Brazilian striker who scored an important goal in the USA ’94 World Cup quarterfinals against The Netherlands and went on to help Brazil win the championship that year at Rose Bowl.

Bebeto had a son, Mattheus, that year, and now the kid has earned his first shot with the Brazil U-20 side as he looks to follow in his famous dad’s footsteps.

Mattheus, 18, plays for Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro.

Pele expected to leave Brazil hospital on Wednesday

World soccer legend Pele had a hip operation last weekend in Sao Paulo, and after spending the next few days in recovery, was scheduled to leave the hospital on Wednesday. 

After the operation “went well,” according to his spokesman, Pele remained in the hospital for physical therapy. The Brazilian former mega-star turned 72 years old last month.

 

Comments

  1. as a Spurs fan, im glad they didn’t move to the Olympic site. White Hart Lane isn’t the best stadium in the world but its a nice fit. I wouldn’t want to go the way of West Ham or Arsenal in huge lifeless mega-stadiums.

    Plus down the road the Northumberland development right north of the stadium should give them the opportunity to grow into a bigger shell someday.

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