Your morning Tottenham Hotspur digest on Friday, December 16.
FA Cup request 'politely declined'
Spurs have "politely declined" Portsmouth's request for extra tickets for the FA Cup third round match between the two teams next month. The north Londoners welcome the League One side to N17 at 12.30pm on Saturday January 7 and it looks set to be played in front of a big crowd with both clubs selling plenty of tickets.
Portsmouth asked for more tickets for their travelling fans but were turned down by their hosts. A statement from the Football League club reads: "Following the sale of all 8,880 tickets for Pompey’s Emirates FA Cup third round tie in the new year, the club contacted Tottenham Hotspur to enquire whether an extra allocation could be provided.
"This request was politely turned down by our hosts, with tickets also selling well among Spurs fans."
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Tottenham learn ESL fate
The opinion of the Advocate General in the European Super League case, Athanasios Rantos, was read out on Thursday morning at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Though this is non-binding ahead of the final ruling next year, it appears to sink any hopes of a Super League operating within European football’s mainstream if it does not have the approval of UEFA and FIFA.
A release from the court stated: "While ESLC (European Super League Company) is free to set up its own independent football competition outside the UEFA and FIFA ecosystem, it cannot however, in parallel with the creation of such a competition, continue to participate in the football competitions organised by FIFA and UEFA without the prior authorisation of those federations."
That would effectively mean Tottenham - and other clubs, of course - would be free to break away and join an unapproved Super League, but would not also be able to compete in domestic leagues.
Spurs learn World Cup windfall
According to The Athletic, Tottenham are set to receive a financial bonus of around $2.4million (£1.97million) ahead of the January transfer window thanks to their players performing at the World Cup. Any club that has released a player for the tournament will be eligible for a payment in return.
FIFA says a grand total of $209million (£171.6million) has been made available for the current competition, with that breaking down as approximately $10,000 (£8,200) being paid for each player for every day they are away from clubs. Any player that reached the final four - thus guaranteeing either a World Cup final or third-placed play-off - will bring a payment forecast to total $370,000 (£304,000).
However, payment for each player is split three ways. Broadly speaking a third is paid to whoever held the player's registration in 2020-21, a third for those in 2021-22 and the remainder to the club paying the player this season. Everton would take 2/3 of the payment for Richarlison, for example.
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