Qatar-owned PSG set for day of Financial Fair Play reckoning with Neymar future up in the air

Will he stay or will he go? The Neymar decision may be taken out of the club's hands.
Updated 11 June 2018
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Qatar-owned PSG set for day of Financial Fair Play reckoning with Neymar future up in the air

  • UEFA set to reveal if PSG will face sanctions for potential breach of FFP regulations.
  • Fans unhappy at one-horse nature of French domestic football with Qatari cash allowing the capital club to dominate.

LONDON: This week Paris Saint-Germain will find out whether they are to face Financial Fair Play (FFP) sanctions which could see them forced to sell star man Neymar. 
There have been rumors that the Brazilian, bought for a world-record fee of $222 million ($261 million) last summer, wants to leave the club with PSG insisting he is going nowhere. But depending on UEFA’s findings the decision could be taken out of the club’s hands. 
This season the Qatar-backed club won a third domestic treble in four years — their domination of French football is so great that all semblance of competitive balance has been destroyed. 
Yet the lack of homegrown rivals has dulled the luster of PSG’s achievements and continental success remains elusive despite Qatar spending over €1 billion to establish the club as a European power since its 2011 takeover. 
Such a huge outlay has irked the football establishment, this is the second time in four years UEFA have investigated the club over potential breaching of FFP regulations. 
Should PSG be found guilty of again enjoying overvalued sponsorship deals from Qatari state entities, the club could be banned from European competition or face other restrictions that would limit its chances of finally challenging for the Champions League and while PSG officials have reacted angrily to suggestions of impropriety, the fact remains that without Qatari largesse last summer’s signing of Neymar would have been impossible. 
In April, the Financial Times reported that UEFA’s initial investigations revealed that €200 million of sponsorship contracts had been overstated.
“The big question, clearly, is UEFA going to be brave enough to enforce their own rules?” a person close to the investigation told the FT. “If not for PSG, then frankly why bother?” 
In 2014, UEFA censured PSG after deciding that the club’s sponsorship deals were overvalued. Most questionable was a four-year Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) tie-up reportedly worth €700 million. This was signed in 2013 and backdated to 2012 — a feat seemingly impossible without recourse to a time machine. 
QTA renewed its €175 million-a-year sponsorship deal with PSG in 2016, Le Parisien reported. Curiously, QTA is not listed on the club’s sponsors page of its website, although the authority’s website makes plain the importance of its association with the French champions. PSG’s top sponsors are listed as kit supplier Nike, shirt sponsor Emirates airline, plus Qatar National Bank and Qatari telecom operator Ooredoo. 
When UEFA announced the current investigation in September 2017, PSG said they could sell players if required to meet FFP rules and predicted its revenues would rise 20-40 percent following the arrival of Neymar and French starlet Kylian Mbappe, currently on loan from Monaco pending a €180 million permanent transfer this summer. 
PSG’s last-16 exit in the Champions League — a resounding 5-2 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid — has made achieving such a big revenue jump markedly harder; PSG and Atletico Madrid were the only clubs from Europe’s 10 biggest by revenue to earn more broadcast income from the Champions League in 2015-16 than domestic competition, underlining the importance of continental progress to the habitual French champions.
So, will PSG be found to have breached FFP?
“It may depend on how contracts with QTA are going to be taken into account,” said Jean-Pascal Gayant, Professor of Economics at Le Mans University. 
If the club has to raise around €45 million from player sales, as some French media have speculated, this should be straightforward. 
“If €200 million is needed, it will be tougher — if so, I’m not sure Neymar will stay long,” said Gayant.
According to FFP regulations, clubs can spend €5 million more than they earn per season. If excess spending is covered by direct payments by owners or other parties, clubs’ outgoings can exceed income by €30 million in total over a rolling three-year period. 
Investments in stadiums, training facilities, youth development and women’s football are excluded from UEFA’s calculations, while clubs can spread a player’s transfer fee over the duration of his contract. UEFA had been expected to announce its final decision after PSG’s financial year ends on June 30, but French media suggest the governing body could go public with its findings as early as this week.

DOMESTIC BLISS? 
PSG have won 11 of the past 12 domestic trophies, with only Monaco’s unlikely league triumph last season denying them a clean sweep. Those trophies are impressive, but the club’s Qatari owners made plain European success was their target. 
“We have a very clear vision,” PSG’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told the Financial Times in March 2014. “In five years, we want to be one of the best clubs in Europe and to win the Champions League.” 
Yet PSG have failed to match their own European exploits of the mid-1990s when the Parisiens reached five consecutive European semifinals, winning the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996. From 1993-94 to 1997-98, PSG were Europe’s top-ranked team. Under Qatari ownership PSG have been never been past the Champions League quarterfinals and exited at the last-16 stage for the past two seasons. 
“We had a similar experience to what we have now but back then it was achieved in a fairer way,” said Pierre Barthelemy, 32, a Parisien lawyer, life-long PSG fan and an elected member of the Board of the French National Fans Association (ANS) and of Football Supporters Europe (FSE). 
“From 2011, we’ve been successful because someone put a lot of money into the club but still haven’t matched the level of the team back then. That was legitimate, but from 2011 it’s not been so legitimate. In the 1990s, it was the result of building a project for many years, whereas this decade it came from nowhere.”
The lack of a nearby challenger means many fans are less committed, in contrast to the passionate rivalry between the likes of Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid fans, for example, while migration from France’s provinces has diluted Parisiens’ sense of identity. 
“There’s nothing in the city that refers to the club. Paris is not a city with its own culture, most residents identify more with the culture of where they are from,” added Barthelemy.
“Qatar’s ownership hasn’t made any difference to the profile of PSG within Paris, apart from among young kids who will now support the club. Paris isn’t a city committed to sport or its own culture.
“The league is boring. After 10-15 games we know we’ll win it, but in the cup you can be eliminated in every game and no other club in Europe has gone so long unbeaten in cup competitions.
“We could lose five games and still be league champions. As a fan, it’s easier to get excited about the cups.”
Le Mans University’s Gayant said it was tough to decide whether Qatar’s huge investment in PSG had been positive for French football.
“On one hand, there is again a French team in the top 10 in Europe,” said Gayant. “On the other, the gap between PSG and others French teams is so huge that the only interesting thing is who will be second and third? 
“PSG is the most hated team in France and also the most popular. French fans are schizophrenic — they’re both bored and enthusiastic.”
PSG responded to Monaco’s brief ascendancy by signing Mbappe, their rival’s most coveted player. If that deal is made permanent, PSG will have spent €402 million on him and Neymar, the two most expensive signings in history. 
Both were opportunistic signings borne out of circumstance, rather than the culmination of a long-term transfer policy as the club opted to recruit two expensive forwards instead of addressing the team’s glaring weaknesses in goal, defensive midfield and left-back. 
The result? Another early European exit, although Neymar’s transfer was in part a political response to the blockade of Qatar by former allies Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE, which accuse Doha of supporting terrorism. 
Overall, PSG have been profligate, spending €935 million in the seven seasons since the Qataris took over, recouping €219 million in player sales over the same period for an overall net spend of €716 million, or €102 million per season, according to transfermarkt.com. Those figures do not include Mbappe’s fee. 
Clubs in France’s top two divisions collectively made a profit of €3 million in 2015-16 — the most recently publicly available figures — ending seven straight years of losses thanks to a €429 million profit in the transfer market. 
France’s success in nurturing young football talent should be applauded, but effectively all teams except PSG are selling clubs, unable to hold onto their best players, strengthening Parisien dominance. 
Monaco, who reached the Champions League semifinals in 2017, sold €358 million of players last summer, for example, eviscerating the principality’s young squad and ending their chances of defending the French title before a ball had been kicked. 
“It was a miracle Monaco won the French championship in 2017,” said Gayant. “Fortuitously, Monaco had 6-7 young top class players — Mbappé, Bernardo Silva, Tiémoué Bakayoko, Benjamin Mendy, Thomas Lemar, Fabinho — but such a set of circumstances will probably not happen again in the next 50 years.”
PSG are the only French club to make the top 20 in Deloitte’s 2016-17 European soccer Money League, falling to seventh, their lowest ranking since 2011-12. 
PSG rank sixth for commercial revenue but only 18th in broadcast revenue, with French football having little catchment beyond its borders. Lyon, in 21st, are France’s only other representative in the top 30, underlining PSG’s destruction of any domestic competitive balance. 
“With the lowest value domestic broadcast deal of any of the ‘big five’, France is unlikely to have more than two clubs in the top 30 for the foreseeable future,” Deloitte wrote.


Norway’s Warholm shatters own world best time in 300m hurdles

Updated 13 June 2025
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Norway’s Warholm shatters own world best time in 300m hurdles

  • KarstenWarholm delivers for home crowd at Oslo Diamond League
  • Sweden’s Armand Duplantis cruises to pole vault victory

OSLO: Norwegian hurdling great Karsten Warholm destroyed his own world best time in the rarely run 300 meters hurdles at the Oslo Diamond League meeting on Thursday, chasing down American Rai Benjamin in a stunning finish.

Roared on by the home crowd, the 2020 Olympic champion came off the corner behind Benjamin but roared past the man who had beaten him for Olympic gold last year in Paris to finish in a blistering 32.67 seconds, breaking his previous mark of 33.05 set in April.

Warholm ripped off his shirt and spun it around his head in delight when his record time flashed on the Bislett Stadium screen.

“I never really went away of course, but it is good to be back for sure,” Warholm said. “I usually fade at the end of the 400, so the 300 suits me to some degree but I will be back strong in the 400 on Sunday (in Stockholm).

“The crowd was amazing as ever and the atmosphere was something else and I am just so happy that I could perform at my best in front of the support.”

Benjamin was second in 33.22, while Alison dos Santos of Brazil was third in 33.38.

World record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden cruised to an easy victory in the pole vault, while Nico Young became the fastest American over 5,000 meters outdoors.

Julien Alfred opened her season with a win in the 100m to set the pace as the woman to beat at this year’s world championships in Tokyo.

Duplantis, a twice Olympic and world champion, cleared 6.15m and then called it a night rather than chase a world record attempt in chilly 14 C temperatures.

“It did get cooler so that was why I stopped jumping,” said Duplantis, who soared 6.27m in February to break the world mark for the 11th time.

“On Sunday in Stockholm it would be an absolute dream to break the world record, in fact I could retire if I do,” he said laughing.

“At the moment the forecast is good for Sunday and I am feeling good. I need to build on tonight and get ready now for the big one.”

“Crazy race“

Young outsprinted an excellent 5,000 field to win in 12 minutes 45.27 seconds in a race full of national records and personal bests.

While Young’s time was a US outdoor record, fellow American Grant Fisher clocked a world and national indoor record of 12:44.09 in February.

“It was a crazy race,” Young said. “This surprised me a little bit but I am really proud that I managed to stay on this pace all this time. The best is yet to come.”

Ethiopia’s Biniam Mehary and Kuma Girma crossed second and third respectively, while Englishman George Mills was fourth in 12.46.59 to obliterate the British record of 12:53.11 held by distance great Mo Farah.

Alfred, the first athlete from Saint Lucia to win an Olympic gold medal when she triumphed last year in Paris, enjoyed victory in the 100m in a time of 10.89 seconds.

“I was a little rusty but I got the win under my belt which is the main thing,” Alfred said. “As for my season I am Olympic champion so I am the one to beat but I really want to add world champion to my name as well.”

Paris Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya raced to victory in the men’s 800m, holding off a fast-closing field over the final 100m to finish in 1:42.78.

“My body felt a little tired as I have come from Kenya so the travel has been long but I am happy with my performance against a strong field,” Wanyonyi said. “I am happy with the start to my season in this world championship year.”

Kenya’s Faith Cherotich won the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, outsprinting Olympic champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain in a neck-and-neck battle over the final 200m, clocking 9:02.60 to edge Yavi by 0.16 seconds.

Haruka Kitaguchi of Japan, women’s javelin gold medalist at the Paris Games, threw almost a meter more than the rest of the field to win in Oslo with a toss of 64.63m.


Club World Cup marks ‘new era’ for football: Infantino

Updated 13 June 2025
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Club World Cup marks ‘new era’ for football: Infantino

  • The 32-team competition, with clubs from all continents, gets under way with Inter Miami facing Egyptian club Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium
  • The Swiss official, who was general secretary of European body UEFA before taking the helm at FIFA in 2016, said that the club tournament also offered chances to players from over 80 countries

MIAMI: FIFA President Gianni Infantino says the Club World Cup, which kicks off on Saturday, marks a historic “new era” for the game, comparing it to the first World Cup held in 1930.

In an interview with AFP, Infantino also took aim at critics of FIFA’s ticketing policy and said that skeptics who had questioned the need for the tournament would quickly change their minds.

The 32-team competition, with clubs from all continents, gets under way with Inter Miami facing Egyptian club Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium.

“It starts a new era of football, a new era of club football. A little bit like when, in 1930, the first World Cup, right, started,” Infantino told AFP.

“Everyone today speaks about the very first World Cup. That’s why it’s also, this World Cup here is historic.”

The first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930 and Infantino noted that only European and South American teams took part, adding that the Club World Cup would give a chance to clubs from outside of football’s traditional heartlands to play on the global stage.

“We want to be inclusive. We want to give opportunities to clubs from all over the world,” he said.

“It’s really to globalize football, to make it truly, truly global. Because when you scratch the surface, we say it’s the number one sport in the world, and it is but then the elite is very concentrated in very few clubs, in very few countries,” he said.

The Swiss official, who was general secretary of European body UEFA before taking the helm at FIFA in 2016, said that the club tournament also offered chances to players from over 80 countries.

“Countries who would never have a chance to play in a World Cup are suddenly part of a World Cup and they feel to be part of it, the fans of these players and of these clubs,” added Infantino, who noted several great players of the past who never played in a World Cup,

“A very good friend of mine is George Weah...former legend, great player, Ballon d’Or winner, only African player who ever won the Ballon d’Or, by the way. He never played in a World Cup. He would have been playing in a Club World Cup and made not only his club and also his country proud,” he added.

Infantino dismissed concerns that the tournament added to fixture congestion but acknowledged that some fans were yet to be sure of the value of the tournament, saying though that would quickly change.

“I believe, I’m convinced that, you know, as soon as the ball starts rolling, the whole world will realize what is happening here. It’s something special,” he said.

Reports of low uptake of tickets for same games has led to criticism of FIFA’s ticketing policy with ‘dynamic pricing’, increasingly common in the United States, allowing for prices to rise and fall according to demand.

But Infantino defended the approach and the decision to offer heavy discounts to students in Miami.

“I’m a positive person generally, but they criticize FIFA if the prices are too high, then they criticize FIFA if the prices are too low.

“Then they criticize FIFA if we make ticketing promotions with students. Students! I mean, when I was a student and I didn’t have money, I would have loved FIFA to come to me and say, you want to come and watch a World Cup match?”

“We don’t want to see empty stadiums. I believe the stadiums will be pretty full,” he said.

The FIFA president said that the tournament, which secured a global broadcasting deal with DAZN reported to be worth $1 billion, was already an economic success and stressed that all the money generated from commercial deals would be plowed back into the game.

Asked how he would judge whether the tournament had been a success, Infantino said he would feel it in his ‘heart’ but said he was confident.

“In terms of inclusivity, in terms of economy, in terms of fan interest, you take all of these criteria, we’ll speak again at the end of the club World Cup, but already now, I (feel positive), when I look at the number of tickets sold, and I look at the TV rights,” he said, noting that the games were available on DAZN’s streams for free.

“Tell me one top competition today, where you can watch football for free?” he asked.

The Club World Cup has also been caught up in the US’s fierce debates over immigration control with games being held near Los Angeles, scenes of violent clashes between protesters and immigration officers.

“Security for me and for us is a top priority, always. So when something is happening, like in Los Angeles we are obviously monitoring the situation, we are in constant contact with the authorities, we want fans to go in games in a safe environment,” he said.


J.J. Spaun leads US Open at Oakmont on a wild day of great shots and shockers

Updated 13 June 2025
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J.J. Spaun leads US Open at Oakmont on a wild day of great shots and shockers

  • Spaun played bogey-free and finished with 10 straight pars for a 4-under 66 on America’s toughest course hosting the major known as the toughest test in golf
  • Patrick Reed made the first albatross in 11 years at the US Open when he holed out a 3-wood from 286 yards on the par-5 fourth

OAKMONT, Pennsylvania: J.J. Spaun is still new enough to the US Open, and a newcomer to the brute that is Oakmont, that he was prepared for anything Thursday. He wound up with a clean card and a one-shot lead on an opening day that delivered just about everything.

Scottie Scheffler had more bogeys in one round than he had the entire tournament when he won the Memorial. He shot a 73, his highest start ever in a US Open, four shots worse than when he made his Open debut at Oakmont as a 19-year-old at Texas.

Patrick Reed made the first albatross in 11 years at the US Open when he holed out a 3-wood from 286 yards on the par-5 fourth. He finished with a triple bogey.

Bryson DeChambeau was 39 yards away from the hole at the par-5 12th and took four shots from the rough to get to the green.

Si Woo Kim shot a 68 and had no idea how.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing on the course,” Kim said. “Kind of hitting good but feel like this course is too hard for me.”

Through it all, Spaun played a steady hand in only his second US Open. He played bogey-free and finished with 10 straight pars for a 4-under 66 on America’s toughest course hosting the major known as the toughest test in golf.

He matched the low opening round in US Opens at Oakmont — Andrew Landry also shot 66 the last time here in 2016 — and it was no mystery. Good putting never fails at any US Open, and Spaun holed five par putts ranging from 7 feet to 16 feet to go along with four birdies.

“I didn’t really feel like I’m going to show a bogey-free round 4 under. I didn’t really know what to expect especially since I’ve never played here,” said Spaun, playing in only his second US Open. “But yeah, maybe sometimes not having expectations is the best thing, so I’ll take it.”

Oakmont lived up to its reputation with a scoring average of about 74.6 despite a course still relatively soft from rain and moderate wind that didn’t stick around for long.

And oh, that rough.

Just ask Rory McIlroy, although he chose not to speak for the fifth straight competitive round at a major since his Masters victory. He had to hack out three times on the fourth hole to get it back to the fairway, and then he holed a 30-foot putt for a most unlikely bogey. He shot 74.

“Even for a guy like me, I can’t get out of it some of the times, depending on the lie,” DeChambeau said after a 73. “It was tough. It was a brutal test of golf.”

The start of the round included Maxwell Moldovan holing out for eagle on the 484-yard opening hole. Toward the end, Tony Finau hit an approach just over the green, off a sprinkler head and into the grandstand, his Titleist marked by green paint of the sprinkler. He saved par.

When the first round ended more than 13 hours after it started, only 10 players managed to break par. That’s one fewer than the opening round in 2016.

Scheffler, the heavy favorite as the No. 1 player in the world who had won three of his last four tournaments by a combined 17 shots, made a 6-foot birdie putt on his second hole. Then he found the Church Pew bunkers on the third and fourth holes, made bogey on both and was never under the rest of the day.

“I made some silly mistakes out there, but at the same time, I made some key putts and some good momentum saves in my round,” Scheffler said. “But overall just need to be a little sharper.”

Spaun, who started his round by chipping in from ankle-deep rough just right of the 10th green, was walking down the 18th fairway when a spectator looked at the group’s scoreboard and said, “J.J. Spaun. He’s 4 under?”

The emphasis was on the number, not the name.

But some of the names were surprising, starting with Spaun. He lost in a playoff at The Players Championship to McIlroy that helped move him to No. 25 in the world, meaning he didn’t have to go through US Open qualifying for the first time.

Thriston Lawrence of South Africa, who contended at Royal Troon last summer, had six birdies in a round of 67.

And perhaps Brooks Koepka can count as a surprise because the five-time major champion has not contended in a major since winning the PGA Championship in 2023, and he missed the cut in the Masters and PGA Championship this year.

He looked like the Koepka of old, muscling his way around Oakmont, limiting mistakes and closing with two birdies for a 68 that left him in a group with the South Korea duo of Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im.

“It’s nice to put a good round together. It’s been a while,” Koepka said. “It’s been so far off ... but now it’s starting to click. Unfortunately, we’re about halfway through the season, so that’s not ideal, but we’re learning.”

Another shot back at 69 was a group that included two-time major champion Jon Rahm, who went 11 holes before making a birdie, and followed that with an eagle.

“I played some incredible golf to shoot 1 under, which we don’t usually say, right?” Rahm said.

The course allowed plenty of birdies, plenty of excitement, and doled out plenty of punishment.

McIlroy also was bogey-free, at least on his opening nine. Then he three-putted for bogey on No. 1 and wound up with a 41 on the front nine for a 74. Sam Burns was one shot out of the lead until playing the last four holes in 5 over for a 72 that felt a lot worse.

Spaun was not immune from this. He just made everything, particularly five par putts from 7 feet or longer.

“I think today was one of my best maybe putting days I’ve had maybe all year,” Spaun said. “Converting those putts ... that’s huge for momentum and keeping a round going, and that’s kind of what happens here at US Opens.”

Spaun wouldn’t know that from experience. This is only his second US Open, and his ninth major since his first one in 2018. He didn’t have to qualify, moving to No. 25 in the world on the strength of his playoff loss to McIlroy at The Players Championship.

“I haven’t played in too many,” Spaun said “I knew it was going to be tough. I did my best just to grind through it all.”

It was every bit of a grind, from the rough and on the fast greens. Three more days.


Tottenham hire Brentford’s Thomas Frank as new manager

Updated 12 June 2025
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Tottenham hire Brentford’s Thomas Frank as new manager

  • Thomas Frank agreed a three-year contract with Tottenham and becomes the north London club’s fourth permanent boss since June 2021

LONDON: Tottenham hired Brentford’s Thomas Frank as their new manager on Thursday as the Dane replaced the sacked Ange Postecoglou.
Frank agreed a three-year contract with Tottenham and becomes the north London club’s fourth permanent boss since June 2021.
“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Thomas Frank as our new head coach on a contract that runs until 2028,” a Tottenham statement said.
“In Thomas we are appointing one of the most progressive and innovative head coaches within the game.
“He has a proven track record in player and squad development and we look forward to him leading the team as we prepare for the season ahead.”
Tottenham set their sights on Frank after chairman Daniel Levy axed Postecoglou last week, just 16 days after he won the Europa League final against Manchester United to end the club’s 17-year trophy drought.
Frank is the 14th permanent manager of Levy’s 24-year tenure.
Levy made an official approach to Brentford earlier this week, with the deal concluded after Tottenham agreed to allow the Dane to hire his Bees assistant coach Justin Cochrane.
Frank’s Brentford contract was set to run until 2027, with a reported release clause of about £10 million ($13.6 million).
The 51-year-old led Brentford back to the top flight in 2021 after an absence of 74 years and has established the west London club in the Premier League.
Now he will be tasked with lifting Tottenham back among the Premier League’s elite.
Tottenham will play in the Champions League next season thanks to their Europa League success in Bilbao, where they beat Manchester United 1-0.
Tottenham’s first European trophy for 41 years delivered on Postecoglou’s boast that he always wins silverware in his second season.
However, the Australian paid the price for a miserable Premier League season as Tottenham finished 17th after losing 22 of their 38 games.


Wimbledon singles champions to receive record $4 million in prize money

Updated 12 June 2025
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Wimbledon singles champions to receive record $4 million in prize money

  • Doubles prize money has also increased by 4.4 percent, mixed doubles by 4.3 percent
  • Top players called for significant improvements in prize money at the four Grand Slams

LONDON: Wimbledon has increased its prize money for this year’s championships to $72.59 million (£53.5 million), a 7 percent increase on 2024 and double what they offered a decade ago, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) said on Thursday.

The singles champions will receive £3million ($4.07 million) each, the highest across all Grand Slams and a 11.1 percent increase on the prize money Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova took home last year.

Singles players who exit the first round will receive 66,000 pounds, a 10 percent increase on last year. Doubles prize money has also increased by 4.4 percent, mixed doubles by 4.3 percent and the wheelchair and quad wheelchair events by 5.6 percent.

The increase also comes after the world’s top players called for significant improvements in prize money at the four Grand Slams as a way to ensure a more equitable distribution of revenue.

“We have listened to the players, we have engaged with the players,” AELTC chair Deborah Jevans said.

“But the focus on just the prize money at the four events, the Grand Slams, does not get to the heart of what the challenge is with tennis.

“The challenge with tennis is the fact that the players don’t have an off-season which they want, they have increasing injuries that they’re speaking about.”

Jevans added that Wimbledon is willing to engage and talk with the tours to try and find solutions but there has not been any proposal as to how the tour is able to change its structure.

Final at 4 p.m.

The AELTC also said the doubles finals on the weekend would start at 1 p.m. local time and the singles finals at 4 p.m.

Such a change could potentially change playing conditions — like having the roof closed and the lights switched on — if the match runs long and well into the night.

The French Open final this month where Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner lasted five hours and 29 minutes, but AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton said the change in timing would ensure an “improved experience” for all.

“Whether that’s the doubles finalists having greater certainty over their schedule, whether it’s the fans having the opportunity to experience a day which builds to the crescendo of the singles finals or ensuring that we have our champions crowned in front of the widest possible audience,” she said.

No line judges

This year’s championships also marks a break with an age old tradition where line judges will be replaced for the first time with the electronic line calling system that is in place at tournaments worldwide.

Bolton said “the time is right to move on,” adding that many line judges would return in different roles as match assistants, with two assigned per court.

“They’re extra eyes and ears, the assistant to the chair umpire... We’ve got about 80 of those across the Championships.

“They’ll also provide one of the parts of our resilience in the event that the electronic line calling system goes down at any point in time.”