by Manchester City have achieved a welcome break from winning the Champions League in 2023 but have done so against the backdrop of being hit with an unprecedented number of charges over alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.
It was that kind of year in many ways. Spain made history when they won the Women’s World Cup, but they were immediately caught up in a sexist scandal, and the unexpected success of the English rugby team led to great difficulties for the cricketers.
PA news agency looks here at 10 things we learned in 2023.
Manchester City get the one they wanted
For each of the Premier League titles won and records set, Pep Guardiola has openly admitted that he would need to bring the Champions League trophy to Manchester City for his time at the Etihad Stadium to be regarded as success
And in June they did just that as Rodri’s second-half goal was enough to seal a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in Istanbul and see City emulate neighbors United by securing a treble, taking the Serie A Champions with Premier League and FA Cup trophies. they were already raised.
It was the trophy City wanted more than any other during Sheikh Mansour’s decade-plus overhaul, and it was finally theirs.
Governance battles
City’s success comes just months after they were hit with a staggering 115 charges by the Premier League over alleged breaches of financial regulations – a case which is expected to continue well into next year and beyond.
But when Everton were penalized 10 points by the Premier League for a far lesser offence, many in football were shocked and there are now serious questions about how the Premier League is handling not only City’s case but also potential charges in against Chelsea, his self-. they reported their own violations.
At a time when the Premier League is trying to show it doesn’t need an independent regulator, the ramifications of how these cases play out could be huge.
LIV continues to rock golf
Jon Rahm’s December announcement that he was joining the LIV circuit showed that golf has yet to figure out how to deal with the Saudi-backed startup.
The joint announcement in June in which the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV announced a framework for a merger to create a unified commercial entity was a long way from ending the dispute and – as some players said – could have made it easier. even. players feel that they can jump ship.
Rahm has been a critic of LIV in the past, but, after his Masters win and European Ryder Cup victory, the time was right. It is not clear where it leaves the rest of golf as we await further progress on talks between the rival tours.
World Cup woes leave ECB with questions
England’s defense of their Cricket World Cup title could hardly have gone much worse as they won just three of nine matches in India, prompting even more soul-searching.
The ECB’s decision to sideline its domestic 50-over competition in favor of The Hundred does not look good in this context, although it is unclear how much of an impact it might actually have.
Perhaps more focus is placed on the ever-scrutinized schedule. England have played half as many ODIs in the run-up to this World Cup as they did before they won in 2019, and most of them were against weak opposition.
A bitter disappointment to the Women of England
After the highlights of their European Championships victory, England went to the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand among the contenders but it was not to be.
Sarina Wiegman’s side capitalized on Lauren James’ red card to punish Nigeria before beating Colombia as hosts Australia but, despite Mary Earps’ heroics in goal, Spain proved too strong in the match leading, Olga Carmona scoring the only goal.
This month Scotland’s 6-0 rout of England to top their Nations League group was not enough as the Netherlands scored late to beat Belgium 4-0, denying Team GB a place at this summer’s Olympics next in Paris.
The World Cup final was overshadowed
Spain made history by beating England in the final in Sydney, lifting the World Cup trophy for the first time.
But their big moment became controversial after Luis Rubiales, who was president of the Spanish confederation at the time, kissed Jennifer Hermoso on the lips during the celebration despite her obvious discomfort, and lewd gestures were seen do it too.
Rubiales then refused to resign for several weeks because the controversy involved Spanish football, which showed just how much work lies ahead in changing attitudes.
Red Bull’s dominance is unprecedented
Red Bull completed the most dominant season in Formula One history in 2023 with Max Verstappen winning 19 of the 22 races to leave everyone else in contention.
While there is hope that a new season will provide fresh opportunities for their rivals, the sheer scale of their dominance adds its own problems.
With titles effectively secured long ago, Red Bull have already been able to work on the development of next year’s car – leaving everyone else to catch up again.
Bright spots for Borthwick
England went to the Rugby World Cup amid relatively low expectations due to home wins against Scotland, France and Fiji during 2023.
So it was a surprise to see them not only get out of their group but see off Fiji in the quarter-finals before pushing the South African champions all the way and losing the semi-final 16-15.
Although some experienced players will be retiring, it was a performance that gave hope for the future as exciting youngsters such as Henry Arundell emerged.
The sport continues to wage war
The International Olympic Committee has announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes who qualify for Paris 2024 will be allowed to compete as individuals next summer.
The IOC said the decision, which Ukraine quickly condemned after Russia’s invasion of the country, was about “respect for human rights”.
However, even though the IOC gave the green light, many individual sports governing bodies – most notably World Athletics – have not changed their positions, meaning athletes in those events will remain ineligible.
The glacial pace of change at Old Trafford
It has been more than a year since the Glazer family announced they would consider a sale or minority investment at Manchester United, giving fans hope that years of neglect could soon be coming to an end.
The arrangement for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to take a 25 per cent stake – one that would come under considerable control – is not the clean break most needed, but it does at least offer hope of change, even though it is taking longer than expected. finished timetables have come and gone.
Meanwhile, the team continues to go from mini-crisis to mini-crisis on the pitch, and Erik ten Hag’s team failed to build on last season’s motivation. Will 2024 be the year Old Trafford finally gets real change?
