Rupert Murdoch Plans Summer Tournament for Soccer's Top Clubs: Nightly Soccer Report

A billionaire is planning an international tournament to be played in the summer featuring 16 of the world’s best teams competing around the planet. Sound familiar? No it isn’t the Qatari Dream Football League, which was later revealed to be a hoax. This time it’s billionaire Rupert Murdoch, owner of FOX Sports, Sky Sports and parent company News Corp International who wants to create an annual competition that would rock the soccer world.

According to a report in The Guardian, Murdoch is planning an annual soccer tournament featuring 16 teams, where Manchester United and Chelsea would be invited while the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona could participate too.

The competition could launch as early as 2015, and reports are that FOX has been talking to different cities in regards to hosting the exhibition style tournament games. Los Angeles is mentioned as one of the cities as well as Shanghai.

The Guardian piece also mentions that “The thinking may also be influenced by the fact that Fox has lost the rights to live Premier League football in the US to NBC for the next three seasons. In what is expected to be a watershed moment for the appeal of football in the US, NBC will show every match live including 20 on its main network.”

This summer, a scaled down version of Murdoch’s concept is being played in Spain and the United States. The International Champions Cup features Chelsea, Everton, Juventus, AC Milan, Real Madrid and several other clubs.

What’s your opinion about the alleged plans by FOX Sports and Rupert Murdoch? Can these soccer tournaments fill the void that FOX will experience after losing the Premier League? Is the plan that Murdoch is plotting a wise one, or not? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

Here are tonight’s world soccer news headlines:

Premier League

• Rupert Murdoch plans summer contest for football’s top clubs — The Guardian
• Southampton have completed the signing of Croatia international centre-back Dejan Lovren — Sky Sports
• David Moyes handed £60m transfer kitty by Glazers to spend on new players — Telegraph
• Sir Alex Ferguson given key role in trying to lure Ronaldo back to United — The Sun
• Gareth Bale would be perfect for Real Madrid, says Luka Modric — The Guardian
• Arsenal name new chairman as Hill-Wood steps down — Premier League
• Famous St James’ Park gates to return to Newcastle United’s ground — The Mail
• Chelsea give formal role to Abramovich aide Marina Granovskaia — The Guardian
• “Big names” could be among latest Times job cuts — Sports Journalist’s Association
• Manchester United players offered Chevrolets but only if they drive them to work everyday — The Mail
• Hillsborough comments made by chief constable in email to be investigated — The Guardian
• Andre Santos has begrudgingly returned to Arsenal after the end of his loan at Gremio — Sky Sports
• Chelsea’s Mikel John Obi attracts interest from Galatasaray — The Guardian
• Fabricio Coloccini tells Alan Pardew he’ll stay at Newcastle next season — The Independent
• 39-year-old Kevin Phillips is set to stay with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park — The Sun
• Maynor Figueroa signs a two-year deal with Hull City — The Mail

International soccer

• A rare Confederations Cup – all the teams, for once, want to win it — The Guardian
• The US take step closer to Brazil but has Klinsmann really changed anything? — Holding Midfield
• Pirlo to get his 100th cap at Maracana — FOX Soccer
• Graphic: The 40 most valuable players at the Confederations Cup — 101GG
• Trecker’s Brazilian Travels, Day 3: Tire fires and protests — FOX Soccer

La Liga

• Barcelona president says David Villa will not leave — Cartilage Free Captain
• Victor Valdes has confirmed he will honour the final year of his contract at Barcelona — Sky Sports

The Nightly Soccer Report is tomorrow’s news today. It’s often tomorrow morning’s worldwide newspaper headlines that are published the night before. We do all the work for you, combing the Internet and aggregating the news for you. Read The Nightly Soccer Report on World Soccer Talk every night before bed, so you can stay on top of all the news that matters.