Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis believes the Premier League club are the perfect example to follow as Premier League clubs prepare for financial regulation.

Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules come into affect from next season which makes clubs balance their books in order to bring their annual deficits down by 2018.

With the Gunners having recently posted a healthy pre-tax profit, Gazidis believes they provide the perfect model which could be adopted by more clubs as they look to become self-sustaining.

He said: “Arsenal were operating this way a long time before football looked at it and decided it would be a good path for football to move into.

“I think people believe money can be spent without consequence and if we learnt anything from the financial crisis the world has had over the last few years it has to be unsustainable spending and unsustainable environments don’t last forever.

“I think football is in a fantastic position to address this because we are in a position where I am very optimistic for the future of football. The revenues the game generates, particularly the Premier League’s position, is fantastic.

“This is a very successful UK industry and it deserves a lot of credit for that. This is a great time for us, when things are going well, to address issues of unsustainability while we can because as we’ve learned addressing them from a position of weakness is never a satisfactory way to do it.

“The Premier League owners are coming together: I think there is a developing consensus around the fact we need some form of tighter financial regulations to make sure as we look forward that the interest of the Premier League, its clubs and the fans are well protected.

“(And) we are running our league on a sound financial business model and taking advantage of what this league has to become the world’s leading sports league.”

Steven Falk, the former Marketing Director of Manchester United, told iSportconnect: “Arsenal’s financial model has much to commend it in terms of prudence and sustainability. However, no two clubs are structured in exactly the same way with ownership and commercial operating models varying widely. Indeed, few are blessed with Arsenal’s assets and resources (not least a state of the art 60,000 seater stadium and a premium seat pricing strategy). Consequently, every club must devise and operate a financial strategy that best suits its own operating needs and circumstances.”

Should all clubs follow Arsenal’s strict financial model? Discuss here

Piaggio Aero Industries chief executive Alberto Galassi has joined the Manchester City board of directors.

Galassi was previously on the executive committee of the aircraft manufacturing company, medic where he was responsible for marketing and sales and has been a member of the bar since 1996, specialising in international commerce and arbitration.

He joins chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and fellow board members, Simon Pearce, Martin Edelman, Mohamed Al Mazrouei and John MacBeath as non-executive director with immediate effect.

Leading international media rights company, MP & Silva has inked a deal with the Premier League to distribute the media rights in Philippines and Taiwan to England’s top-tier football competition.

The package covers TV rights of all 380 matches per season in both territories. The deal also includes other platforms as digital media and mobile offerings.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “We know MP & Silva well as they have acquired Premier League rights in the past and we are pleased to be working with them again. We are confident that they will innovate the Premier League broadcasting in the Philippines and Taiwan.”

A long-term partner of the Premier League in Asia, MP & Silva has one of the strongest sports rights portfolios in the region, including other partnerships with FIFA World Cup, Italian Seria A, French Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga, The FA Cup, MLS, Brazilian Championship, the Asian Games, and many others.

Andrea Radrizzani, MP & Silva Group CEO, said:  “We are very excited to work with the Premier League in the Philippines and Taiwan. Our previous experience in distributing BPL in Asian territories was very innovative and successful. We are glad that the Premier League recognises our leadership in the market to improve audiences of top-class football content in both markets.”

FIFA are planning to keep empty seats to a “strict minimum” at the next World Cup.

This year’s London Olympics and European Championships in Poland and Ukraine were both dogged by no-shows in arenas that were meant to be sold out. 

FIFA admit it is impossible to eradicate the problem completely but are confident they will have systems in place at Brazil 2014 to avoid similar embarrassment.

Speaking at the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge, FIFA’s marketing director Thierry Weil said: “Empty seats is always a huge topic.

“We are implementing new initiatives, we are implementing new resale platforms.

“There will always be no-shows – as we call it – in the ticketing world, people who, last minute, will not come to the stadium for certain reasons.

“But we will do our maximum to reduce that to a strict minimum.”

He added: “We are concerned by no-shows, that is clear. Because it does not look good and it especially does not look good if you announce to the world that you have no tickets, then you see on TV that you have a lot of empty seats.”

Weil confirmed FIFA were revamping the official resale website they used at the last World Cup, something which would allow tickets to be reallocated as late as the day of a game – helped by the fact no physical ticket will be issued until matchday in any event.

One of the biggest complaints from the Olympics was the no-show of event sponsors, leading to large blocks of empty seats in highly-visible locations.

Weil said commercial partners would have to provide a list of names of individual attendees “two or three days in advance, so they cannot just say the people will come and then nobody comes”.

He added: “The tickets will only be handed over the day of the game to the people, so you can reallocate tickets to different people, even in the sponsor families.”

Weil was confident the new system would be up and running in time for next summer’s Confederations Cup.

He also vowed FIFA would do everything possible to make ticket prices “extremely fair”.

“We try to have this World Cup open to everybody, in Brazil, and around the world,” he added, confirming the precise pricing structure would be announced on November 8.

Weil defended the format of the tournament, which will see teams travel all around Brazil, something that could prove very expensive for travelling fans.

He was also vowed the country would be ready to host the tournament, pointing out every event had problems in the build up.

“At certain stages, there will be some wake-up calls,” he said. “At certain stages, there will be some delays. At certain stages, there will be negative things from different people.

“But, Brazil will be ready.”

English League club, Notts County, have unveiled local businessman Ian Roberts as the club’s latest Associate Director.

Mr Roberts, a successful local entrepreneur, was delighted to have signed up to the new Associate Director package, which has been launched recently.

“I’m a lifelong Notts County fan, my mother, who is 85, is a lifelong Notts County fan – she was here the day that they signed Tommy Lawton and she was in the record crowd against York – so I’m a Nottingham person,” explained Mr Roberts.

“I’m a director of an international environmental consulting organisation. We have 1,000 people worldwide in Australasia, Africa, North America and Europe. I was a founder director and we have grown the business from nothing to where we are now, so that’s my day job.

“I’m a sporting person, from a sporting family, I played football to a reasonably high standard locally and I’m also a big cricket and golf fan; my nephews play Nottinghamshire Premier League cricket.”

The Notts County FC Board is currently offering a number of private individuals the opportunity to become Associate Directors of Notts County and to invest in the future of the club to assist in its evolution, both on and off the pitch.

Commercial Director Ken Sharp explained: “Ideally we are aiming for a group of ten individuals from varying business backgrounds who have both a strong interest in Notts County’s future success, as well strong links within the Nottinghamshire region to help us grow as a club.

“To date we have been appointed four individuals but hope to announce more over the coming months”

As well as a six-figure cash investment into the Club, Associate Directors will also contribute to both the strategic and commercial development of Notts County through their business acumen and contacts.

A bonus or coupon payment system is also linked with Associate Director investment if promotion is achieved over the next five to eight years.

Importantly, all Associate Directorship investments will be used to assist the funding of an expanded youth development scheme, robust scouting program and an advanced player tracking system with state-of the art performance analysis tools in order to develop a leaner, more competitive playing staff for Notts County.

It was the chance to help move Notts County forward that attracted Mr Roberts to the scheme.

“I wasn’t driven just by the desire to sit in the Directors’ Box, I’ve been perfectly happy for 40 years sat in the normal seats,” he added.

“The attraction to me was that Ray, Jim and Aileen presented a plan of what they were trying to do with Notts County Football Club that included a wide range of initiatives, where the objectives were to take Notts County forward in a sustainable manner over the next five to eight years.

“So the attraction and excitement for me personally was to buy into that and if I can make any contribution in delivering some of those initiatives that will take this club forward then I will be absolutely delighted.”

Total Sports Asia (TSA) have secured the television distribution rights to TNA Impact Wrestling in South East Asia (excluding Thailand). 

RDA Television, anesthetist the UK-based sport rights distribution agency that controls TNA’s global media distribution rights, unhealthy has licensed TNA’s South East Asian media rights in a three year agreement with TSA.

TNA produces over 200 hours of original programming a year in HD that includes the flagship show Impact Wrestling, 4 main PPV Specials, 8 One Night Only PPVs and also the weekly magazine programme Xplosion. As well as “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan, the TNA  talent roster boasts such household names as Olympic Gold Medallist Kurt Angle, ”The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy, ”The Icon” Sting and MMA & Hollywood superstar Rampage Jackson.

TSA who have a long and very successful experience with distributing combat sports in Asia, especially wrestling, will market the brand and its programmes to the region, where they expect to significantly increase TNA’s previous distribution as well as revenues in the region.

TSA’s Chief Content Officer, Julian Jackson, said that “having been very successful previously in selling pro wrestling, we know that it works in pretty much every country in the region. It is a sport that transcends religious, racial and regional boundaries to become appointment TV in every country and we are delighted to be working with TNA to really take the brand to the next level of success given the high quality of programming that TNA delivers week in, week out”.

Richard Dennis, Managing Director, RDA Television, commented: “We have great confidence that TSA will help drive the TNA Wrestling brand forward in South Asia, and deliver great content for broadcasters throughout the region. We have known and worked with TSA for many years and we’re looking forward to this new dimension in our working relationship.”

Newcastle United’s contingent of Muslim players have been warned that wearing the club’s new sponsored shirts would infringe upon Sharia Law.

The Premier League announced a new shirt deal with controversial moneylenders Wonga on Tuesday, and now the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) have attempted to intervene. 

United have received widespread criticism from fans after unveiling the four-year deal with the short-term loan company, and the MCB has now piled on further criticism.

The four first team Muslim players Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Cheick Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa – and all are now being urged to make a stand.

Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the MCB, told the Independent: “There are two aspects to this. We have the rulings of the religious law and we have the individual’s choice and decision on how they want to follow or not follow that rule.

“The idea is to protect the vulnerable and the needy from exploitation by the rich and powerful.

“When they are lending and are charging large amounts of interest, it means the poor will have short-term benefit from the loan but long-term difficulty in paying it back because the rate of interest is not something they can keep up with.”

He added: “The Islamic system is based on a non-interest-based system of transaction.”

Frédéric Kanouté, the former West Ham striker, refused to wear the logo of gambling website 888.com when he played for Seville in La Liga because of his religious beliefs. The club allowed him to play games in an unbranded shirt although he had to wear the logo on his training equipment. 

“Freddie was allowed to wear a top without the 888.com and that is a reasonable request to be made by the player,” added Mogra. “Assuming all four are on the pitch at the same time, if you have seven out of 11 you have sufficient coverage. It is not asking too much, I believe.”

The club did its best to offset criticism of the new deal by announcing that the Sports Direct Arena would revert to its original name of St James’ Park, but it has not prevented MPs and large numbers of people through social media continuing the criticism.

Mark Chapman has stepped down from Brentford Football Club’s Board of Directors with immediate effect.

Mark was appointed in June 2010 as one of three Directors representing Bees United, the Supporters’ Trust.

He will also resign from the Bees United board and is leaving to take up a position within the Club’s newly expanded Communications Department.

Mark said: “For the last two years, it has been a tremendous honour and privilege to represent Bees United on the Club’s Board of Directors.

“I am immensely proud of what the Trust has achieved in securing the mid-term future of the football club.

“I believe that with Matthew Benham’s imminent ownership, the club will be in excellent hands.”

The Club’s Board now comprises Greg Dyke (Chairman), David Heath, John Herting, Donald Kerr, David Merritt, Eddie Rogers and Phil Whall.