VAR - love or hate? Plus abusive posts, USWNT off to AU/NZ, Copa America '24 dates and more.

TOP 3 HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

WAIT, STILL CHECKING...

The BBC published a survey claiming 63.3% of soccer fans in England oppose VAR. Along with the overwhelming disapproval of the technology, 79% of match-going fans said that the experience of VAR was poor or very poor.

20,000 ABUSIVE POSTS

Fifa will use artificial intelligence (AI) software to identify and report online abuse during the 2023 Women’s World Cup after the technology enabled it to refer 306 accounts to law authorities during the 2022 men’s tournament in Qatar.

GOOD LUCK, LADIES! (BUT I'M OBVIOUSLY STILL GOING ALL OUT FOR MY BRASIIIIL)?

Watch: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden and cavalcade of celebrities — including Taylor Swift, Shaquille O'Neal, Mariska Hargitay, Quinta Brunson — introduced each of the players named to the USA's 2023 Women's World Cup squad.

Other US Soccer business news?

MLS

It's not only the Captain America match ball. Major League Soccer and Adidas have announced a?Marvel-themed range of MLS merchandise?as part of a three-part collaboration released throughout the summer. The collection is aimed at engaging fans of both MLS and Marvel through the unique products that combine elements of MLS and Marvel with fashion.

Also,?MLS has announced Campbell Snacks, a division of Campbell Soup Company, as a new sponsor of the league until the 2026 season.

OLYMPICS

Eli Lilly, the global pharmaceutical company, has renewed its sponsorship deal with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and struck a partnership for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Other Global Football business news?

UK

Chocolate maker Cadbury has announced a?three-year extension of its sponsorship of Liverpool, the third Premier League club with which the brand has renewed its agreement. As with extensions announced in March with Manchester United and Chelsea, Cadbury is seeking to focus on fan experiences and local community initiatives in its deal with Liverpool, which runs from 2023-24 until 2025-26.

The EPL stopped Chelsea's Paramount+ shirt sponsor deal, due to concerns of damaging its relationship with current broadcast partners. Even though Paramount+ does not broadcast football in England, the league thought BT Sport and Sky Sports would not be overly thrilled with this deal. Still, Paramount+ is not a direct competitor to those. It is, however, to NBC and Peacock for American audiences -- NBC signed a massive six-year contract with the Premier League worth $2.6 billion.

Aston Villa has signed up gambling platform BK8 as its front-of-shirt sponsor in a three-year deal that will see the brand replace online automotive retailer Cazoo in the role.

According to a study from the Women’s Sport Trust (WST),?58% of UK women’s sports fans want more non-live content.?The non-live women’s sports content fans were found to be most interested in were highlights packages, player skills and tactical analysis, according to the study.

European rivals of Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers are pushing for fair market investigations into Saudi Arabia’s transfer spending, according to The Telegraph. The British newspaper reports that one top club believes teams are using the Middle East states’ Saudi Pro League as a “get out of FFP [financial fair play] jail free card”.

SPAIN?

American Robert Sarver has?sold his majority shareholding in LaLiga club RCD Mallorca?to an investment group led by current president Andy Kohlberg.?Other minority investors, including former NBA star Steve Nash, will continue to own shares in the club.

Fanatics will launch its?first league-wide partnership?in European football after agreeing a long-term deal with Spain's LaLiga.

ITALY

Serie A has confirmed it will start private negotiations over its next domestic broadcast partnerships after the initial bids from tender were deemed to be too low.

JAPAN

LaLiga is set to be shown by streaming services only in Japan from next season, after securing a new rights agreement with U-Next and a renewal with DAZN. The two streaming platforms have secured 'co-exclusive' rights in the country for the 2023-24 to 2027-28 cycle.

COPA AMERICA USA 2024

CONMEBOL revealed on Tuesday that next year's Copa America starts June 20 and ends on July 14. Despite hosting the tournament, the USMNT does not have a guaranteed spot to participate. All 10 South American teams have already qualified for the 2024 Copa America.?Six additional CONCACAF teams will then fill out the remaining spots. Four of these places will be determined based on 2023/24 CONCACAF Nations League A semifinalists. The remaining two qualification spots would then come down to play-in games.

UEFA?

PepsiCo has agreed a?three-year extension of its global sponsorship deal for the Uefa Champions League?while Heineken and Mastercard are also close to announcing renewals. The agreement covers the next Champions League cycle from 2024-25 to 2026-27 and, as in previous cycles, is expected to include the company’s Lay’s and Gatorade brands.

CONCACAF

Concacaf has appointed the?IMG and Mediapro agencies to sell international media rights?to its flagship national team tournaments and club competitions in 2023 and 2024.

PARIS 2024

The?headquarters of Paris 2024 was raided by police, the organising committee for the next summer Olympic Games has confirmed.