Sport and influence

I was sent an interesting little story from France this morning, which has got even more curious because the page that it was on, on L'Equipe , has now been taken offline.

It was about the French women's football team, which is sponsored by Nike, and which recently qualified for next year's Olympics.

Their sponsorship apparently includes a conflict clause that requires the team to pay a €10m fine in the event that  it endorses a competitor in any way. As you will doubtless know, the Olympics next year are sponsored by Adidas, which means that teams will have to play in Adidas kit. Obviously, this means that in order to take part in the Olympics, the French women's football team will have to pay a €10m fine.

The result? They won't be taking part. They have decided not to enter, on the grounds that they can't afford it.

And people say that gambling companies might have undue influence on sport.