Who should win the men’s Ballon d’Or? That's the question our reporters asked 100 people in football — players and managers, past and present, coaches, sporting directors, scouts, presidents and other executives from around the world. There were some slightly eyebrow-raising selections. A current Bundesliga sporting director voted for Declan Rice in second place. A former international player and manager picked Marc Cucurella in third. A former Premier League coach chose Marquinhos in third place. The winner? Harry Kane. By some margin. 📝 @NickMiller79, @Conor0Neill_ Free to read 🆓 bit.ly/4yzwqoa

FIFA’s controversial Peace Prize could be scrapped at the end of the year — only 12 months after U.S. President Donald Trump received the award. Full story from @Dan_Sheldon_ — free to read ⬇️ bit.ly/4ypbC2U

For the first time since Manchester City were found guilty of more than 100 Premier League charges, supporters of English top-flight teams returned to stadiums this weekend, with City's fate inevitably a hot topic of conversation. We spoke to fans at Premier League games up and down the country to find out how they feel about City now - and what sanctions they feel would be fair if an appeal fails. 📝 @TBurrows16 Free to read: bit.ly/4zqINDQ

Manchester United fans will welcome back the historic Stretford End ‘ticker’ for Saturday’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur. The flag first appeared hanging from the newly built upper tier of the Stretford End in 2000 with ‘24 YEARS’ — marking when rivals Manchester City had last won a trophy, their 1976 League Cup triumph — but was taken down after City won the FA Cup in 2011, by which time it had risen to ‘35 YEARS’. 📝 @AndyMitten 🔗 nyti.ms/4hQe4ZQ

🚨 Exclusive: The Friedkin Group (TFG) is open to a full sale of Everton as it seeks external investment in the Premier League club. More from @David_Ornstein 🔗 nyti.ms/4eoHOvU

How did Manchester City introduce 'sham' spending? What was the extent of it? How much did it increase over nine years? In the first part of a special four-part series, @CWeatherspoon_ explains the numbers behind the financial scandal engulfing the Premier League leaders. Free to read: bit.ly/4zrqeQd

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert has been given a suspended six-week ban by the FA after its investigation into the ‘Spygate’ scandal that saw the club kicked out of the Championship play-off final in May. More from @David_Ornstein 🔗 nyti.ms/4AS9t27

Manchester City have lodged their appeal against the verdict delivered by the independent regulatory commission which found them guilty of almost all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. More from @JordanC1107 nyti.ms/4yvUNnM

Karamoko Dembele was only 13 when a clip of him dancing around the Barcelona team went viral. He played in the same England youth team as Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala. He had the football world at his feet. Here, in his first sit-down interview, he speaks to @JordanC1107 about why it went wrong and why he is determined to deliver on his talent. 🔗 nyti.ms/4xWwcav

With the FIFA Presidential election six months away, and the embattled Gianni Infantino seeking to hang on for a final term, The Athletic wrote to all 211 federations to ask about their voting intentions. The results paint an uncertain picture, with Infantino facing a complicated and precarious path to reelection. @PJBuckingham on the kingmakers who will decide on FIFA’s future leader. 🔗 nyti.ms/3T9VB2j

▪️ ‘Sham contracts’ ▪️ Spending limit breaches ▪️ ‘Disguised funding’ While Manchester City maintains its innocence and says the process is ongoing, the initial written reasons for the independent regulatory commission’s decision to find them guilty of almost all charges are damning. @JamesHorncastle breaks them down: nyti.ms/4xX6WRE

Manchester City have been found guilty of “sham payments” and artificially inflating their revenue by more than £900million in a damning verdict reached by an independent regulatory commission investigating more than 100 charges levied by the Premier League. Full story from @OliverKay ⬇️ Free to read: bit.ly/4yqGbGa

▪️ The serial winner as a player and coach ▪️ The member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family ▪️ The corporate lawyer for the London-based firm that represented Sheikh Mansour ▪️ The former CFO at fashion group Puig and gas and technology firm Air Liquide From Khaldoon Al Mubarak to Roberto Mancini, Simon Pearce to Ferran Soriano, @mjshrimper profiles the principal actors in Manchester City's battle with the Premier League, one of sport’s greatest and longest-running dramas. 🔗 nyti.ms/47llBuL

So many questions abound as football digests the reality that Manchester City have been found largely guilty of financial breaches by an independent commission. Is the last-minute Sergio Aguero goal in 2012 now deemed the best of the Premier League or the worst? What do the clubs' investors, Silver Lake, make of all this? Will City's sponsors stand by them? What becomes of UAE’s vast investments in the broader region of East Manchester? And is the Premier League now at risk of full blown warfare? 📝 @AdamCrafton_ 🔗 nyti.ms/4iRBmkd

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says the club’s “confidence” in proving their innocence is unchanged, despite being found guilty of almost all the Premier League’s charges relating to breaches of financial regulations. More from @TBurrows16 ⬇️ bit.ly/4AA2BGk

Premier League clubs are planning legal action in response to Manchester City being found guilty on almost all the charges relating to breaches of the league’s financial regulations. Several teams mobilised leading lawyers some time ago to ascertain what they may be eligible to claim for, and a number of clubs are talking to each other about this. 📝 @David_Ornstein, @Dan_Sheldon_ and @AdamCrafton_ 🔗 nyti.ms/3V90c5q