Middle East sports business expert Anil Bhoyrul says the new Arab owners in the Premiership can lift the standards of football in the region. Discussing Ali Al Faraj's takeover of Portsmouth, Bhoyrul told TalkSport: "It's very, very low, very poor. The idea of academies and other things is really looking 10 years ahead when the Middle East wants to put together some kind of World Cup bid.

"If you've got Man City, Liverpool and even Portsmouth very closely linked here and they are coming out here two or three times a year to play matches, linking themselves, bringing a feeder for new players and that kind of stuff, it's all part of a 10 year plan. I know Qatar and the UAE are certainly interested in some kind of attempt to stage a World Cup and that's what they are thinking."