Representation of Issues in Football
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Homophobia in Football
Corruption in Football
RACISM IN FOOTBALL
Diving/Simulation
Grassroots Football
Homophobia in Football - http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/18/homophobia-in-football-why-do-gaypremier-league-players-feel-they-cant-come-out-4038272/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Five years after Justin Fashanu became the first British professional footballer to come out as gay,
his former Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough provided a spirited verdict live on ITV’s Sport In
Question. Spirited, that is, as a newt, with Clough smirkingly slurring to his audience: “I feel
responsible for Justin Fashanu. It took me about three months to twig him. I twigged him.”
Just over three years later, Fashanu committed suicide at the age of 37, hanging himself in an east
London garage, after being accused of indecently assaulting an American teenager – allegations he
and his family always strenuously denied.
Over fifteen years have passed since then, bringing not only the equalisation of consent for same-sex
couples, but also civil partnerships, gay marriage and closet-busting in sports such as cricket,
basketball, boxing and hockey.
And yet, and yet – Fashanu remains a one-off, with no counterpart in the post-Premier League
revolution feeling comfortable enough to brave a potential backlash and make such a statement.
Then again, that first to tentatively step out of the closet might just find themselves welcomed by
the outside world as – to quote Fashanu’s niece Amal – ‘a bloody legend’.
Gay rights charity Stonewall and bookmakers Paddy Power launched a campaign against
homophobia in football, in 2013, describing themselves as ‘Right Behind Gay Footballers’. They sent
rainbow-coloured bootlaces to all English and Scottish league clubs, urging players to wear them for
games this coming weekend.
The Football Association (FA) did plan to launch an anti-homophobia campaign video last year – only
to postpone the event when no Premier League player would agree to publicly endorse it.
Miss Fashanu wants tougher bans – even up to two years – for players found guilty of homophobic
or racist abuse, as well as more vocal condemnations of prejudice by players, officials and
supporters. She said: “I can’t take my brothers and sisters to games at the moment because the
abuse you hear from the crowd is so vicious – and people are scared to speak out and condemn it.”
The FA did outlaw homophobic chanting at grounds in 2007, before Manchester City became the
first Premier League club recognised by Stonewall as a gay-friendly employer.
Liverpool FC were represented in the city’s Gay Pride celebrations in August last year and this
summer produced a list of derogatory phrases now banned at Anfield including 13 under ‘gender
orientation’.
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A Gay Football Supporters’ Network report last April suggested Brighton and Hove Albion supporters
were the target of homophobic abuse at 70 per cent of the club’s away games last season. GFSN
campaigns officer Ed Connell said: “There’s an element of macho tribalism with some football
crowds you don’t get in other sports – and some in the LGBT community are put off the football
environment because of that perception.”
Former Leeds United and USA midfielder Robbie Rogers came out in February 2013 while Swedish
lower-tier player Anton Hysén, son of ex-Liverpool centre-back Glenn Hysén, used a magazine
interview three years ago to reveal he was gay.
Miss Fashanu believes any British player following suit “would really be quite cherished by a whole
group of people and given support – and would feel much more happy and liberated in himself to no
longer be living a lie”.
Yet the chairman of Britain’s first gay football team, Stonewall FC – not affiliated to the charity of the
same name – is a little more tentative. Liam Jarnecki expects several team-mates to wear the
rainbow laces this weekend, despite others wondering whether the campaign simply ‘trivialises’ the
issue while using ‘fnarr-fnarr’ language.
But he added: “Anything at all that brings this up as an issue is to be welcomed – it may not
revolutionise the game, but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to make things worse. Where we want to
get to is a place where someone’s sexuality just doesn’t matter – we don’t want people to come out
just for the sake of it, because it’s a private decision and can be complicated by several factors such
as family.”
In 2018, the World Cup will be held in Russia, where tougher anti-gay laws have already been
enacted, while homosexual-banning Qatar will play host in 2022 – at whatever time of year is
eventually decided.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has suggested gay football fans heading to Qatar for the tournament
there should simply restrain from having sex for that month or so. Then again, he was previously
president of the World Society of Friends of Suspenders.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/24/bayern-banner-arsenal-stadiumclosure_n_5020468.html
Bayern Munich have been sanctioned with a partial closure of their stadium for the Champions
League quarter-final against Manchester United after fans displayed a homophobic banner against
Arsenal.
Uefa's control and disciplinary body ordered that the section of the stadium where the banner was
displayed should be closed for the second leg against United.
The club have also been fined €10,000 for the "discriminatory behaviour" over the banner, which
also targeted Arsenal's German midfielder Mesut Özil.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/andy-wasley/fa-must-tackle-homophobia-infootball_b_1229174.html
In less than two weeks, two professional footballers have been punished for making homophobic
comments on Twitter. On 12 January, Oxford City sacked Lee Steele for making an offensive remark
about Gareth Thomas, the openly gay rugby league player. And on 24 January the FA fined Leicester
City's Michael Ball for sending a homophobic tweet about the gay Coronation Street actor Anthony
Cotton. Oxford City and the FA acted quickly to deal with the players; could it be that the game is
finally getting to grips with homophobia?
That convulsive episode could have shocked the FA into dealing with homophobia, just as
hooliganism forced it to confront violence and sectarianism - but football is still riven with anti-gay
attitudes. YouGov polling for Stonewall shows that over a quarter of football fans think the sport is
anti-gay, while over half think the FA, the Premier League and the Football League aren't doing
enough to deal with the problem. Over two thirds of fans say they've heard anti-gay language and
abuse on the terraces - hardly a pleasant experience for the majority of fans who don't want to be
intimidated by thuggish chants.
The FA stands almost alone among major sport governing bodies in England in failing to seriously
address homophobia. The English Cricket Board and the Lawn Tennis Association have worked hard
to attract gay people to crease and court, and both the Rugby Football League and the Rugby
Football Union are proud supporters of gay players and teams. And importantly, young sports fans
can look up to England's keeper-batsman Steve Davies and Gareth Thomas, a former English and
Irish Lions star, as gay sporting heroes. This isn't just tokenism; as Davies explained when he came
out last year, being open about his sexuality helped him become a better and more confident
sportsman.
Sport's male bias is a different issue, but lesbian footballers also have a fine role model in Hope
Powell, the coach of England's women's football team. Despite Powell's success, however, it's clear
that the FA must do more to support gay people on pitches and terraces. Its low-profile support for
2008's Gay World Championships in London was a reasonable start, but gay-friendly attitudes have
to be seen to permeate every level of the game.
The FA must be louder when it condemns homophobia, and tougher when players and fans engage
in anti-gay abuse. Match officials and stewards must show that homophobia is unacceptable by
taking robust action when they see it, inside and outside the ground. Straight footballers should
follow ex rugby star Ben Cohen in speaking out about homophobia. And gay footballers must be
given proper support if they decide to be open about who they are.
Governing bodies for cricket, tennis and rugby have shown that it's possible for gay people to play
sport at a national level. Unless it does the same, the FA could leave our national game looking like a
national embarrassment.
Representation of Issues in Football
Corruption in Football - http://spartacus-educational.com/Fcorruption.htm
Accusations of illegal payments, match-fixing and bribing officials and players has taken place since
the early days of football being played in Britain. However, very few cases have resulted in people
being punished for these offences.
In January, 1884, Preston North End played the London side, Upton Park, in the FA Cup. After the
game Upton Park complained to the Football Association that Preston was a professional, rather
than an amateur team. Major William Sudell, the secretary/manager of Preston North End admitted
that his players were being paid but argued that this was common practice and did not breach
regulations. However, the FA disagreed and expelled them from the competition.
It was well-known that Sudell improved the quality of the team by importing top players from other
areas. This included several players from Scotland. As well as paying them money for playing for the
team, Sudell also found them highly paid work in Preston.
On 20th July, 1885, the FA announced that it was "in the interests of Association Football, to legalise
the employment of professional football players, but only under certain restrictions". Clubs were
allowed to pay players provided that they had either been born or had lived for two years within a
six-mile radius of the ground.
Major William Sudell had great success with Preston North End and won the first Football League
championship in 1888-89 without losing a single match and acquired the name the "invincibles".
Preston also beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 to win the 1889 FA Cup Final. Preston won the
competition without conceding a single goal. Preston also won the league the following season.
However, in 1894 Sudell was sent to prison for embezzling £5,000 from his employers. He was using
this money to fund illegal payments to his players.
In 1899, Francis Payne, the secretary of West Ham United, was given the task of finding good players
for the club's first season in the top division of the Southern League. According to one report, Arnold
Hills, gave Payne £1,000 to find the best players available. Payne employed an agent and former
professional footballer named Charles Bunyan to obtain a player based in Birmingham. Bunyan
missed his appointment with the player targeted by Payne. He then approached another player he
thought might be interested in joining the club. However, this player reported Bunyan to the
Football Association. The FA held an investigation into the matter and as a result, Bunyan was
suspended for two years. Payne was also suspended and the club was fined £25.
In the 1899-1900 season Burnley struggled in the First Division of the Football League. Unless the
team beat Nottingham Forest on the final day of the season, they would be relegated. Burnley lost 40. After the game, the Nottingham Forest captain, Archie McPherson, claimed that Burnley's
goalkeeper, Jack Hillman had tried to bribe his team to lose the game. Hillman was called to appear
before the Football Association. The FA refused to believe Hillman's claim that he was only joking
and he was banned from football for 12 months. He not only lost a year's wages but a £300 benefit.
In 1902 Newton Heath was £2,670 in debt and faced a winding-up order. At a shareholders' meeting
in the New Islington Hall, Harry Stafford, the captain of the side, announced that he and four local
businessmen, including John Henry Davies, were willing to takeover the club's debts. The Football
League approved the plan and Newton Heath now became Manchester United.
Harry Stafford, along with Davies, became a director of Manchester United and James West was
appointed as manager. Davies arranged for John J. Bentley to be appointed as president of the club.
However, at the end of the 1902-03 season West and Stafford were suspended by the Football
Representation of Issues in Football
Association for making illegal payments to players. In his defence, Stafford claimed: "Everything I
have done has been in the interests of the club." Stafford never played professional football again.
In the 1904-05 season Manchester City needed to beat Aston Villa on the final day of the season to
win the First Division championship. Villa won the game 3-1 and City finished third, two points
behind Newcastle United.
After the game Alec Leake, the captain of Aston Villa, claimed that Billy Meredith had offered him
£10 to throw the game. Meredith was found guilty of this offence by the Football Association and
was fined and suspended from playing football for a year.
Manchester City refused to provide financial help for Meredith and so he decided to go public about
what really was going on at the club: "What was the secret of the success of the Manchester City
team? In my opinion, the fact that the club put aside the rule that no player should receive more
than four pounds a week... The team delivered the goods, the club paid for the goods delivered and
both sides were satisfied." This statement created a sensation as the FA had imposed a £4 a week
maximum wage on all clubs in 1901.
The Football Association now carried out an investigation into the financial activities of Manchester
City. They discovered that City had been making additional payments to all their players. Tom Maley,
the manager, was suspended from football for life and City was fined £250. Seventeen players were
fined and suspended until January 1907. City was also forced to sell their players and at an auction at
the Queen's Hotel in Manchester. The Manchester United manager, Ernest Mangnal signed the
outstandingly gifted, Billy Meredith for only £500. Mangnal also purchased three other talented
members of the City side, Herbert Burgess, Sandy Turnbull and Jimmy Bannister. This became the
core of the side that won the Football League championship in the 1907-08 season.
Thomas Gibson Poole was chairman of Middlesbrough. Rumours began to circulate that he was
involved in illegal activities. The Football Association also carried out an investigation of the club and
uncovered book-keeping irregularities including the chairman keeping gate receipts and owing the
club money. As Nick Varley points out in his book Golden Boy: "In the manner of these things down
the ages, it was settled quietly and all but forgotten until four years later when allegations were
made that Boro and Newcastle fixed a match to give the Geordies, preparing for a Cup final, an easy
ride. The allegations were not proved, but hardly helped Boro's tarnished image."
On 27th June, 1910, Thomas Gibson Poole appointed Andy Walker as manager of the club. Soon
after his appointment, Walker was accused of illegally trying to sign one of his former Airdrie
players. Walker was found guilty and banned for four weeks, while the club were fined £100 for the
offence.
Thomas Gibson Poole wanted desperately to be the city's member of parliament. However, at that
time, the country had a very popular Liberal Party government. Working closely with David Lloyd
George, his radical Chancellor of the Exchequer, Herbert Asquith introduced a whole series of
reforms including the Old Age Pensions Act and the People's Budget that resulted to a conflict with
the House of Lords.
The Conservatives, who had a large majority in the Lords, objected to this attempt to redistribute
wealth, and made it clear that they intended to block these proposals. David Lloyd George reacted
by touring the country making speeches in working-class areas on behalf of the budget and
portraying the nobility as men who were using their privileged position to stop the poor from
receiving their old age pensions. After a long struggle with the Lords, Herbert Asquith and the Liberal
government finally got his budget through parliament.
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A General Election was called to take place on 5th December, 1910. Thomas Gibson Poole was to be
the Conservative Party candidate for Middlesbrough in the election. It seemed that Poole was bound
to lose as the Tories were seen to be trying to halt the redistribution of wealth that was taking place.
Poole became convinced that his best chance of victory would be if Middlesbrough beat Sunderland,
the club's bitter rivals, in the Football League game that took place on 3rd December 1910.
On the day of the match, Andy Walker offered Charlie Thomson, the captain of Sunderland, £10 for
him and plus £2 for each of the players as long as Middlesbrough won the game. Thompson refused
to take the money and reported the conversation to Sunderland's trainer, Billy Williams.
Middlesbrough won the game 1-0. However, this result did not have the desired political impact and
Poole lost the election by 3,000 votes.
Billy Williams told Fred Taylor, the chairman of Sunderland, what had happened. The matter was
reported to the Football League. On the 16th January 1911, Thomas Gibson Poole and Andy Walker
were suspended from football for life. Middlesbrough supporters believed that Walker was only
following orders and a 12,500 people signed a petition to the Football Association to reconsider his
ban. They refused to do this and Walker was forced out of his profession.
At the end of the First World War it was decided to increase the First Division from 20 to 22 clubs.
One solution to the problem was to allow the relegated clubs in the 1914-15 season, Chelsea and
Tottenham Hotspur, to remain in the First Division. However, Henry Norris, the Arsenal chairman,
disputed this idea. Norris, who had just been elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative
MP, argued that a great deal of match-fixing had gone on in the 1914-15 season and that league
positions should be disregarded. The reason for this was that Arsenal had finished in 5th place in the
Second Division in the 1914-15 season and therefore had no grounds for being elected to the First
Division.
It was decided to give Chelsea one of the vacant places in the First Division. However, Norris
persuaded the league chairman to vote on the other club to join them. Arsenal won the ballot with
18 votes. Spurs only got 8 whereas Barnsley, who finished 3rd in the Second Division in the 1914-15
season, received 5 votes. Many people were of the opinion that Norris had bribed his fellow
chairmen in order to win the election.
In 1927 the Daily Mail reported that Henry Norris had made under-the-counter payments to
Sunderland's Charlie Buchan as an incentive for him to join Arsenal in 1925. The Football Association
began an investigation of Norris and discovered that he had used Arsenal's expense accounts for
personal use, and had obtained the proceeds of £125 from the sale of the team bus. Norris sued the
newspaper and the FA for libel, but in February 1929 he lost his case. The FA now banned Norris
from football for life.
At the end of the 1953-54 season Middlesbrough was relegated to the Second Division. Wilf
Mannion refused to sign a new contract with his club and announced his retirement from football.
Mannion began work as a journalist with the Sunday People where he wrote a series of articles
exposing corruption in football. He claimed that a Football League club had illegally offered him
£3,000 to sign for the club. He also added that he was offered extra money for "a job in name only as
a salesman". He also told of being offered £15,000 to join Juventus.
In December 1954, Wilf Mannion joined Second Division Hull City for a fee of £4,500. Mannion
remarked "I'm happy to be back in the game again. My urge to play again was so great that I
Representation of Issues in Football
happened to be in the mood when approached by Hull." He also admitted that he wanted to join up
again with his great friend and fellow rebel, Neil Franklin.
Mannion was now once more under the authority of the Football League and in February 1955 they
demanded he reveal the name of the English club that attempted to bribe him to leave
Middlesbrough. When he refused he was banned from playing football for life. (Much later Mannion
confessed that the club was Aston Villa). The Football League also ordered Middlesbrough not to pay
Mannion his accrued benefit money.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2745250/FIFA-s-ethics-investigator-MichaelGarcia-delivers-350-page-report-bidding-2018-2022-World-Cups.html
A number of people could face disciplinary action after FIFA's ethics investigator Michael Garcia
delivered a 350-page report following his year-long investigation into the bidding for the 2018 and
2022 World Cups.
The report 'reaches conclusions concerning further action with respect to certain individuals' said a
statement from the independent ethics committee, but it will be up to the adjudicatory chamber led
by a German judge to decide on what action that will be. That decision by Hans-Joachim Eckert is
unlikely to be made before the end of October, and Eckert will also decide if the report will be made
public.
The statement made no reference to any possible action against the winners of the bids, Russia for
the 2018 tournament and Qatar for 2022.
Garcia's report does however recommend changes to the bidding process for future World Cups.
The statement said: 'Over the course of this year-long investigation, the investigatory chamber
interviewed more than 75 witnesses and compiled a record that, in addition to audio recordings
from interviews, includes more than 200,000 pages of relevant material.
'The report sets forth detailed factual findings; reaches conclusions concerning further action with
respect to certain individuals; identifies issues to be referred to other FIFA committees; and makes
recommendations for future bidding processes.
'Pursuant to the FIFA code of ethics, the adjudicatory chamber will now make a final decision on the
report and supplemental reports, including publication.'
Officials from England's unsuccessful bid for the 2018 World Cup were among those who gave
evidence to Garcia and his deputy chairman Cornel Borbely.
The investigation looked into a number of allegations of corruption as well as incentives offered to
FIFA executive members such as friendly internationals, development money, commercial
opportunities and sponsorships.
The bidding nations were: Russia, England, Holland/Belgium and Spain/Portugal for 2018, and Qatar,
the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea for 2022.
American attorney Garcia reported into seven bidding nations apart from the US - due to his
nationality he was conflicted - and Russia. Russia said last year it would not allow Garcia to enter the
country because he is on a list of people barred because of a human rights dispute between Russia
and the US.
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Borbely, from Switzerland, has delivered separate supplemental reports covering his review of the
US and Russia bid teams.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2013/02/corruption-football
With an estimated $2 billion a week being wagered in Asia alone on football, the notion that matchfixing in the sport was a small, contained problem always strained the imagination. But the scale of
the allegations in a report issued on February 4th by Europol, the pan-European police agency
closely aligned with Interpol, still managed to stun most observers. The investigators identified a
whopping 680 matches in 30 countries as potentially suspicious, including 380 in Europe from 200811. Some of them involved the sport’s most prestigious competitions, including the English Premier
League (EPL), the pan-European Champions League and international tournaments.
The sport’s authorities have tried to depict the findings as old hat. Sepp Blatter, the president of
FIFA, football’s international governing body, said on February 7th that “most of the matches…have
already been analysed, dealt with and even were at court”. Indeed, Europol reported that 50 of the
over 400 people suspected of involvement have already been arrested.
To close observers of corruption in the sport, however—most notably Declan Hill, the author of a
book on football and organised crime—Mr Blatter’s effort to downplay the announcement looked
like a whitewash. Thanks to tips resulting from a dispute among the leaders of an international
criminal syndicate, the identity of the world’s alleged premier match-fixer is widely known. His name
is Tan Seet Eng, he is usually called “Dan Tan”, and he lives in Singapore. According to Europol, Mr
Tan’s group is suspected in the manipulation of hundreds of matches—both to influence final
outcomes and smaller events such as the awarding of red and yellow cards—and is said to have paid
bribes of up to $135,000 to players and officials.
Interpol has duly issued a warrant for Mr Tan’s arrest. But so far, Singapore has proved reluctant to
surrender him. Like FIFA, its government has sought to play down the story, perhaps afraid that the
scandal might affect its squeaky-clean reputation. While television programmes and newspapers in
Europe have been leading on it, the Singaporean state media have buried it on the inside pages. The
island state’s authorities have said only that they are “assisting the Italian authorities through
Interpol in their investigations into an international match-fixing syndicate that purportedly involves
a Singaporean, Dan Tan Seet Eng, and have provided information requested by the National Central
Bureau Rome”.
Apologists for Singapore’s inaction argue that it cannot bundle off Mr Tan because it does not have
extradition treaties with the countries that want him. It does have one with Germany, however, and
the German Organised Crime Task Force has put in a bid for his extradition. Another technical hurdle
is the legal requirement that the Singaporean justice system recognise the allegations against Mr
Tan as constituting a crime locally. So far, he has not been arrested or charged there, despite the
damning evidence against him—his former associate has provided detailed accounts of its operation
to Italian investigators. Singapore insists it “takes a strong stance against match-fixing, and is
committed to working with international enforcement agencies to bring down transnational criminal
syndicates, including those that involve the acts of Singaporeans overseas”. But such efforts have
not yet led to action against Mr Tan.
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As long as Mr Tan continues to roam free, efforts to clean up football will probably be for nought.
But even if he is eventually convicted, Mr Hill says there are 15-20 other fixers. And more will surely
arise to take his place unless leagues institute much stricter measures to protect their integrity.
So far, the powers in European football have responded by burying their heads in the sand. Reinhard
Rauball, the president of the German football league, insists that the sport in his country is “not
affected”. Most of the Italian clubs charged with match-fixing in 2011 faced minimal point
deductions and nominal fines.
The only way to clean up the game is by modifying the incentives that encourage corruption. To
maximise the likelihood of catching wrongdoers, the capacity of betting monitors like Sportradar
needs to be expanded, in order to detect patterns of numerous small bets placed at a host of
different bookmakers. Forensic statistical research has been a fruitful source of leads in other sports.
FIFA could also pay for anti-match-fixing detective units in the countries where such activity is most
prevalent.
To deter players and officials from taking the risk, anyone found to have taken a bribe should be
automatically banned for life from participation in any FIFA member confederation. In the case of
corrupt players, their teams should also face a one-year suspension from play—nothing encourages
self-policing like collective punishment. Finally, the paltry salaries in lower-ranked leagues make the
lure of a windfall bribe payment irresistible. Rooting out corruption at all levels of football would
probably require some revenue-sharing mechanism, so that all teams can pay their workers a wage
comfortable enough for them to just say no to match-fixers.
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Racism in Football – http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/racism-in-football/
Grêmio were disqualified from the Brazil Cup after a
section of their supporters racially abused Santos
goalkeeper Aranha.
Supporters racially taunted the Santos stopper and
shouted "monkey" during Grêmio’s 2-0 loss in their
last-16 first leg.
The return leg in São Paulo was postponed so the
disciplinary commission of the superior court of
sporting justice (STJD) could rule on the case.
“By a unanimous verdict (the decision was taken) to
exclude Grêmio from the Brazil Cup and to fine them
50,000 reais (£13,500) and ban from stadiums for 720
days those fans already identified and those that may
still be identified,” the court’s statement said.
The match referee has also received a 90-day
suspension and been fined 1,600 reais (£430) for not
taking the correct action and for not properly
reporting the incident in his match report.
Grêmio are expected to appeal to the full ninemember STJD and any hearing would be held within
two weeks.
The club, which has not yet commented on the ban,
launched an anti-racism campaign last week entitled
“Enough”.
The Scottish Football Association could
take action against Celtic striker Leigh
Griffiths after footage appeared to show
him labelling former Hearts player Rudi
Skácel a "refugee".
Last week, a video was posted online of
the former Hibernian goalscorer singing
"Hearts are going bust" - a reference to
the Tynecastle's liquidation threat.
Griffiths was fined by Celtic over the singsong in a bar he attended before the
Edinburgh derby last Sunday.
And now fresh footage from the same bar
shows Griffiths standing up and dancing
about among Hibs fans as they sing the
song about Skácel.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon last week
warned Griffiths, that the transgression
was "his one strike".
"I don't want him doing any more otherwise his career at Celtic won't be as
long as he maybe wants it to be."
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Remember the golden years of the 90's; Gazza scoring the wonder
goal in Euro 96 and celebrating with the dentist chair water
squirting, Cantona returning from his ban in 1997- winning Man
Utd the double after his infamous kung-fu kick; the Invincibles of
Arsenal who went unbeaten for the whole season; and 99 was
capped of the glory years of English football when Man United
won the treble. Go back to the George Best winning the European
cup for Man United, 10 years after the Munich disaster. However,
what do we have now?
We have racism, homophobia and young men earning millions in front of fans paying thousands of pounds
to watch these primadonnas. Then, the dreaded agents/foreign owners demanding extortionate amounts of
money as well as the England football team who have a lack of depth to call upon and a crazy FIFA
president who cannot relinquish power and a so-called fair play rule which has no hope of succeeding.
Football is never "coming home" and is on cause for self-destruction!
Arguably, the 70's and 80's were worse for violence, racism and Hillsborough. True, however, the dark days
have returned where fans are risking their lives to watch a game. Yes just a "GAME"! Football is no longer
a game, arguably a multi-billion pounds industry and at worst somewhere mindless idiots can vent their
anger and hatred without fear of prosecution. Even Sunday morning football referees are abused by
players/spectators.
In the last 18 months FIFA/UEFA have not cracked down on this behaviour: in South America riot police
need to attend every game and are attacked from fans; but UK fans are "hooligans". In the Ukraine, an
English fan was stabbed, others attacked for supporting their team. Travel to Kiev any other time and there
would be no trouble if you were English. We have also seen the racism in Italy and Serbia increase, as well
as homophobia in general.
What have UEFA/FIFA done? The answer is: nothing...Serbia fined and to play a couple of games without
fans. From Mr Blatter or Platini, there has been no comment about the situation in South America, Italy and
Spain. Also, Qatar has been awarded the 2022 where homosexuality is still illegal and the facilities are
unbearable for fans and players. The choice of Qatar is still questionable.
Then, the transfer window which means that players (employees of companies) can only move from one
club within a 2 month period in the summer and a 1 month period in January. No other EU business can do
this so how can football get away with this? Yes, if an employee moves to a rival company in "normal" life
then they get put on gardening leave; so why not in football? We could return to the traditional open transfer
market (incidentally a legal requirement within the EU) and when a club transfers a player then they can
negotiate how much gardening leave is required. UEFA can still stop the player from participating in certain
cup competitions, but it should be a free market for the movement of employees.
The transfer window helps to increase the value of players, so that agents can make money and both clubs
and players can demand extortionate fees/wages. Economics dictate that reducing the demand of supply (i.e.
players) and increasing demand (by clubs and fans) then the only result is an increase in price.
Then we have the "fair-play rule" to ensure clubs don't spend over their means. The word "fair" seems a bit
ironic for Platini's baby; how can smaller clubs compete with larger clubs if their spending has to match
their income. Also how does this work with clubs like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Man
City? These clubs have multi-billionaire owners and could easily find a way round this.
Representation of Issues in Football
However, smaller clubs will have trouble with the rule due to lack of income. Also consider clubs like
Everton, who settle the books according to the rule but lose the best players. Has anyone noticed that
PSG and Monaco have not been criticised by Platini for spending millions and not obeying the rule?
How can smaller clubs obey the fair-play rule and get into the Premier League without taking a risk? It
doesn't always work and we have seen what has happened to Portsmouth and Leeds United, but the
rule cannot be controlled properly. UEFA needs to rethink this rule.
Finally, we have the Premier League who appear to control English football and ignore the FA, but
treat fans as money making machines. Why have two providers of Premier League football for
television? The original idea was that not all Premier League teams were pay-per-view (i.e. some
Premier League games on terrestrial TV). However, now customers must pay for both Sky Sports and
BT Sports if they wish to watch every televised Premier League game. This is fundamentally wrong as
the customers need access to either Sky TV or cable TV to subscribe to either package. However, in
Spain or the Middle East all games are televised on one channel. Why must the Premier League be so
greedy and now we have to pay twice to watch all the games? If one has cable or Sky then one can
subscribe to Sky, so why not allow Sky to broadcast 90% of the games and then allow terrestrial
channels to broadcast the other 10% at no fee to the viewer? So why has the Premier League kept this
two provider rule in place?
In conclusion, football is a rotten apple; the people who run the game are only out to make money and
do not care about the general public who just want to watch the beautiful game. We have an increase
in violence, racism and homophobia, but neither UEFA nor FIFA choose to take serious action.
Instead they continue to act corruptly and ignore countries that allow racism, violence and
homophobia to thrive, while they continuously criticise UK football and its supporters. Who created
football?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19636473
Racism remains a "significant problem" in British football despite improvements in recent
years, according to a House of Commons committee report.
The report responds to "continuing concerns" following the Patrice Evra / Luis Suarez and John Terry
cases.
John Whittingdale MP, chair of the inquiry, said: "Recent incidents of racist abuse in the UK highlight
that there remain significant problems."
MPs also said homophobia may now be the most prevalent form of discrimination.
Last December, Liverpool's Suarez was handed an eight-match ban and a £40,000 fine by the
Football Association after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Evra.
In July, ex-England captain John Terry was cleared of racially abusing fellow footballer Anton
Ferdinand.
Outside British football, Euro 2012 was affected by instances of racist chanting at training sessions
and matches. The Croatian Football Federation was fined 80,000 euros (£65,000) after fans directed
racist abuse at Italy striker Mario Balotelli.
The Culture, Media and Sport committee report said that behaviour and the atmosphere at football
matches had "changed hugely" since the 1970s and 80s "when racial and other forms of abuse were
common".
Representation of Issues in Football
It added that several initiatives and charities such as Show Racism the Red Card have helped to
reduce racism where it is most prevalent - on the streets, in the grounds and online - but more still
needed to be done.
"We believe it is for the FA to take the lead and set the example for everyone, from football authorities
at all levels to the grassroots groups, to follow," said Whittingdale.
In a joint statement, the FA, the Premier League and the Football League said "substantial progress
had been made", but acknowledged that "challenges remained" and said they would consider the
committee's recommendations.
Steve Rotheram MP, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport committee, said a lack of ethnic
diversity in management and boardroom positions at many English clubs was holding back the fight
against racism.
He said: "Some boards are all-male and all-white with no diversity there, and managers in the top tier
of the Premier League and the Championship are almost all white, so there are some glass ceilings
that need to be broken down."
PFA chairman Clarke Carlisle added: "Now that this voice has come from outside of football and is
one that hopefully the industry will listen to, it is very encouraging because it means things will have to
progress from here."
When asked whether football needed to do more to tackle racism, Manchester United boss Sir Alex
Ferguson said: "English football was very good at challenging those issues.
"Apart from last year, I don't think it's been an issue. I've not seen anything for 20 years. Suddenly,
one bad year doesn't cast the game in doubt as far as I'm concerned."
The report also found evidence that homophobia may now be a bigger problem in football than other
forms of discrimination.
As a result, it called for a high-profile campaign to highlight the damaging effect of homophobic
language and behaviour at every level.
The report also called on football's governing bodies FIFA and UEFA to take stronger leadership on
tackling racism.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------Diving/Simulation in Football - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2533000/Divingfootball-Cheats-like-Oscar-chucked-bin-Neil-Ashton.html
Oscar was faced with a choice on Wednesday: round the Southampton goalkeeper and score a
virtuoso goal or dive and try to win a penalty.
Incredibly, the Brazilian let out a shriek and launched himself into the south coast’s rainy skies. It
was a shameful, perplexing act that was punished with a yellow card by referee Martin Atkinson.
Even then, it didn’t feel like justice had been done. The game has had a gutful of this type of
behaviour because Oscar, who went on to make two goals and score one in Chelsea’s 3-0 win, is
hardly alone.
If it’s not him it’s Adnan Januzaj. And if it’s not Januzaj, it’s Ashley Young. And if it’s not Young, it’s
Ramires. And if it’s not...
The list goes on and on, and that’s with Gareth Bale, one of the game’s serial divers, out of sight.
The answer to this scourge is simple: the sin bin. Let’s put cheats in the cooler for 10 minutes.
Representation of Issues in Football
Had Oscar been on the sidelines following his outrageous leap in the 55th minute, he would not
have been on the field to make the telling contribution for the opening goal scored by Fernando
Torres five minutes later.
The game may have had a very different outcome with Mourinho’s most creative influence missing
for 10 minutes.
This is a topic Dennis Bergkamp, perhaps the greatest player in the history of the Premier League,
visits in his instructive autobiography Stillness and Speed.
With his poise and elegance on the ball (not to mention 120 goals and 120 assists in English football),
Arsenal’s No 10 was a constant target for English defenders.
‘A lot of times you get pushed or you feel a little touch and it stops you reaching the ball,’ he wrote.
‘So you have to react a little bit more. And then you get a free-kick. You exaggerate a little to bring it
to the referee’s attention. You have to act a bit. “Jeez, come on ref!”’
Bergkamp may have a point, particularly when the likes of Charlie Adam are nipping ankles and
getting in trouble with anybody wearing a Tottenham shirt. But Oscar’s dive was different, and there
is no better way to safeguard the integrity of the game than by introducing a sin bin for simulation.
It has been established in other sports, such as ice hockey and both rugby codes. In football, it would
act as a deterrent to those who cheat to gain an advantage.
The principle has the support of UEFA president Michel Platini and needs more backers to come
forward. Yesterday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter reminded players they are role models and urged
referees to impose time penalties on cheats.
‘The longest breaks in the game are almost exclusively the result of dives, simulation and play-acting
to feign injury,’ he said.
‘In football it is treated as normal and accepted practice. Even though simulation is incredibly unfair
and looks preposterous when viewed in a replay, some people regard it as smart.
‘I find this deeply irritating, especially when the half-dead players come back to life as soon as they
leave the pitch.
‘The referee could make the player wait on the side until the numerical disadvantage has had an
effect. This amounts to a time penalty and would cause play-actors to rethink.’
It is a starting point, but a more formal sin bin has a better chance of working. It is down to leading
managers — Mourinho, Wenger, Pellegrini and Moyes — to come out and back sin binning.
Inevitably, there will be those who insist football’s governing bodies must stay true to the Cambridge
Rules principles of 1848.
They will be the same people who moaned when the Football League introduced three points for a
win in 1981. We would never go back now. It is the nature of football that fans rarely agree. But
what sticks in the craw of right-minded supporters are highly paid athletes throwing themselves
around.
This is not a disease without a cure. Stick offenders in the sin bin, and shame them into stopping.
Until then, there will be more of the same this weekend. And the weekend after that…
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19891034
FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce says he believes diving in football is becoming a "cancer within the
game".
Representation of Issues in Football
He made his comments after watching footage of Liverpool's Luis Suarez going to ground during
Sunday's 0-0 draw with Stoke at Anfield.
"I have seen several incidents and the Suarez incident, and to me it is nothing less than cheating," he
said. It's becoming a cancer within the game. If it is clear it's simulation, they should be severely
punished."
In September, Stoke boss Tony Pulis called for the Football Association to punish those found guilty
of diving with three-match bans .
Then on Sunday, he said striker Suarez deserved to be suspended for what he deemed to be diving
during the draw at Anfield.
Boyce also thought action was necessary, even if the initial incident had been missed by the match
officials.
"It can be dealt with retrospectively by disciplinary committees - it is done so in some associations and I believe that is the correct thing to do," added the 68-year-old from Northern Ireland.
"It can at times be very, very difficult for referees to judge whether something is a foul or a fair
tackle and if players are diving then it makes their job even harder."
An FA spokesman said: "Simulation is not something that the FA currently take retrospective action
over but it is an issue that is often reviewed and discussed by the game's stakeholders."
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers defended Suarez following the accusations from Pulis.
"At this moment, there seems to be one set of rules for Luis and another set for everyone else," he
said. “Diving and simulation is obviously a wider issue in football and one that we all agree has to be
eradicated from our game, but there were other incidents this weekend that didn't seem to
generate the same coverage."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://debatewise.org/debates/419-diving-in-football-matches-should-be-more-severly-punishedeven-after-the-match/
Representation of Issues in Football
Grassroots Football - http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mike-walsh/grassroots-footballinvestment_b_5841556.html
The Premier League set a new record this transfer window, spending an astonishing £835m
acquiring new players, ironic considering the state of lowly grassroots football. Considering
England's dismal performance in Brazil at last summer's World Cup, the impetus to improve
grassroots football has never been more urgent. Damning stats show that only 32.26% of
players in the Premier League are English which is significantly lower than all other major
European leagues. La Liga, the top division in Spain, who had recently dominated
international football, boasts an impressive 59% of Spaniards playing, with new world
champions Germany not far behind with 50%. It is hard to ignore these stats as pure
coincidence.
England are clearly in a transitional period and it is comforting to see the emergence of young
talent like Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Ross Barkley infiltrate the international
scene. However, it is just not enough and there is an overall lack of quality, young English
players coming through which is hindering the progress of the stagnant national side.
However, Head of FA Development Peter Ackerley was quick to see the positive side in
having a large influx of foreign players in England when I spoke to him: "I think one thing
for grassroots football is that the Premier League does show a great league and so inspires
more people to play more football." Peter did confirm that this report was being addressed in
October to try and increase the presence of English players in the Premier League.
The Premier League set a new record this transfer window, spending an astonishing £835m
acquiring new players, ironic considering the state of lowly grassroots football. Considering
England's dismal performance in Brazil at last summer's World Cup, the impetus to improve
grassroots football has never been more urgent. Damning stats show that only 32.26% of
players in the Premier League are English which is significantly lower than all other major
European leagues. La Liga, the top division in Spain, who had recently dominated
international football, boasts an impressive 59% of Spaniards playing, with new world
champions Germany not far behind with 50%. It is hard to ignore these stats as pure
coincidence.
England are clearly in a transitional period and it is comforting to see the emergence of young
talent like Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Ross Barkley infiltrate the international
scene. However, it is just not enough and there is an overall lack of quality, young English
players coming through which is hindering the progress of the stagnant national side.
However, Head of FA Development Peter Ackerley was quick to see the positive side in
having a large influx of foreign players in England when I spoke to him: "I think one thing
for grassroots football is that the Premier League does show a great league and so inspires
more people to play more football." Peter did confirm that this report was being addressed in
October to try and increase the presence of English players in the Premier League.
The importance of grassroots football was not in contention as Peter affirmed "I think more
importantly we have the look of whoever plays out here for England's team starts somewhere
in grassroots football so it's absolutely vital the game."
What I want to address is the state of grassroots football and question if enough energy is
being directed down the right avenues.
Representation of Issues in Football
I wanted to find out about some of the initiatives currently in place in London and I was
subsequently put in contact with former Premier League star Jamie Lawrence. Jamie is using
his life experiences to spread a positive message through the use of his own football academy
in South London. Jamie has managed to send some of his recruits to sign for professional
clubs, mainly throughout Europe, something many youngsters around the area can only
dream of and something Jamie feels is important.
Lawrence said "For me, English youngsters should be going abroad and learning about
different cultures, different techniques and different formations." I would encourage
youngsters to take on board what the former Bradford City winger is advising because he has
learnt these lessons the hard way.
"Mine is a different story to most the boys round here. I started playing football in prison.
They started letting me out every weekend to play for a semi-pro side and from there teams
started watching me. The best thing that happened to me was that I ended up signing 300
miles away in Sunderland. That got me out of the area, got me concentrated on football and
changed my life" said Lawrence.
Now, Jamie is concentrating his efforts on stopping other youngsters from the area making
the same mistakes that he did. This is an example of how football can be used as a means to
instill positivity into someone's life by promoting skills such as discipline and timekeeping.
Lawrence does all this work on his own accord and receives little recognition or funding for
his efforts which is a huge shame. The biggest challenge Jamie finds running the academy is
"Funding. We don't get no funding, I do this of my own back. If I got funded I would not
have to say give me this (money) to do it. I would love to be here all day with the boys doing
this and making a difference in their lives. But the government don't care about what's
happening here. Until it's on their doorstep affecting them they don't care."
Peter Ackerley acknowledged spending cuts made to local government has had a detrimental
effect on grassroots football, which is a part of the problem. However, there is a feeling the
FA could be doing more in this area. I enjoyed the chat I had with Peter and his intentions
were definitely pure hearted but, in stark contrast to the conversation I had with Jamie
Lawrence, it was money orientated.
Lawrence is the real grassroots hero in this situation, getting his hands dirty and making a
real difference to young footballers around South London. I think it is a tragedy that no
support has been offered to Jamie because if he has achieved this much by himself, the sky is
the limit as to what he can achieve if given some funding from the relevant authorities.
It is painfully obvious that more needs to be done for grassroots football but there must be a
delicate balance struck. It is important that grassroots has the simple target of keeping
youngsters out of trouble and help them gain life skills from the sport, as well as trying to
discover the next talent to play for England; the next Raheem Sterling. I hope this article, if
anything, gets people talking about improving the state of English grassroots football.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Representation of Issues in Football
http://www.nottinghampost.com/Sports-zone-pump-new-life-grassroots-football/story22977745-detail/story.html
JUST a week after Nottingham was crowned England's 2015 City of Football, £1.8 million is
being pumped into developing the grassroots game.
Two new pitches will be added to The Forest recreation ground, in Gregory Boulevard, to host
sports such as football and hockey.
Brand new changing rooms and a clubhouse will also be added along with a multi-use sports
arena open to the community at all times.
Work will begin next month and the Forest Sport Zone project should be complete by summer
2015.
The move was welcomed by Peter Burton, general secretary of the Notts Youth Football League.
"At the moment the only youth team that I know that plays on the Forest is Hyson Green
Cavaliers," he said. "When I was young you'd see dozens of games on there every Saturday and
Sunday, but that's declined.
"Everybody knows the pitches are in need of investment. It's encouraging to see this happen so
soon after the announcement of the City of Football title."
Mr Burton welcomed the move and said more well-kept pitches were needed across the county.
He added that Victoria Embankment would be a good place to go next.
"Council pitches are an important facility," he said. "We've seen quite a few clubs move onto
school pitches in recent years because they've not been up to scratch so I'm glad to see this sort
of investment."
Around 41,000 people live within walking distance of the site, which has seen £5.2m of Heritage
Lottery fund investment recently spent to restore its historic elements like the lodge and pavilion.
The project also hopes to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour while improving physical and
mental health in the area.
Nottingham City Council's park's team will manage the site while Nottingham Forest in the
Community will offer other projects at the site, which was where the Reds played their first
games 150 years ago.
Chief Executive Graham Moran said: "This fantastic new football facility will allow Forest to play a
significant role in helping to develop football locally. It will be great to see Forest back on The
Forest recreation ground."
Council funding has been bolstered by contributions from the Football Association, Football
Foundation and Premier League, the Notts Police and Crime Commissioner, Nottingham NHS
and New College Nottingham.
Councillor Dave Trimble said: "Coming straight after Nottingham's success in being named City
of Football, the Forest Sports Zone is going to be a tremendous addition to our reputation as a
city of sport.
Representation of Issues in Football
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footballdevelopment/technicalsupport/grassroots/news/newsid=244
3163/index.html
The launch of Grassroots football has been a priority of the Federation of Uganda Football
Associations (FUFA), and the dream became a reality last week when FUFA, the Ministry of
Local Government and the Ministry of Education and Sports signed an agreement for the next
five years to sustain and develop grassroots programmes throughout all the regions of
Uganda.
FIFA Technical Development Officer Govinden Thondoo witnessed a ceremony in Kampala
that was attended by FUFA leadership, including President Eng Moses Magogo, Vice
President Darius Mugoye, Chief Executive Officer Edgar Watson and Technical Director
Asuman Lubowa. The government was represented by Mr. Moses Byanguye (Local
government) and Sammy Odong (Assistant Commissioner-Sports-Ministry of Education and
Sports).
Thondoo used the platform to praise Uganda upon this momentous opportunity.
“It is vital to create partnerships with institutions that have control over kids who are the main
target. I therefore congratulate you on behalf of the FIFA President who has put a lot of
emphasis in this project to take off in Uganda” he said.
Uganda was among the three countries left in the region to launch the project. Thondoo
highlighted how it is everyone’s responsibility to keep the project sustainable.
"It is easy to launch this project, but how to roll it throughout the country remains a bit
challenging," he continued.
FUFA President Magogo, discussed the four different stages of football during the launch
ceremony and urged all Ugandans to give the project the due blessings and support for its
eventual success.
"By grassroots, we are introducing the sport to the kids, followed by the age group of 13 -17
years bracket (school football), followed by that stage of preparing the players for the bigger
stage and finally the national team," he said.
"We believe in this project and it is part of our four year development plan."
Kampala was the first region concerned with 25 primary schools teachers, six regional
coordinators, a technical director and the women development officer running a five-day
Grassroots coaching course which was held at Jinja Njeri Technical Centre.
A grassroots festival at the Kampala Secondary school football grounds on 20 September
concluded the course where 500 children coming from 30 primary schools in five districts of
Kampala participated in the various grassroots activities.
After this launch grassroots festivals will be organised in the selected 30 primary schools and
projects will be rolled out to the central and northern regions next year as proposed in the
FUFA long-term development plan from 2014 to 2018.