Help Football
This is part of our efforts to improve football. In this column we discuss the key issues facing football – using more technology, money in the game, diving / simulation, developing young players and football training in general, changes to rules (governing football and clubs) and a lot more.
Soccer PubCamp – Networking for Real Football Fans
Mid-January 2008 will see a soccer convention being hosted in the US – for those of you who are in the vicinity, I urge you to participate and contribute however you can. Details: Soccer PubCamp is a innovative and interactive soccer event that provides a discussion platform for soccer visionaries to share ideas, collaborate with…
The Future of Refereeing? FIFA Using Ball-Chip Technology for Club World Cup
For this year’s FIFA Club World Cup, which is currently taking place in Japan, FIFA is testing out new ball-chip technology that lets referees know whether or not the ball crossed the goal line in a scoring situation. Some may remember the experimental technology used in the Under-17 World Cup in Peru two years ago,…
Pompey’s Miracle “Ionized Shirt” Technology: Scientific Breakthrough or Futuristic Doping?
Steroids, miracle remedies and performance pills begone! The latest innovation in the doping technology (even though it remains perfectly legal, for now) are “ionized shirts”. Developed by New Zealand kit firm Canterbury, the new ‘IonX’ shirts are made from a fabric that “contains a negatively charged electromagnetic field”. This means the process of ionisation, which…
Right or Wrong: Crowd Abuse During Football Matches?
It’s not rare, is it, to observe fans throwing abuse at opposition players and manager? It’s very much accepted and to be honest, it is an indispensable fraction of the sport of football and without it football wouldn’t really be the same. And let’s face it, abuse during football matches both on the pitch and…
How Expensive Was Your Team’s Bench in the English Premier League Last Week-End?
Echoing with my Europe’s Most Expensive Benchwarmers article, this week the Daily Mail thought about taking a look at the added values of players selected on the substitute bench, for last week-end’s English Premier League matches. Or, in other words: “How expensive was your team’s bench at the weekend”? The results are pretty frightening. According…
Serbian Football Trying To Weed Out Corruption
Technically Serbia is just over one year old (it was only in the middle of the 2006 Germany World Cup that Serbia & Montenegro was fragmented) but corruption and organized crime are age-old entities there. Serbian society is still unable to solve the high crime rate and corruption and these ugly scars are running into…
Trouble At Tottenham v Anderlecht Requires More UEFA Action
So another UEFA Cup match has been hit by, well, bottles. Thursday night’s group game between Belgian side Anderlecht and Tottenham Hotspur, might have ended in a 1-1 draw with both sides expressing gladness at the result but the missile throwing misdemeanors throughout the match was hardly something to savor.
Money Men Are Buying Up the Glory
When Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson recently described his side’s chances of victory against Chelsea as a ‘David versus Goliath’ scenario in terms of resources, it summed up everything that has gone wrong with the English Premiership. On this occasion Goliath comfortably triumphed 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium, but far from being just a result, it…
Howard Webb – An Outstanding Referee
He is 6’3″, weighs more than 15 stones, is just 35 years of age and is a skinhead. No, he is not a common gang leader in town but a truly sincere referee whose love and respect for the game is not inferior to any of the players that he controls during the course of…
Weekly World Report – Tough Days for Urawa and Boca as they prepare for FIFA Club World Cup
The Thrill of Victory, and The Agony of Defeat While the major European domestic seasons are just nearing their halfway point, a few leagues that I’ve previously mentioned in my world report have come to an end in exciting fashion. Urawa Red Diamonds, recently crowned Asian champions just three weeks ago, must have worn down…
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