Mohamed bin Hammam has questioned the impartiality of the FIFA ethics committee after being provisionally suspended from the organisation.Bin Hammam, President of the Asian Football Confederation, was suspended from FIFA activities along with CONCACAF President Jack Warner on Sunday, pending a full investigation into bribery claims.
Qatari bin Hammam withdrew his candidacy for the FIFA Presidency earlier on Sunday, leaving incumbent Sepp Blatter unopposed ahead of Wednesday’s leadership elections.
Blatter also appeared in front of the ethics committee, concerning charges related to having knowledge of Warner’s alleged attempts at bribery, but the 75-year-old was cleared of any wrongdoing.
“I have been referred to the ethics committee based on evidence which was strong enough in the views of the FIFA General Secretary for such procedure,” a bin Hammam statement read.
“However, the ethics committee in its meeting today did not find this evidence sufficient to convict me.”
“Consequently, I should have been given the benefit of doubt but instead, I have been banned from all football activities.”
Bin Hammam and Warner are accused of giving US$40,000 to delegates at a Caribbean Football Union meeting in Trinidad on May 10 and 11 in exchange for their support in the Presidential elections.
Namibian Petrus Damaseb, brought in by FIFA to oversee the hearing, deemed the evidence sufficient to warrant further investigation.
After bin Hammam and Warner were suspended and Blatter cleared, FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke announced Wednesday’s election would go ahead as planned.
“I have been given the impression that the ethics committee is absolutely an independent committee, but in the press conference we have seen today, the General Secretary made clear that he is the one who has the influence in this Committee,” bin Hammam said.
“I’m very disappointed about the way the status of the proceeding has been presented at the media conference. I am expecting that this will continue. This is not how I understand fair play. I’m reserving all my rights.”
Manchester City midfielder Nigel De Jong has praised Mario Balotelli after the striker put in an excellent performance in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.
With Edin Dzeko, Samir Nasri and David Silva all on the bench against Alex McLeish’s men, and Sergio Aguero rested, the impetus was on Balotelli to provide the attacking spark for the Etihad Stadium outfit.
The Italy international opened the scoring for Roberto Mancini’s side in a comprehensive victory, and the De Jong feels he has finally got his attitude sorted.
“I think he is getting it now, why we always try to teach him a lesson. He is getting it slowly but surely,” the Netherlands international told City TV.
“You have to give him credit for the last couple of weeks, not just on the pitch but in the training sessions. He is behaving quite normal for him. Everyone is happy to be with him.
“Nobody ever doubted his qualities but with great qualities you need to have big responsibilities as well – not only on the pitch but outside as well. I think he showed that to the group and Manchester City as well in the last couple of weeks,” he continued.
City have an important week coming up as they host Villarreal firstly on Tuesday night in the Champions League, before taking on Manchester United next Sunday.
De Jong knows the importance of the games, which could have an early season influence on the team’s fortunes this campaign.
“They are two massive games. The Champions League is the first one and it is obvious we have to win that game to proceed to the next stage.
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“After that is the United game, which will be a massive game, number one and number two against each other. We just have to prepare ourselves very well and focus again now,” he stated.
There’s nothing more infuriating for a fan than watching an official share a joke with a member of the opposition. You feel your blood start to boil as they smile or perhaps share a little embrace. To the unsuspecting viewer it may look innocuous but you can’t help yourself picturing the referee wearing their ‘colours’ underneath his traditional black uniform. You know deep down it’s ludicrous that this little incident will have any effect on the game itself but that doesn’t stop you berating their apparent friendship the moment a decision goes against you. With this is mind I feel that officials will never be truly respected until they put an end to their on field ‘bromance’.
Let us be brutally honest for a moment, the ‘respect’ campaign is mutating into a bit of joke. Players, fans and members of staff still hurl a torrent of abuse at the officials every weekend, as well as surrounding the referee in an attempt to sway or alter his decision. Clubs are often charged with a ‘failure to control their players’ but the fines are so mediocre and insignificant that it remains ridiculous to believe that this will deter individuals from conducting themselves any differently.
In my eyes the officials need to realise that their relationship with the professionals exists solely in that 90-minute period on the pitch. Once the final whistle blows and they share a disinterested handshake, their affiliation with one another will only continue if a player is keen to dispute a decision made during the game.
Can anyone imagine Wayne Rooney and Howard Webb nipping down the pub for a lager shandy and a catch up after the game or perhaps Mike Dean waiting outside Stamford Bridge to give John Terry a lift home?
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Perhaps I’m being too harsh, maybe if the players and the officials were to enjoy a more informal rapport then it would relieve a certain degree of stress. Players could relax and play their natural game, safe in the knowledge that they weren’t going to be penalised for every single misdemeanour, whilst the referee would be less error-prone if he knew he wasn’t going to be insulted every time he had to make a judgment call.
It all sounds perfectly logical in theory until you realise that every decision awarded for a team, is a decision awarded against the other. There is always going to be someone penalised, which is when the arguments and ill-tempered reactions spew to the surface. In this modern day culture of ‘gamesmanship’, players will do anything to ensure victory and it’s this ugly human trait that makes an official’s job impossible, serving only to intensify the pressure surrounding the match day environment.
It’s clear that football could learn a lot from other sports when it comes down to principles of respect and admiration. I flicked over to the Rugby the other day (I think I sat on the remote) and managed to catch one player address the referee as ‘sir’. I couldn’t believe it, this man mountain was twice the size and four times as wide as the referee and yet there was no bullying tactics or flood of verbal abuse. Instead the player followed each and every one of the referee’s instructions and the game continued without confrontation. It was a refreshing change from the events we see unfold week in week out across the football league. Perhaps it’s something else we can incorporate into our ‘beautiful’ game if the approval of video replays ever goes ahead.
At present officials act like giddy teenager girls when faced with the football heavyweights, either shying away from decisions or trying desperately to appease their every demand. They could almost be depicted laughing away like long lost friends who happened to bump into each other whilst crossing the pitch. They all need to take a staunch and impersonal approach, remain defiant and refuse to be intimidated under pressure. The players won’t like it but then again you don’t have to be liked, to be respected. Just ask Ryan Giggs.
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Would you rather the officials distance themselves from players or would a more humane, informal approach help improve relations? Let me know below or via twitter @theunusedsub
Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack has stated that the London club are not as strong now as when he played for them, and that the team lack mental strength.
Andre Villas Boas’ men have struggled with inconsistency of late, are 12 points behind league leaders Manchester City and face a struggle to progress to the Champions League knockout stages.
Ballack faced his former employers for Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night in a 2-1 victory for the Bundesliga outfit, and felt that their lack of confidence was evident.
“We knew before the game they were in a difficult moment. But it’s only when you play against a team on the pitch that you see what is really happening and get a clearer picture,” he told Mirror Football.
“We could feel it on the pitch every minute – especially at the beginning of the match – that they were not as strong as they normally are.
“Even when they were 1-0 up, we could sense that – that they didn’t have the strength mentally that they normally have,” he stated.
The German midfielder has admitted that the senior players must guide the Stamford Bridge club through this tricky period, and feels they must work hard to achieve their ambitions.
“I don’t know what is going on in the dressing room. When I was there, I was one of the strong characters, but I think there are enough big players, experienced players, still in the dressing room. It wasn’t just me.
“They have to do it now. You can’t just look at the young players and criticise them. This has to come from the older, experienced players – especially now.
“I played four years for Chelsea and I know how quickly it can go. I had a few managers in that short time!
“So I know it is always difficult for the coach. I know he [Villas-Boas] is young and has ambitions and is a good guy. He had success at his last team.
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“At the moment, it is not that easy for them. But that is not just about the coach, it is about the players too. They have to get out of this situation.
“You have to get back to your roots, to square one. But with the ambitions they have of course it is harder and they are not matching them,” the veteran concluded.
Sir Alex Ferguson praised his Manchester United team after they secured a 19th English Premier League title with a 1-1 draw at Blackburn.United had to come from behind at Ewood Park after an error from reserve goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak led to Brett Emerton’s opening goal in the 20th minute.
They looked to be heading for a costly shock defeat before Mexico international Javier Hernandez won a penalty after going down under a challenge from Rovers’ goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
Wayne Rooney lashed home the spot-kick to make it 1-1 with 17 minutes remaining and United saw out the closing exchanges to capture their fourth title in five seasons.
“It was a fantastic performance by the lads and the supporters and for everybody connected with the club, it’s a great day today,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.
“It wasn’t an easy game. We went 1-0 down having given them a bad goal but we kept on and we don’t give in. It looked like it was not going to be our day. We’ve always had it difficult here.”
“It is a local derby and they are fighting for their lives, looking for that point, but we kept going and that’s a good quality.”
Rooney admitted nerves threatened to get the better of him as referee Phil Dowd delayed in awarding the penalty while consulting with an assistant.
“I was terrified, the ref took a long time to give it,” Rooney said.
“I had to compose myself. I’d been practising all week.”
“After the year I’ve had, with the ups and downs, this is for the fans and the team,” he added, referring to a high-profile contract dispute and revelations of marital infidelity.
Rooney also managed a dig at Liverpool after United passed their record of 18 English league titles.
“For me personally, being an Everton fan, to win a 19th title is special,” he said.
A 0-0 draw away to Blackburn cost United dear last season as Chelsea captured the league title by one point.
They could only manage a draw again on Saturday, but this time it was enough, with centreback Rio Ferdinand satisfied by the team’s performance.
“We missed out last year by a point and it was here we pretty much lost the league so it was nice to come back here and get it done,” Ferdinand said.
“We gave away a soft goal but we persevered and got our rewards.”
“It’s a better league this year. Teams have been beating each other from the bottom to the top which makes it more exciting for the fans.”
Liverpool moved up to fifth place with a 3-0 win over Wolves at Molineux on Tuesday night.
Second half goals from attacking trio Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt sealed the victory for the Merseysiders, and lifted them above Arsenal in the table for the time being.
Reds manager Kenny Dalglish was delighted with the performance and paid tribute to the players: “It was an eventful night’s work. Great credit to the players, they didn’t get carried away with what they had done by getting to Wembley and beating Manchester United.
“This was a thoroughly professional, high quality performance and we thoroughly deserved the victory.
“The attitude and the work-rate was key to the win tonight.
“I thought we had the better chances of the first half, but then once we got the first goal it changes things, but up until then I think we had been playing well enough.
“(Bellamy) scored a great second goal and Dirk Kuyt got his 51st goal for the club so it’s been a good night for us, and great credit to the players.” Sky Sports
Liverpool host Tottenham next at Anfield on Monday night, and will look for another victory to push them towards the top four.
By Gareth McKnight
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Henry Kissinger says he is interested in accepting FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s invitation to help reform the embattled governing body.The former US Secretary of State was identified as someone who could lead a new ‘solutions committee’ within the organisation.
Kissinger, 88, said it was a position he would be keen on.
“He’s not been specific, except to say he wants to create a group of wise men to deal with issues which may arise,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“If it can help I’d be willing to participate but we need to know other participants and terms of reference.”
The 1973 Nobel Peace prize winner was involved in the reform of the International Olympic Committee and played a part in helping the United States win the hosting rights to the 1994 World Cup.
Blatter, who was re-elected unopposed as president on Wednesday, said he wants to improve accountability within the game’s governing body after allegations of corruption in the past month.
“This will be a commission of the wise. Kissinger loves football – he’ll be part of it,” Blatter said on Thursday.
“And (Johan) Cruyff, he’s the perfect personality to help us in this solution commission.”
The move came after Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner were both suspended after bribery allegations, before the presidential election.
Bin Hammam was due to oppose Blatter, who was cleared by FIFA’s Ethics Committee of offering financial incentives to FIFA delegates, but he withdrew after being suspended by the same committee.
Later, an email from FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke was released in which he claimed Qatar ‘bought’ the hosting rights to the 2022 World Cup, but he said those comments were misunderstood.
Since being re-elected, Blatter has said he wants FIFA to regain its credibility.
It’s gone beyond tedious now, even beyond parody. The criticisms of Manchester City’s spending was boring two years ago. Now it resembles the pathetic ramblings of a drunken spurned lover. Or a frustrated Harry Redknapp counting down the hours until he can manage his beloved England.
And what’s most tedious of all? Well it’s the claim that City have no history. I can’t count how many times I have heard this said. And I think some people are so utterly stupid they actually believe what they say.
Javier Maschereno joined in with the stupidity a couple of years ago, claiming Manchester City had no history, a similar refrain to many on twitter incredulous last week that Sergio Aguero could choose City over someone like Liverpool. Atletico Madrid offered to match City’s wages, but hey, he clearly moved for the money.
“You can buy players, but you cannot buy history,” said Mascherano. Yawn.
For the record, Manchester City beat Liverpool into being by twelve years, to the FA Cup by 61 years, to the League Cup by 11 years and to a European trophy by three years.
Notts County, Preston North End, and even City have histories longer than many countries.
Here’s a summary of that non-existent history. Manchester City were founded in 1880 as St. Mark’s (West Gorton) – they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894. Cit y gained their first honours by winning the Second Division in 1899; with it came promotion to the highest level in English football, the First Division. They went on to claim their first major honour on 23 April 1904, beating Bolton Wanderers 1–0 at Crystal Palace to win the FA Cup; City narrowly missed out on a League and Cup double that season after finishing runners-up in the League. In the seasons following the FA Cup triumph, the club was dogged by allegations of financial irregularities, culminating in the suspension of seventeen players in 1906, including captain Billy Meredith, who subsequently moved across town to Manchester United. A fire at Hyde Road destroyed the main stand in 1920, and in 1923 the club moved to their new purpose-built stadium at Maine Road in Moss Side, the same year that Wembley Stadium opened.
They have won the top league in 1936-37 and in 1967-8, and have been runners-up three times. They have won what is now the Championship seven times, the FA Cup five times, the League Cup twice, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup once. And so on….
Notts County meanwhile are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862.
County pre-dated the Football Association and initially played a game of its own devising, rather than association football. At the time of its formation, Notts County, like most sports teams, were considered to be a “gentlemen-only” club. Notts County are considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern game and are the oldest of the world’s professional association football clubs (there are older professional clubs in other codes of football, and Sheffield F.C., an amateur club founded in 1857, are the oldest club now playing association football).
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The club initially played at Park Hollow in the grounds of the old Nottingham Castle. In December 1864, the decision was made to play games against outside opposition, and it was decided that the club needed to find a bigger venue. After playing at several grounds, The Magpies settled at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in 1883. In November 1872, the Notts County full-back Ernest Greenhalgh played for England against Scotland in the first-ever international match, thereby becoming the club’s first international player. In 1888, Notts County, along with eleven other football clubs, became a founding member of The Football League. On 25 March 1891, Notts County reached the FA Cup final for the first time…and, well I could continue like this for the next few hours.
If you look REALLY hard, can you see a bit of a history there. Of course, Notts County haven’t won the Premier League or the Champions League, or even been in the top league since football began (1992), so it’s not a real history in the eyes of some. So if they were to be taken over by a billionaire, and started splashing the cash, would you begrudge them the right?
What fans who don’t like upstarts spending money and disrupting the status quo mean is not that the likes of City don’t have history, as they clearly do (and a relegation battle is as much a part of a club’s history as a league title), but that they don’t have a history of success, in recent times alone, and thus haven’t earned the right to buy loads of expensive players.
So the argument is: win things, stay in the Champions league, and expand your global fan base – this is how the fans of the existing top four of the last decade or so have decided it should be done. God forbid if anyone else should try a different way.
But where is the dividing line when fans pass judgement on whether are teams are doing things the right way? What are the minimum requirements to spend lots of money and buy some of the best players in the world? Current league champions? European champions within last few years? Five trophies within last decade? Really successful twenty-five years ago so therefore got more “history” and prestige?
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Let’s say £20m per trophy. Only fair that if you win something, you should be able to widen the gap between yourself and your competitors. No other sport in the world allows this, but apparently football has a different perception of right and wrong.
You should only be able to spend what you earn will be the comeback – but who decided it was acceptable for successful teams to earn so much more than everyone else? Why, the successful teams did of course. Of course now that City are raising revenue and announcing sponsorship deals, and thus will be spending what they earn, that has been deemed unacceptable too. But if you think the figure for City is inflated, save some ire for Real Madrid, who have signed a deal earning 5 million euros per year JUST for advertising around the pitch. Beat that City.
It’s a similar level of stupidity to the argument to claims that modern football with its upstarts flashing the cash, with its big wages, sponsorship deals, stadium naming rights and detachment from reality has somehow removed the soul from football. What actions remove the “soul” from your club? You know, that fabricated, nonsensical thing that a club doesn’t actually have. If you do believe in such things as souls (I don’t), then within a football club it is contained within each individual fan – until they leave, the soul remains.
Last night I watched a documentary on the Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna. When Senna crashed his car and died at Imola in 1994, as the helicopter carried him away from the track, Jeremy Clarkson commented (in a rare moment of sensitivity) that it really illustrated Senna‘s soul departing. A nation mourned over a lost soul. It has never mourned over the name of a stadium or the wages of a football player.
Fans will always live in the past. Hope that your team’s glorious European campaign of 25 years ago, or 15 years ago, or even 5 years ago is enough to attract the cream of world football, and recapture those glory days. But I would wager that footballers are more interested in the future, about creating their own history, and finishing their career and having something to show for it. Mascherano was right that you can’t buy a history – because the history for every club in England, for every club in the world, is already there. And you can’t buy what you already have.
Ever since Manchester City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi Royal Family there has been a lazy argument claiming that they have no interest in the club, the City or even football. Anyone willing to do a little bit of research however would have learnt that there was nothing in those arguments whatsoever, and the announcement coming from the club today will go a long way to putting that silly argument to bed.
The club are hoping to create the best training facilities in the world for their first team, but also the best youth training facilities as well. The remit of the development however goes further than just the game, one of the cornerstones of the plans is to aid the redevelopment and rejuvenation of one of the most deprived areas of Manchester, the needs and the thoughts of the local people are extremely high on the list of priorities.
As anyone interested in the game is aware, City have always been highly successful in youth development, but they have exhausted their current set up, and with these plans they will be able to go onto the next level and make the club the most attractive prospect in world football for young players from both Britain and further afield. As well as a 7,000 capacity stadium (which will also be available to local community groups) there will be a state of the art education centre and accommodation for upto 40 players.
11 full sized youth training pitches (which again can be used by the community)as well as a half sized pitch, a specialist sports rehabilitation and injury centre, and all round facilities capable of the training of 400 young players. As we are all well aware the future of football clubs isn’t big spending to secure the best players in the world, the ideal model is a club nurturing the best youngsters who will eventually fill the first team and it is that process that sets the scene for this development.
The first team currently train at Carrington next door to Manchester United , but that site is no longer suitable for a club with the ambitions of City, the facilities are good but could be improved and these needs will all be catered for on the new site. The ability to train in house will obviously be preferable for the players and it would make the match day experience for the first team squad much easier.
The focus however is on so much more than football, and whilst this is a football site I think it is important to not forget about the bigger picture, the club will be creating 160 construction jobs and 90 permanent jobs, 80% of which will be earmarked for local people, that is as well as a new 6th form college that will be part of the newly formed Etihad campus.
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Local infrastructure will be greatly improved with the construction of 2 new metrolink stations and the environmental impact is clearly wonderful with this old brownfield site being totally transformed. What is currently an eye sore is going to become one of the best facilities of its kind in the world. The planting of tree’s and hedging will ensure the site improves the aesthetics of the local area and this thinking is partly responsible for the huge positive feedback that the club has received.
People who raised question marks over the figure that Etihad have put into the club have clearly lost sight of the bigger picture; the sponsorship deal covers not just the stadium but also this forward thinking and impressive development centre. There are clearly not just benefits here for the club but also the community that live around the site, anyone still questioning the mindset of our owners will now have to find something else to moan about because the notion of them getting bored and walking away at this point seems totally laughable. The full scale ideas and thoughts behind the scheme can be seen here, hopefully any doubters can now be put in their place, Sheikh Mansour losing interest after a couple of years? Do me a favour…
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Manchester United are prepared to enter the race for Brazilian star Ganso according to talkSPORT.
Sir Alex Ferguson has turned his attention to the Sao Paulo midfielder in case he is unsuccessful in his attempts to sign Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder.
The Dutchman’s move to Old Trafford is far from certain and Ganso is being lined up as a back-up plan.
It was thought that the samba star was heading to AC Milan but now it seems the Red Devils and French side Paris Saint-Germain are lining up moves.
Milan were hoping to quickly tie up a £26 million deal for the 21-year-old that would bring him to Italy.
But the news that United are preparing a bid could sway Ganso into moving to England.
PSG are also in the running and could outbid both clubs with the backing of Qatar Sports investments supplying their funds although the choice between Milan and Manchester should be a no brainer.
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Ferguson is keen to strengthen his midfield options after the retirement of Paul Scholes and failed emergence of Darron Gibson. It has left the United boss worried about the strength in depth as he looks to defend the Premier League title in the coming season.