Columnists Archives - Page 17 of 78 - Inside World Football

Mihir Bose: Warning – Blatter is not finished yet and could make life difficult for his enemies

We all know how the US Justice Department has moved the tectonic plates of FIFA. Yet the next few months, until the elective Congress meets to decide a new President, could also see major changes in FIFA and if Blatter gets his way these changes will not be very palatable to the Europeans and, in particular, the British. Indeed this could prove to be the most important period in FIFA’s history, even more important than the immediate post war years when a nearly bankrupt FIFA,

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: US criminal investigation is a matter of life and death for FIFA

“Do you understand, sir, do you understand what it means when you have absolutely nowhere to turn?” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

There is something fundamental about the allegations in this FIFA crisis that recalls Dostoyevsky’s anti-hero Raskolnikov. Not a naturally vicious man, it was an intellectual compulsion that drove him to commit murder. He convinced himself that his crime would be justified due to his intellectual brilliance. As a virtuoso student,

Archive

David Owen: Blatter’s long goodbye

Not for the first time, he wrong-footed us all. When the invitation to a FIFA press conference thudded into our inboxes on Tuesday at 3.36pm UK time, I don’t think anyone seriously expected two hours later to be listening to Sepp Blatter, one of the great survivors of our world, setting out how he proposed to “lay down my mandate” as FIFA President.

Andrew Warshaw: The king is dead, but not quite buried

What tipped him over the edge? Did he walk or was he pushed? Is the net tightening around him in the United States as is being reported? Or was it simply that the sheer weight of pressure and the almost daily dose of bombshell allegations into systemic corruption simply became too much to bear – even for the great survivor?

Andrew Warshaw: FIFA’s Game of Thrones gets bloodier and uglier

Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: Time to shine a light on FIFA auditor KPMG

“How many internal auditors does it take to change a light bulb? None! They’re not allowed to under Health & Safety legislation. Process notes should have been written referring the incident to Facilities.” Old accountancy joke

They are a dry old bunch, auditors. But what they lack in humour, as can be seen from that old accountancy gag, they make up for in money. It might be dull, but as the saying goes,

Martin Volkmar: From hero to zero. Di Matteo departs a lifeless Schalke

He came as a man of the world and left as a loser: Roberto Di Matteo was the man brought in to kick start a new era at Schalke 04, but instead, the former Chelsea coach’s time in the Bundesliga has expired after only seven months.

Andrew Warshaw: Final showdown of a suicide mission

‘Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.’ Chances are, Sepp Blatter will not be familiar with the lyric. Unless, that is, he is an avid follower of rock music.

Archive

David Owen: How UEFA’s cash rules keep CL domination to clubs from big rich countries

A week when we learnt that UEFA may soon fine-tune its much talked-about Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations seems a good time to highlight an aspect of the European football body’s payment distribution system that is anything but fair – and which we now know we are stuck with until at least 2018.

Martin Volkmar: Will Bayern find sunlight after the rain?

“Bayern can only win,” I wrote after the draw of the Champions League semi-finals a month ago. In retrospect, I have to admit I was wrong – at least partially.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Can British managers ever hope to manage a big club?

Talk of West Ham turning to Rafa Benitez in place of Sam Allardyce raises the question: what about British managers? If even a club like West Ham thinks foreign what hope is there for Britons who dream of managing the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal or Manchester City? And that this is a question being asked in a season where British managers have made quite a mark shows the problem for the native born.

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: Women can shine in World Cup spotlight

By a distance Canada 2015 is the most excited I’ve been about a women’s World Cup. In my job, it’s about the story, and there will be stories no doubt.

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: Ashley is good for Newcastle. They would be mad to drive him out of Toon

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When Newcastle last won the English top-division title, they really did do it in black and white. It was 88 years ago. It is 60 years now since Newcastle last won the FA Cup and 16 since they lost the second of two consecutive finals. In short, theirs is not a tradition of trophy-laden triumph.

Archive

David Owen: England poised for a new era of Premier League dominance in Europe

At the end of a season in which no Premier League representative made it as far as the quarter-finals of either major European club competition, it seems most odd to be thinking in terms of a new era of English dominance in European club football. Yet, recent developments look to be conspiring to make this all but inevitable.

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: Mind the gap – Spurs gunning for Arsenal riches

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“Since Arsene Wenger arrived in north London, Arsenal are the only team Spurs have not finished above in the whole Football League.” Opta

It was 20 years ago, pretty much, that Arsène Wenger walked through the door at Arsenal. In two of the previous four seasons they had finished 10th and 12th in the Premier League. Located in a beloved but ageing arena hemmed in on all sides by houses preventing stadium expansion,