Columnists Archives - Page 60 of 78 - Inside World Football

David Gold: Olympic men’s football kicks off… but I can only foresee a three horse race

David Gold_IWF

The Olympic men’s football tournament gets underway today, and although 16 teams start with hopes of success there are three countries that stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Brazil, Spain and Uruguay could well be the teams taking away gold, silver and bronze this summer, although in which order is harder to predict. But it is difficult to see beyond them when it comes to anticipating the next two weeks.

For Brazil,

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: FA’s reticence to act over John Terry affair sends out confusing message over its stance on race issues

The Football Association (FA) does not often deserve sympathy. It has certainly had little over the John Terry affair which had such dramatic consequences that it produced, arguably, the most unexpected collateral damage ever seen in the game. England lost their manager Fabio Capello just months before the second most important tournament in the world. And this, in turn, set off a chain of reactions that also contributed to the departure of Harry Redknapp from Tottenham Hotspur.

Columnists

David Gold: Video technology is unlikely to work as well in football as it does in tennis because of grey areas in the rulebook

David Gold_-__IWF

Last Sunday the merits of video technology in sport were there for all to see as Roger Federer swept his way to equalling Pete Sampras’ Wimbledon record of seven titles at the expense of Andy Murray. Two players, both with three challenges during each set of a tennis game, with an extra one in the event of a tie-break.

To football fans watching, it must have begged the question, “Why can we not do this in football?”

Columnists

Philip Barker: How Britain’s footballers’ bid for 1968 Olympic glory was scuppered by the Spanish

Philip Barker

Stuart Pearce’s Great Britain squad begin their Olympic preparations in Spain with a behind closed doors friendly against Mexico. For the only previous British Olympic team to play on Spanish soil, a place at the 1968 Olympics IN Mexico was at stake.

The Great Britain manager at the time was Football Association staff coach Charles Hughes, much later vilified for his long ball theories.

“The training was really professionally run. It was stuff that we hadn’t been used to,”

Andrew Warshaw: Blatter once again escapes the net of culpability

Andrew Warshaw_IWF

Another corruption scandal exposed, more top names disgraced – and once again Sepp Blatter has seemingly slipped through the net of culpability.

No-one in sports administration has become more of an expert in the “not me, Guv” stakes over the years than the FIFA President who has once again distanced himself from any wrongdoing, this time in the explosive ISL bribery case.

By acknowledging that he was the person referred to as P1 in Swiss court documents which FIFA published and which lifted the lid on an affair that has marred his 14-year Presidency,

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Under-fire Platini finds task of effecting change cannot simply be achieved with one sublime, defence-splitting pass

Poor Michel Platini. Do you not feel sorry for him? A wonderful footballer, he exchanges his shorts for a suit and becomes an administrator. Under his Presidency, UEFA hosts a European football competition that everyone says is one of the best in recent memory, if not the best ever.

The fears that it will lead to racist violence, and that players might even walk off during a match if they are racially abused,

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David Owen: A tale of two Euros – why Platini’s Big Idea for one Euro may hinge on politicians’ big ideas for another

David Owen_-_IWF

Two years ago, it looked odds-on that the 2020 European Championship would be staged in Turkey.

An impressive campaign for Euro 2016, in which the Turks were edged out by France, many thought unluckily, allied to a vibrant economy and the scale to cope with the tournament’s expansion to 24 teams, left the strong impression that Ankara’s claim to Euro 2020 (pictured below, logo) would be all but irresistible – if they decided that they wanted the competition.

Columnists

Philip Barker: How Britain’s footballers earned a reprieve to compete in Melbourne 1956 Games

Philip Barker

The announcement of Britain’s Olympic football squad has made front page news, not least because of who was left out. Back in 1956, the side for the Melbourne Games was named in instalments and they had already been knocked out of the tournament once.

For the first time, a home and away system of qualification had been introduced.

In those days British international teams were chosen by a panel of selectors.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Hodgson’s man-management skills, not grasp of language, will determine his success with England

Fabio Capello’s dig at Wayne Rooney that the England star striker only understands “Scottish” has raised a few hackles. It was in response to comments by Rooney that under Roy Hodgson there are no language problems in the English team.

This has generated much debate about whether a team can perform well unless players and managers share a common language. The Italian (pictured below, second from right), who has been criticised for not learning English,

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David Owen: From Platini to Pirlo – how the playmaker’s role has evolved

Michel Platini once bemoaned to me the extinction of the old-style ‘Number 10’, a position in which he, of course, excelled like few others.

“They have practically done away with le Numéro 10,” he said, sitting in a large office across the street from the Comédie Française.

“There is practically no longer an organiser.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Sport, particularly football, should not be served up as the panacea to society’s inherent racial ills

The European Championship once again raises the question of whether we are right in believing that sport, and in particular football, can reach out to society in the way nothing else can. The answer so far from the Euros is a chilling one: those of us who believe in the redemptive power of modern sport need to re-examine our beliefs – or at least ask if we do not need to prepare much better before we burden sport with this heavy load of transforming society.

Andrew Warshaw: IFAB giving the OK to goal-line technology cannot come soon enough

What goes around comes around. Ever since Frank Lampard was denied a clear goal when he crashed a shot against the underside of Germany’s crossbar at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the clamour for goal-line technology has become increasingly louder.

Fast forward two years to the 2012 European Championship in Donetsk last night and that clamour has now become a deafening roar.

This time England were the ones that had all the luck.

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David Owen: Why the new TV deal promises to strengthen English grip on Champions League

The latest Premier League television deal may have given some BT and British Sky Broadcasting shareholders the jitters.

But the alarm-bells will have been ringing much, much louder in non-English citadels of European footballing excellence from Barcelona to Munich.

The new tide of money that the £3 billion ($4.7 billion/€3.7 billion) settlement will send flooding into English Premier League club coffers from the 2013-2014 season should do much to restore the competitive advantage of English clubs in the top European competitions.

Andrew Warshaw: Slow trains, kind strangers, antique computers and compelling football, welcome to my Polish Euro 2012

andrew-warshaw-one-can-only-hope-that-euro-2012-doesnt-end-in-tears

Some spread themselves out on restaurant seats, in shop doorways or on any piece of concrete they could find a spot to catnap. Others sat quietly, frequently yawning, peering longingly at their watches, drinking countless cups of coffee. The younger ones, faces still painted, scarves still brazenly hanging from their necks, continued the revelry of the previous few hours, laughing and joking, laden with cans of beer and dried sandwiches.

Welcome to Poznan railway station as we waited,

Columnists

Delroy Alexander: By taking Euro 2012 to Ukraine and Poland, UEFA are helping to stamp out football racism

Delroy Alexander_head_and_shoulders

It can be so easy to jump on a bandwagon, particularly when it comes to race relations. Once the tide of popular opinion gets rolling, why not hop on and enjoy the ride alongside the rest of the onions in the cart.

The huge uproar at the outrageous anti-semitism, blatant homophobia and openly held Nazi ideals exhibited and highlighted in the Ukraine and Poland has rightly been condemned.

In classic tabloid journalism style,