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Mihir Bose: Kroenke deal as much about keeping David Dein away from Arsenal

Mihir Bose(2)

Soap operas dressed up as morality tales do not come any better than the American Stan Kroenke’s take-over of Arsenal. The official word from Arsenal made the latest arrival of a foreign owner sound like the welcome a 19th century father might have given a man seeking the hand of his daughter.

This is what Peter Hill-Wood, the long serving chairman of the club, said: “The board of directors and I consider it a key responsbility to protect the ethos and spirit of the club.

Andrew Warshaw: It may be unpopular with their own fans, but Spurs legal move is a clever one

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If at first you don’t succeed…try another tack. That seems to be the strategy of Tottenham Hotspur as they seek to overturn the decision to allow rivals West Ham United to move into the Olympic stadium after next year’s games.

Having lost a considerable amount of pride, as well as a fistful of dollars, in having their case booted firmly into touch by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), Spurs have gone away,

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David Owen: Arsenal takeover might be good news for Russian Olympians

The link might not be immediately apparent.

But this week’s move by US businessman Stan Kroenke to take his stake in Arsenal, the underachieving English Premier League football club, to 63 percent while agreeing a mandatory offer for the rest of the shares could turn out to be good news for Russia’s underachieving Olympic athletes.

Why? Because Arsenal minority shareholder Alisher Usmanov may sooner or later be in line to receive a very large cheque.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: English football faces moment of truth this autumn

Mihir Bose blog picture

This autumn could see English football face its moment of truth

That moment being when the Government appoints a regulator to run the national game. Remember, this is a Tory-led collation wedded to free enterprise and firmly believing that sports bodies should run their own sports and the Government should be a facilitator not a regulator.

Now, talk of a regulator running the game is not new. Almost exactly a year ago,

Andrew Warshaw: Irish, Scots and Welsh should shut up and just be part of Team GB at London 2012

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If ever there was a lie to the old adage that sport and politics don’t mix, the festering row over a united British football team at next year’s London Olympics must rank as the ultimate example.

Ever since London won the right to stage the Games, the three non-English Home Associations have steadfastly insisted they do not want to know anything about a united team because of a perceived threat to their independence.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Blatter and Bin Hammam chances rest on who can claim credit for the Goal Project

Mihir Bose(2)

The FIFA Presidential election will turn on two words: Goal Project.

This was Sepp Blatter’s great idea, energetically pushed by him ever since he got elected as President. But, and this is crucial, it was run by Mohammed Bin Hammam. The Qatari can win if, through his stewardship of the project, he has built such support in FIFA that he can undercut Blatter, particularly in the small organisations round. It is a big if.

Andrew Warshaw: The teasing is over – but can bin Hammam really oust the mighty Sepp Blatter from FIFA’s top job?

Andrew Warshaw

So now we know. After seemingly interminable prevarication, Mohamed Bin Hammam has finally shown his hand and announced that he really does intend to try and end Sepp Blatter’s 13-year reign at the head of football’s world governing body.

For the last few months, at conferences and congresses the world over, rather like handing a sweet to a child and then withdrawing it at the last moment, bin Hammam has teased us with all manner of hints and innuendos.

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David Owen: Surreal moment Gaddafi’s son told me his dream of owning Man Utd was “like buying the Church of England”

“Let me tell you something: a few months ago, about seven or eight months ago, we were about to buy shares in Manchester United.

“We kept it secret because I thought we were going to do it, but now it’s impossible, so let’s talk about it.”

It was, quite simply, one of the most surreal moments of my journalistic career.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Have we maligned FIFA or, for that matter, the IOC?

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Given how these organisations see themselves as accountable to nobody but themselves, and this in an era when the cry of democracy and transparency cannot even be resisted by Arab despots, this may seem a ridiculous question.

Yet I am inclined to raise it because of how different the Cricket World Cup in India is turning out compared to the Football World Cup in South Africa.

I have been struck by this comparison in the past week as I have travelled in India following the 50-over cricket tournament.

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David Owen: Of Juve, Manchester United and Maradona – or why a luxury watchmaker sponsors football

Hublot, the Swiss watchmaker, has some singular ideas about sports sponsorship.

You might expect a luxury brand whose products have an average retail price of SFr23,000 to take an interest in, say, polo. Or top-end sailing, or maybe Formula One.

And, indeed, Hublot is involved with some of these.

But football? Well, let’s just say it would not be at the top of my list.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: The FA has never got to grips with English football

The problem with English football is not the Premier League. Nor that its chairman, Sir David Richards, uses industrial language.

MPs may have been shocked when Lord Triesman, former chairman of the FA, told the House of Commons Select Committee on football how Richards goes about his business and the language he uses.

But that is not the real issue.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Football owe Roman Abramovich thanks for transfer madness

Mihir Bose(2)

The £225 million ($363 million) spend in the January transfer window has been greeted with awe, alarm and the sort of reaction that suggests something entirely new has happened.

That is not so.

Yes, the figure is a record. But that fact, by itself, does not change the basic realities of the Premier League.

Andrew Warshaw: English spending spree leaves Platini in no doubt who is bottom of Financial Fair Play league

Andrew Warshaw

Ever since UEFA announced its financial fair play regulations designed to stop clubs over-spending, Michel Platini has been at pains not to single out the Premier League as the prime culprits. Penny for the UEFA President’s thoughts now.

Any of us who thought – and there are a good many – that the age of mind-boggling transfer fees had been swallowed up by the credit crunch were brought right back to reality when the mid-season window reached its frenzied dramatic conclusion.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: If English football had more women in power then Keys-Gray sexism would not have happened

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Andy Gray and Richard Keys are the only people who appear to be surprised by the storm their comments have caused.

But what really intrigues me are the two issues the whole affair raises. Neither have received much attention. One relates to Sky Sports. The other is best summed up in the following question: where is England’s Karen Espelund?

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Alan Hubbard: McMenemy’s treatment would try the patience of a Saint

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Funny game football, they say, Except that no one is laughing at the moment.

What with the sexist piggery at Sky, the sordid squabbling over who kicks off at the Olympic Stadium after 2012, the ineptitude of those who run the game, the ever-escalating greed-is-good philosophy of the Premier League and those who play in it, you would think it would be a total turn-off by now.

But perversely, the public continue to turn on.