Mihir Bose: Triesman scandal not the end of England 2018 World Cup bid
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Hours after the Triesman affair broke, a German colleague emailed me saying “bye bye England”.
It was an understandable response.
Columnists
Andrew Warshaw: Portsmouth should enjoy the FA Cup Final, their problems are about to get worse
Under normal circumstances, FA Cup Final week should be about excitement, anticipation and gaining maximum publicity for all the right reasons.
But Portsmouth are no ordinary club as the last few months have starkly illustrated.
David Beckham: Why England can win the right to host the World Cup in 2018
As you read this I am in Zurich about to undertake the unique privilege of handing England’s Bid Book for the 2018/22 World Cup’s to the President of FIFA Sepp Blatter.
This is an amazing honour for any English man or woman.
Mihir Bose: Does Chelsea’s Premiership triumph herald the start of a revolution in English football?
Does the 2009-2010 Premiership mark a season that heralds revolutionary change?
Or are the changes more cosmetic?
Mihir Bose: Sepp Blatter has neutralised Bin Hammam and sees no threat from Platini
Sepp Blatter has always been insistent that football should control itself and not be run by politicians.
Yet the great irony is that he is the ultimate football politician, the man who could teach many a professional politician a trick or two.
Andrew Warshaw: Hooliganism reminder that England 2018 can take nothing for granted
England’s 2018 World Cup campaign team have been at great pains to highlight the progress that has been made since the dark days of football hooliganism that became known around the world as “the English disease”.
Mihir Bose: Manchester United suitors must be beware of history
Football works best as a dictatorship, not a democracy.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson.
He was never happy with the Manchester United board when it was run as a plc. Indeed he refused to take up the shares when the club floated, although this may have reflected his deep socialist convictions of equal shares for all.
David Owen: Some people think it is all over – it is not
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So is that it then?
Should Korea, Australia and other leading candidates to stage the 2022 World Cup quietly pack up their toys and go home?
A casual reader of FIFA President Joseph Blatter’s comments in Qatar at the weekend might be forgiven for thinking so.
Mihir Bose: Europa League is another concept that the English have been slow to grasp
The British have a great capacity to invent new sports. But, having got the world playing, they are very hostile to any change to the sports they have invented.
The British genius for sports has been well documented. The country may not be a sporting super-power but nearly all modern sports were either invented in this country or their laws codified here.
The problem arises when the sports the British have invented are changed,
Andrew Warshaw: Wembley pitch can only damage 2018 World Cup prospects
The national stadium is supposed to represent the maximum a country can offer, an iconic venue that provides the best possible platform for deciding the outcome of the most important fixtures.
A venue that should give players the freedom to express themselves, managers the ability to change tactics without fear of accident and fans the unique experience of watching football at its most expansive.
David Owen: In the court of Guus Hiddink
“Why are we so enthusiastic about Barcelona and Lionel Messi?
“[It’s] because he is playing like a kid.
“It’s like he is leaving his house and saying to his mum, ‘I’m going to play football, I’ll be back at 9 o’clock.’”
Mihir Bose: The FA Cup has to accept it is no longer the crown jewel of English football
This year’s FA Cup should have been a classic, one that should have helped to relaunch the oldest cup competition in the world.
Mihir Bose: No regulator will stop the Premier League juggernaut
This could be a defining week for the Premier League.
By Wednesday no English club may be in the Champions League, the first time since 2003 they would have failed to go beyond the quarter finals. And what is more, the Ofcom ruling that Sky charges its rivals too much for rights could mean that in future earnings from televised rights could be affected.
David Owen: Teixeira challenge could take shine off good news week for Blatter
It has been a good couple of weeks for Joseph Blatter, FIFA’s veteran President.
First, FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee rejected a proposal that might have limited the presidency’s mandate to two consecutive terms of four years.
Mihir Bose: West Ham Olympic Stadium saga is beginning to repeat itself as farce
History may not always repeat itself first as tragedy then as farce, as Karl Marx said, but there are some very curious and interesting similarities in the latest attempt to get West Ham into the Olympic Stadium.