“Authority should derive from the consent of the governed. Not from the threat of force.” Barbie, Toy Story 3
When Barbie exasperatedly vents words more suited to a treatise by Friedrich Hayek than to an animated doll, the scriptwriters at Disney gave us one of the truly great lines of movie history. Because although spoken by the very embodiment of infantilism – a plastic doll played with by generations of young girls –
By Richard van Poortvliet
May 6 – Russia could be about to introduce a salary cap for its clubs, according to the Honorary President of the Russian Football Union, Vyacheslav Koloskov (pictured). The Russian State Duma took the lead in promoting the idea to the association.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 6- Manchester City and Paris St. Germain, both bankrolled by Middle East investors, appear to have broken Uefa’s financial fair play regulations and look like receiving swingeing punishments as a result of their relentless quest to become permanent members of European football’s affluent elite.
May 6- Having made so many friends on the pitch with the quality of their football, Atletico Madrid have suddenly hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 6- Italian football has suffered a series of further blows to its reputation as Rafa Benitez’s first trophy in charge of Napoli was overshadowed by appalling fan violence.
The words were worthy enough, the message unequivocal. But the real intentions were cringingly obvious to anyone who has followed Asian football politics.
Last week’s attempt by Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa’s to mark the first anniversary of his leadership by focussing on his so-called achievements served only to highlight the unedifying rift that continues to divide his increasingly fractious organisation.
Ever since he took over last year,
By Andrew Warshaw
May 5 – The Gambia, one of Africa’s smallest countries, has been banned from all international competition for two years for fielding no fewer than five over-age players in a qualifier for the Continent’s under-20 Championship.
By Paul Nicholson
May 5 – Depending on which part of the world you ask the questions, you will get different reactions and emotions regarding the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Doha-based Agency 222 conducted a survey that found local feeling was that the World Cup was defining and shaping an emerging nation.
By Paul Nicholson
May 5 – FIFA’s revamp of its development programmes in 2013 and the changes in the regulations have made the year a big one for FIFA’s a team that has been responsible for spending $500,000 a day on development activity and corporate social responsibility projects.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
May 5 – CSKA Moscow has signed a sponsorship deal with one of Russia’s leading aircraft manufacturers, Russian Helicopters.
By Paul Nicholson
May 5 – Initial reaction to the announcement last week that the Copa America Centenario will be played in the US and hosted by CONCACAF in 2016 has been positive.
By David Owen
May 4 – The most powerful man in world sport faces a nervous week as one of his favourite football clubs battles to avoid relegation from the German Bundesliga.
With Real Madrid and their noisy but vastly improved neighbours Atletico, earning well-deserved places at this year’s UEFA Champions’ League final in Lisbon, the fraternity looks forward to what is certainly going to be a keenly contested encounter.
But as Europe’s – and undoubtedly the world’s – leading club tournament grows in competitive and commercial strength, certainly helped by the huge global audience it continues to pull, it is a telling reminder, to African club football,
By Paul Nicholson in Miami
May 2 – The unveiling of the Copa America centennial tournament to be played in the US and hosted by CONCACAF June 3 to June 26, plants a huge new football tournament right in the middle of what is already a packed sporting calendar with UEFA’s 2016 European Championships in France and the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 2 -FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne says 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar should be recognised as “innocent unless proved guilty” by the ongoing investigation into the 2018 and 2022 voting process being led by FIFA’s chief investigator Michael Garcia.