Football authorities in the Republic of Ireland have asked that the second leg of their World Cup play off with France be replayed.
The Football Association of Ireland has lodged a complaint with Fifa after they were knocked out in Paris last night following a French goal which should have been disallowed.
The ROI went out 2 – 1 on aggregate after a 1 – 1 draw away from home. But in the build up to the French goal, Barcelona’s Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball on 2 occasions. While the first could be described as instinctive, the second looked calculated.
An FAI statement read:
The hand ball, was recognised the Fifa commissioner, the referee observer and the match officials, as well as by the player himself.
There is precedent for the invalidation of such results. In 2005, the bureau of the Fifa World Cup organising committee reached a decision to invalidate the result of a World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of a ‘technical error by the referee of the match’.
The Football Association of Ireland is hoping that Fifa and its disciplinary committee will, on behalf of football fans world-wide, act in a similar fashion so that the standards of fair play and integrity can be protected.
adidas plan to make trainers costing just €1 for people who cannot afford to buy shoes.
Unlikely to be less than a pound, an adidas trainer.
The scheme is due to start in 2010 in Bangladesh and takes its inspiration from Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who suggested the “social business” project to the firm.
It is not known yet if the shoes will have the Adidas three-stripes label on them, or be sold under a different brand name. Runau said it had been suggested the shoes not be branded at all, but this was being studied. ‘We’re just at the beginning,’ he said.
The good news is that they have agreed to make the shoes on a non-profit basis, selling them at no more than the cost of materials and manufacturing costs.
This initiative will help adidas improve their image. Only last year adidas were slated for allegedly paying Chinese factory workers low wages.
He could dazzle with his feet, and occasionally his hand, but Maradona’s mouth has never been quite so talented.
Certainly, Fifa have taken exception to what came out of it after Maradona had seen his Argentina side beat Uruguay to qualify for next summer’s World Cup finals.
Maradona, who had been criticised by the media before the game, let fly with a foul-mouthed tirade which was broadcast live on television.
The ban will run from 15th November to 15th January 2010, which means he will miss the World Cup draw on 4th December.
He could also miss a home international friendly against the Czech Republic scheduled for 16th December at a so-far unspecified venue, though his role as coach at the World Cup will not be affected.
Maradona, who attended the three-hour disciplinary committee hearing in Zurich, was also fined £15,000.
As the national team kick-off their preparations for South Africa 2010 with a testing friendly against five-time world champions Brazil, fans can continue to play a key role in helping to bring World Cup football to England in 2018.
Significant global backing has already been secured as fans from 140 countries around the world have pledged their support to the England 2018 FIFA World Cup Bid via the official website, Facebook pages and text message service. England 2018 supporters have also been pictured all over the world with Back the Bid scarves from Mt Everest to the Rocky Mountains, Hong Kong to Sydney and Rome to Dar es Salaam.
English football’s passionate followers can provide vital support to the England 2018 World Cup Bid by demonstrating how much a World Cup in England would mean to them. Fans from across the globe have joined some of the biggest names in English sport and entertainment in backing England 2018, including: John Terry, David Beckham, Germany captain Michael Ballack, Ghana midfielder Michael Essien, World Cup winner Ossie Ardiles, Formula One champs Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, Chicago Bulls captain Luol Deng, England’s Ashes winners, Hollywood star and comedian Eddie Izzard, funnyman Peter Kaye, world champion athlete Jessica Ennis and legendary musicians Noel Gallagher and Sting.
There are a variety of ways supporters can Back the Bid including texting ‘ENGLAND’ to 62018, logging onto the official website www.england2018bid.com, joining the official Facebook site www.facebook.com/england2018 or by following the bid on Twitter www.twitter.com/england2018bid. Fans recently provided another dramatic illustration of their desire for World Cup football in England when a giant ‘Back the Bid’ message involving 25,000 supporters was unveiled at the Belarus fixture at Wembley.
Speaking ahead of this week’s Brazil game, England captain John Terry urged fans to show their support:
The passionate support for English football is one of our greatest assets and I’ve no doubt people will show how much they want a World Cup in England by texting ENGLAND to 62018 and getting their friends and family to do the same. Support from fans could really make a difference and help us win the bid so I hope they join me in Backing England 2018.
Supporters will also be able to select their favourite Host City by texting the name of that city to the 62018 number (users will be charged at their standard network rate for all text messages). In addition, a special England 2018 iPhone application and widget are available ensure fans keep fully up-to-date with the latest news, video and imagery at the touch of a button. Both can be found at www.england2018bid.com along with the latest news, videos and pictures.
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was October’s most effective performer across Europe’s five major leagues, according to the Castrol Index..
After studying every minute of every match in the top five European leagues and the Champions League in October 2009, Castrol Performance Analysts have decided that Didier Drogba’s performances have been head and shoulders above the rest. How does the Castrol Index work?
With the Chelsea forward returning to Champions League action following his three-game European suspension, he can now continue to close the gap on the top 20 in the Castrol Rankings.
Liverpool’s Fernando Torres (8th) remains the top ranked Premier League player, followed by United’s Nemanja Vidic (12th), but Drobga is on course to close the gap if he maintains his current form.
Chelsea’s superiority in the Premier League in October is reflected in the fact that the Stamford Bridge club boast nine players in the top 100 of the Castrol Rankings, more than any other Premier League club and only beaten by Barcelona who have 12.
Thierry Henry and Barcelona retained their dominance at the top of the October 2009 Castrol Rankings, but the leading group will be casting a nervous glance over their shoulders at the sight of Didier Drogba moving up through the field.
Chelsea striker Drogba had an outstanding October during which he produced a series of performances that marked him out as the month’s most effective performer across Europe’s five major leagues and moved the Ivory Coast star up 50 places in the Castrol Rankings to 23rd place.
The best of games for Drogba was in the 4-0 win at Bolton which showcased the player’s ability both to score goals and create chances for others and was the highest scoring performance of the month. With the Blues forward returning to Champions League action following his three-game European suspension, he could continue to close the gap on the the top 20 of the Castrol Rankings.
Do you agree that Drogba was Europe’s best performing player in October? Let us know below in the comments….
Chelsea will be without Jose Bosingwa for around 3 months after the defender underwent surgery for a knee problem.
The former Porto player has been hampered with the injury since mid-October and now won’t feature for the Blues until the new year.
Bosingwa signed for Chelsea in May 2008
Bosingwa has made 8 appearances for Chelsea this term, the last of them the 2 – 1 defeat to Aston Villa, the game in which he sustained the injury.
However, Chelsea have received better news on Ashley Cole who will not need to go under the knife for his shin injury. Cole played for the club in the 1 – 0 win over Manchester United last Sunday but then withdrew from the England squad to face Brazil in Qatar this weekend.
A statement on the Chelsea web site said:
Ashley Cole is suffering from an aggravation of a depressed fracture of the tibia, originally picked up against Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge. The injury will not require surgery.
The 28-year-old had missed three games after initially picking up the injury in the Champions League last month.
He returned against Madrid in the return Group D game last week but needed a pain-killing injection to enable him to play against United at Stamford Bridge.
The football world is coming to terms with the death of Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke who died after being hit by a train in an apparent suicide.
The 32 year old was struck at a level crossing near Hanover.
The national team has cancelled today’s training session and all media activity after learning of the death of the Hannover 96 player. Their friendly match against Chile on Saturday has now been called off.
Fans flocked to his club’s Niedersachsen Stadium overnight to lay flowers and light candles at the gates in memory of their captain, who had joined them in 2004. Hundreds more queued on this morning to sign an official book of condolence.
Hannover 96 removed all links to its regular website content, replacing them with a black page showing the simple words: “Wir trauern um Robert Enke” (”We are mourning Robert Enke”).
Enke and his wife Theresa lost a two year-old daughter in 2006 to a heart ailment, and it is thought that he never fully came to terms with the devastating loss.
David Beckham has pulled out of Fabio Capello’s latest England squad after LA Galaxy reached Friday’s Major League Soccer Western Conference final.
The match against Brazil in Qatar on 14th November is the penultimate game before Capello names his provisional World Cup squad.
It was always understood that Beckham would be released if his US club side progressed and so it proved after they beat Chivas USA 1 – 0 at the Home Depot Centre to secure a 3 – 2 aggregate win.
With Beckham out, Emile Heskey injured and Michael Owen once again overlooked, Sunderland striker Darren Bent has been included as has Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock and Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone.
25 year old Bent has 8 Premier League goals this season and will be looking to add to the single cap he’s won under the Italian coach so far. Warnock made an eight-minute substitute appearance in Trinidad last year while Huddlestone, is still to make his senior debut.
A plan to increase the tax burden on foreign stars playing in La Liga could result in strike action in the near future.
The Spanish government is planning to raise the rate of tax for overseas players from 24% to 43% should they earn over 600,000 Euro’s per year. The new rule is bound to affect a large number of players as many of them earn that figure in a matter of months.
With the Spanish economy in meltdown, the authorities argue that the new ruling is nothing but fair however the the LFP say that the tax hike will stop leading players from making the switch to la Liga.
The plan, which is due to come in to force on 1st January 2010, will not affect players already plying their trade in Spain such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka or Lionel Messi but even so, it could have a divisive effect as Raul has called for all players, foreign or national, to be treated equally.
No wonder he’s smiling, the new law won’t affect foreign stars already in Spain
The LFP’s top brass are to discuss the problem today with a players strike one of the options being put on the table.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta condemned the government’s move, saying it should have consulted those affected more thoroughly before acting.
Speaking to the club’s web site he said:
This measure damages Spanish football. It would mean that talented players will think twice before coming to our league.
Grimsby Town groundsman Mike Phillips has blamed the near-impossible job of keeping Blundell Park pristine on the advent of bladed football boots.
Phillips, who was crowned League Two groundsman of the year for last season, has no high tech aids to keep the pitch playable, such as undersoil heating, sunlamps and artificial turf.
Instead he tends to a pitch made up of what he calls meadow grass – which is not far removed from your back garden at home.
And the bane of his life is blades on football boots. He told the Football League website:
After each match we are taking grass away. I took eight big bags of grass off the pitch after the Youth Cup tie here. That is grass that won’t grow back over the winter.
Some of the wear is down to the boots players wear these days – the ones with blades. Boots with blades have up to 13 studs on them, which is going to tear up the grass.
In the 80’s they had boots with aluminium studs. There were only about six studs on each boot.
With all the twisting and turning you do with a pair of boots with blades, there’s going to be a lot more damage than there would be with studs.
Phillips adds he “winces a bit” every time his hard work is undone by a rambunctious tackle, but he said:
You get used to it.
It is my job to get it as good as possible and part of that is to get it back after it has been played on.
Sir Alex Ferguson has called for the right to challenge bookings issued in the Champions League.
The Manchester United boss made his point following last night’s match against CSKA Moscow after seeing Darren Fletcher cautioned for diving when he had clearly been tripped in the area.
The Scottish international hasn’t enjoyed the best of luck in the Champions League. Last season he missed the final after being sent-off for a professional foul in the semi-final against Arsenal despite seemingly playing the ball.
Speaking after the match, which ended in a 3 – 3 draw, Ferguson said:
I can’t believe the decision. It’s one of the worst I’ve seen.
You can’t appeal a yellow card - it is crucial because to miss an important game because of that is unfair.
They should look at that but they won’t.
At present, Uefa follows a strict policy with appeals only allowed on the grounds of mistaken identity.
Chelsea’s Joe Cole says the London club must win the Champions League before they can take their place amongst the elite clubs of Europe.
Cole has just returned to the Blues first team after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with injury and is in the squad for the trip to Atletico Madrid.
Cole was injured in last season’s FA Cup tie against Southend
Despite winning the Premier League in 2005 and 2006, Chelsea have yet to secure European club football’s biggest prize. This season, they’ve made a fine start to the campaign winning their opening three fixtures without conceding a goal and Cole says its time to go all the way.
Speaking before the clash in the Spanish capital, Cole said:
Chelsea are building a genuine claim to be as big as the Manchester Uniteds, the Real Madrids, the Milans but you have to win trophies.
It’s important for the club, we need to win the Champions League.
Obviously the Premier League is very important but for this club the Champions League is a massive target for us. We’ve not won it yet.
The Champions League is going to help show us as a worldwide club that means business.
We’ve come close over the last five years and we probably should have won it on a few occasions.
We have the right people in charge, we have the experience now and we have to come to places like this and win, that’s the challenge for us.
Phil Brown has been told that he’ll be in charge for Sunday’s game against Stoke City but the club’s new chairman has stopped short of giving him long-term backing.
Adam Pearson, who’s been with Championship side Derby County for the past two years, will arrive at the club for work today after replacing Paul Duffen as chairman.
Pearson appointed Nigel Clough as boss when at Derby
He takes over with the club in the relegation zone, 2 points adrift of safety after winning just twice in the Premier League this season.
Pearson conceded that if Brown does not start to change things he may find himself under pressure to keep his job.
Speaking to the BBC, he said:
Phil will be manager on Sunday but there’s no point me saying he’s got a job for life, that’s not the case.
We need results, quickly, and that puts pressure on everyone at the club.
How secure is the manager? That’s a tricky one, I think if we don’t get results then that security goes down.
Phil knows that, it’s the business we’re in. It’s been a difficult year and we need to achieve results quickly. We’re all in this together but we’ll have to see what happens over the next couple of weeks.
The hand ball, was recognised the Fifa commissioner, the referee observer and the match officials, as well as by the player himself.
The day I’ll comment on anything like that is the day I get asked, and then I’ll be able to say yes or no.
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