Columnists Archives - Page 59 of 78 - Inside World Football

Mihir Bose: Could the collateral damage of FIFA’s reform be the loss of Britain’s home teams?

It was always to be expected that the London 2102 Olympics would see a Team GB in football for the one and only time in the modern era. This was inevitable given the vehement opposition of the Scots, and the lukewarm response of the other home nations; fearful that an Olympic Team GB will mean the end of Britain’s unique position in world football, the only country with four teams.

But while Team GB in the wider football world will never come about,

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David Owen: Cardiff City will always be big men with silky touches playing in blue shirts to me

David Owen_-_IWF

Now that I’ve seen the pictures, I am ready to believe it: Cardiff City are playing this season in red shirts (Heiðar Helguson, pictured below left, in the new shirt).

It feels wrong – like archery at Lord’s or Usain Bolt doing the polevault.

My personal image of Cardiff will always be caught up with Jimmy Scoular’s team that so nearly made it into the top tier of “English” football in 1970-71.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Football, with its herd mentality, could learn from Olympic sports’ willingness to share information

The Olympics always puts football in the box, if only for a brief two-week period.

Indeed, the very nature of football’s participation in the Games, with teams composed of players who hope to aspire to be the best, but are not yet the best, give it the status of an interloper. And as if to emphasise this status, football starts even before the Opening Ceremony. In the wider world, it may be the greatest of all sports,

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David Gold: It looks like UEFA’s financial fair play initiative might just be working

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Financial uncertainty is hindering the pre-season preparations of La Liga outfit Málaga. Despite being bankrolled by its wealthy Qatari owner, players’ wages have, reportedly, not been paid.

The club is also on the brink of losing its best player, the Spain international Santi Cazorla (pictured below, centre), to Premier League side Arsenal. A number of Spanish newspapers have also reported that Málaga’s owner Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nassar Al-Thani is looking to sell the club.

Andrew Warshaw: Team GB continue to break new ground for British women’s football

Andrew Warshaw_-_IWF

Thirteen years ago, during a trip to California, I watched the United States beat China in a nail-biting penalty shootout at the famous Rose Bowl to clinch the women’s World Cup amid intoxicating euphoria.

It was an awesome spectacle in front of a staggering 90,000-plus crowd – made even more so by Brandi Chastain becoming an overnight celebrity by ripping off her shirt at the finish and swinging it in the air, pictures of which were immediately flashed around the world.

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Philip Barker: Britain played its last Olympic football match in 1971 when no-one really cared

Philip Barker

When Ryan Giggs (pictured below) led the Great Britain team out against Senegal at Old Trafford yesterday, it was their first competitive Olympic match for 41 years.

In those days, the game in England was still divided between professionals and amateurs and Great Britain were drawn to play Bulgaria in their quest to reach the Olympic Games in Munich.

Charles Hughes, a coach at the Football Association (FA) and the manager of the England amateur team was put in charge.

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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.

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

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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?”

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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.

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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,