We could be roused by the Fifa president’s claim that ‘football’s back’ – if it wasn’t for his bloated new-look tournament that flies in the face of sporting meritocracyWhat a surprise to find that sporticidal maniac Gianni Infantino has added yet another awards ceremony to football’s calendar. As someone who believes that what the world really lacks is a further glittering night of industrial frottage, I am pleased to see the Fifa president identify the need for the football family to come together in this manner.If only there was a tried and tested way for the footballing elite to measure themselves against each other – perhaps in regular competitions, tournaments, championships, derbies, clásicos, leagues, cups, and various other quaint old ideas...
Fifa’s Gianni Infantino has pushed through his 48-team World Cup but those complaining, mostly from Europe, must know that the modern tournament has always been about commerce and politics as much as football gloryIt is still less than a year since Gianni Infantino stood dazzled by destiny at the Fifa congress, tapping his heart in disbelief at really being the president, and already he has swept in the historic, bulky change of a 48-country World Cup. It comes as no surprise, really, that having made it his pitch for votes to expand the World Cup, as he stepped over the fallen careers of his banned former boss at Uefa, Michel Platini, and Fifa’s Sepp Blatter, Infantino has quickly steered through...
‘Communication is difficult,’ say Morecambe of contacting their Brazilian owner, who disappeared within a few months of taking over, but more and more clubs seem to have problemsIf we are going to be generous, it is fair to assume Diego Lemos must have a few stories that have been passed down through the family. His father, Luisinho Tombo, was the leading scorer in the Rio State League of Brazil on two separate occasions, the most prolific striker in the history of his first club, America, with 311 goals, and played alongside Zico at Flamengo. One uncle, Caio Cambalhota, was at Flamengo and another, César Maluco, was part of Brazil’s 1974 World Cup squad because of his performances for Palmeiras.Whether that makes...
The British set the principle of keeping politics and religion out of sport and Sir Stanley Rous was absolute in his interpretation of itWhisper it – you have to, beneath the barrage of furious indignation, bad temper, even declarations of “war”, from the prime minister down, over our gentle symbol of peace – but Fifa has a point about poppies. World football’s governing body, which Fifa still is, tried to articulate this as it unveiled the fines levelled at the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, for framing their November World Cup qualifiers as Armistice Day events.“It is not our intention to judge or question specific commemorations as we fully respect the significance of such moments in...
A backbench bill to remodel English football’s governing body is being drafted but the focus should be on refusing to snuggle up to the reflected glamour of the top flightThere are, inevitably, mixed feelings about seeing past chairmen and directors of the Football Association speaking out now about the need to curb the Premier League’s power, given their propensity mostly to do nothing about it when they had the chance, in the actual job. That might be unfair to David Triesman, who was savaged by the Premier League during his unhappy stint as chairman for daring to assert the primacy of the FA, but the reform proposals of David Bernstein and Greg Dyke, which they failed to secure, always seemed...