The Archive

Imagine if Roman Abramovich didn’t just own Chelsea but insisted on playing for them. A 58-year-old compatriot does just that back home, writes Dan Brennan

Picture the scene: on a sub-zero Saturday afternoon, in the Russian Republic of Udmurtia, 1,000km east of Moscow, Gazovik-Gazprom Izhevsk are leading 2-1 at home to Neftekhimik in the final game of the Russian Division Two (Urals-Volga region) season. Then, in the 35th minute, a familiar refrain booms out over the PA system: “Tumaev is entering the pitch!” Ten minutes later Gaz-Gaz are awarded a penalty. Vladimir Tumaev steps up and misses, but seconds later he makes amends, firing home a shot from the edge of the area and his team eventually win the match 3-2. It was Tumaev’s ninth goal in almost 150 competitive matches for Gaz-Gaz. Not a great average for a centre-forward. But then, these days, the 58-year-old’s appearances are generally restricted to cameos from the bench. And nobody is going to drop him – he owns the club.

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Dear WSC
Does anyone else have deep misgivings about the development of recent years that expects players to put the ball out of play whenever a team-mate or opponent is injured, rather than relying on the referee to stop the game? What could once have been construed as a sporting gesture has been ruined and abused by dishonest players feigning injury and the resulting gesturing of their team-mates, pressuring their opponents to put the ball out of play. It is easy to finger Villarreal as prime proponents of this form of cheating, but there are many other Champions League and Premiership teams who take advantage of the current understanding to break up play and unsettle their opponents. Unless a player has suffered a head or other serious injury requiring immediate treatment, then the game should be allowed to continue until the next stoppage in play. If the team-mates of an “injured” player wish to put the ball out of play so that he can leave the pitch or receive treatment, fine – but they shouldn’t expect their opponents to give them the ball straight back from the resulting throw-in. Give the control back to the referee who, in the absence of a foul, can decide whether to stop the game or let it continue, using a drop ball to restart play if necessary. There are few more irritating sights in football than a team building an attack only to be confronted by their opponents waving and gesturing towards their team-mate sitting on his backside in the other penalty area, causing play to come to an unnecessary halt.
Steve Townsend, Barton-le-Clay

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Video referees would hand even more control of the game to Sky

You’ll have seen or heard the exact same interview several times, unless you have become more adept than we are with the remote control. A scowling manager appears to be making a big effort to control his emotions while he is asked about the controversial decision that has “cost” his team a win, a suspension, or the chance to come back from 3-0 down. It happens, understandably, when people are upset. But the manager will then be invited to agree that we must consider using technology to help referees get offside/handball/goalline decisions right.

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The MLS was formed two decades after the NASL finished. Graham Hughes reports that it's still going strong ten years on 

The long-term significance
Twelve years after the North American Soccer League (NASL) had fizzled out, a new professional league was launched in the United States. As part of the agreement to stage the 1994 World Cup, FIFA had insisted on a “Division One” league being formed. Despite persistent financial losses and a failure to make a major impact in the American sports world, MLS has enjoyed far more stability than its chaotic predecessor and approaches its tenth anniversary in reasonably healthy shape.

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Cramped and a capacity of 14,000 are the characteristics of Northern Ireland's Windsor Park. Robbie Meredith reports on what the future may hold for the national stadium

While supporters of the other home nations are either looking forward to Germany 2006 or contemplating progress under new managers, Northern Ireland fans are currently engaged in a surreal debate that encompasses, among others, IRA hunger strikers, George Best and US politician and billionaire Ross Perot.

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