The Archive

In an era of spiralling debts, clubs teetering on the edge of administration will feel the full force of football's anger

As you know, Neil Warnock enjoys a rant. Many football supporters would, however, agree with the content of his re­cent tirade against Leicester City in the Sheffield United programme when the clubs’ met recently. “I find it quite im­moral that they have been allowed to do what they have done off the field.” War­nock’s complaint was that Leicester could write off 90 per cent of their £50 million debt after calling in the administrators last October. Warnock called for punitive action, adding: “Otherwise, everyone who has huge debts will do exactly the same and it leaves clubs like ourselves – who run a tight financial ship – at a huge disadvantage.”

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Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger investgates the scandal engulfing the Bundesliga

A week after All Fools’ Day, Franz Beckenbauer made international headlines. He said Bayern Munich would apply for membership of Serie A should the Bundesliga penalise the club for a clandestine contract with the Kirch Media Group. That, of course, was a typical Kaiserism, the kind of irreverent remark Beckenbauer is known for, but it reflects a serious dispute that began four years ago.

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As Iraq gets used to life after Saddam, Hassanin Mubarak recounts what his rule meant for football – and hopes all Iraqis can now enjoy the game in peace

When Saddam Hussein took over as president in 1979, Iraq had one of the most successful nat­ional teams in Asia and some of the continent’s strong­est clubs. The regime quickly asserted its authority over the nation’s favourite sport, appointing Saddam’s personal body­guard, Sabah Mirza Mahmoud, as head of the Iraq Football Association (IFA). His predecessor, Faleh Akram, was later executed on charges of opposing the regime.

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After playing in front of thousands, having a first date watched by millions didn’t seem too strange to Celtic’s former Portugal star, as Dan Brennan reports 

Jorge Cadete is remembered at Celtic as one of the Three Amigos, the forward line that bedazzled and delighted the Parkhead public during 1996-97. He and his two compadres – Paolo Di Canio and Pierre van Hooijdonk – also had manager Tommy Burns and chairman Fergus McCann reaching for the valium. It was McCann who first coined the epithet – more a sour reference to their fanciful wage demands and antics off the pitch than their buccaneering exploits on it.

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Despite the national side’s impressive displays at last year’s World Cup, America’s domestic league desperately needs to expand, says Mike Woitalla

US manager Bruce Arena allowed cameras into his 2002 World Cup dressing room to film the doc­umentary Our Way. Before sending his men out, he reminded them that they were representing “the greatest country in the world”. Perhaps the phrase provided the extra inspiration needed for his team to reach the quarter-finals. Or maybe Arena was trying to prevent post-tournament defections to Norway, No 1 according to the UN Human Development Index of “most livable” nations. As for the veracity of the “greatest” claim – one heard commonly in a nation where just ten per cent of the population holds a passport – let’s just consider it too subjective to squabble over. But clearly the USA isn’t the greatest place for a professional soc­cer player.

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