John Duerden says that despite an influx of money across the continent, clubs and governing bodies remain haphazard in their organisation
“A team that has scored just one goal in four matches has eight points. I am simply too amused to try and find an explanation to this,” said Uzbekistan’s Olympic coach Vadim Abramov of United Arab Emirates’ resurgence in the qualifying group. Amusement was not the general reaction after the worst of the wildly varying standards of professionalism in Asian football were revealed once again.
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Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - The Archive
Football charities and voluntary organisations are struggling to survive in the face of austerity, writes Alex Lawson
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that by 2016 the voluntary sector will lose £911 million in public funding. The age of austerity is already having a major effect on grassroots football. The UK’s sporting charities are remarkably fragmented – the likes of the Football Foundation and Football Aid represent the larger organisations in a pyramid featuring professional clubs’ charitable arms, corporate philanthropic projects, small-scale grassroots organisations and long-standing local government initiatives.
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Sunday, April 1st, 2012 - The Archive
Awarding spot-kicks from open play breaks the law of cause and effect, argues Ian Plenderleith
Since being appointed manager of Iraq last August, Zico has repeatedly made it clear that his principal aim is to guide the troubled nation’s football team to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. Despite being well positioned to lead the 2007 Asian champions to the tournament in his homeland, the 58-year-old has discovered that winning over the Iraqi media is a more complicated issue.
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Thursday, March 1st, 2012 - The Archive
The Iraqi media have been critical of Zico’s managerial performance and his reluctance to live in Baghdad, writes Sam Green
Since being appointed manager of Iraq last August, Zico has repeatedly made it clear that his principal aim is to guide the troubled nation’s football team to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. Despite being well positioned to lead the 2007 Asian champions to the tournament in his homeland, the 58-year-old has discovered that winning over the Iraqi media is a more complicated issue.
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Thursday, March 1st, 2012 - The Archive
Steve Menary on how the Great Britain team will have a past triumph to live up to when they take part in the Olympics this summer
A century is a long time for any side to wait to reclaim a trophy that once seemed their own. But should Great Britain’s controversial Olympic team win gold in London this summer, that will be the gap between their titles. Great Britain won the first proper Olympic football event – and the first proper international tournament – in 1908. They had home advantage and faced mostly weak opposition in the six-team tournament. Holding on to the title four years later was surely the GB side’s finest achievement.
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Thursday, March 1st, 2012 - The Archive