Mihir Bose's Blog, page 95
December 5, 2010
Notes on a Scandal: Shambles of the 2018 bid leaves the FA to mop up the collateral damage
Sunday Times
Three days after England's 2018 hopes crumbled, the Football Association is having to come to terms with the collateral damage of the Zurich disaster. It has thrown the search for a new FA chairman into chaos and will be the subject of a parliamentary select committee hearing early next year. The government is determined to reform football governance.
Hugh Robertson, the sports minister, said yesterday: "The coalition government has a clear commitment, laid down in the Department for Culture Media and Sport business plan, to make progress on the reform of football governance by May next year. We intend to carry out that commitment."
Three days after England's 2018 hopes crumbled, the Football Association is having to come to terms with the collateral damage of the Zurich disaster. It has thrown the search for a new FA chairman into chaos and will be the subject of a parliamentary select committee hearing early next year. The government is determined to reform football governance.
Hugh Robertson, the sports minister, said yesterday: "The coalition government has a clear commitment, laid down in the Department for Culture Media and Sport business plan, to make progress on the reform of football governance by May next year. We intend to carry out that commitment."
December 1, 2010
Wooing Jack Warner is now the key for England winning 2018 bid battle
Evening Standard
Never has a bid for the World Cup been more fluid and in the last three days here in Zurich I have heard every speculation. They have ranged from England and Russia going out in the first round to England actually winning.
Our bid team, led by Andy Anson, are going into the last 24 hours in a bullish mood, confident that the bookmakers may have got it wrong in making England second favourites behind Russia.
To an extent, some of this is the optimism that all bids generate. They have to believe they can win otherwise there is little point in bidding.
Never has a bid for the World Cup been more fluid and in the last three days here in Zurich I have heard every speculation. They have ranged from England and Russia going out in the first round to England actually winning.Our bid team, led by Andy Anson, are going into the last 24 hours in a bullish mood, confident that the bookmakers may have got it wrong in making England second favourites behind Russia.
To an extent, some of this is the optimism that all bids generate. They have to believe they can win otherwise there is little point in bidding.
November 30, 2010
Winning the sympathy vote won't be enough for England's 2018 bid
Evening Standard
FIFA elections, Peter Velappan, the former general secretary of the Asian Football Federation, used to say, are extremely treacherous. So how treacherous is England's fight to bring the 2018 World Cup to this country given that many in the English bid feel it has been undermined by treachery within the camp with the BBC [...]
FIFA elections, Peter Velappan, the former general secretary of the Asian Football Federation, used to say, are extremely treacherous. So how treacherous is England's fight to bring the 2018 World Cup to this country given that many in the English bid feel it has been undermined by treachery within the camp with the BBC [...]
Johnny Giles: Bosses playing mind games are just bullies
Evening Standard
Johnny Giles knows a thing or two about football management. His first boss, at the age of 15 when he came over from Ireland to join Manchester United, was Matt Busby. Then came Don Revie at Leeds and he even played for Brian Clough, albeit only for 44 days during Old Big 'Ead's most infamous job.
Now, having managed the Republic of Ireland and West Brom, that seems a vanished age of goodness. Okay, Revie and Clough were never shy in courting controversy — the former walked out on England while the latter was so outspoken the Football Association never trusted him with the national team.
Johnny Giles knows a thing or two about football management. His first boss, at the age of 15 when he came over from Ireland to join Manchester United, was Matt Busby. Then came Don Revie at Leeds and he even played for Brian Clough, albeit only for 44 days during Old Big 'Ead's most infamous job.Now, having managed the Republic of Ireland and West Brom, that seems a vanished age of goodness. Okay, Revie and Clough were never shy in courting controversy — the former walked out on England while the latter was so outspoken the Football Association never trusted him with the national team.
November 28, 2010
Day of reckoning for England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup
The Sunday Times
England must win friends and influence people if their bid to host the 2018 World Cup is to overcome Russia and the Spain-Portugal joint bid
England's World Cup bid team are this weekend desperately trying to secure at least six first-round votes of Fifa executives for the 2018 tournament. Should England not manage that on Thursday, when voting takes place in Zurich, they would still survive the first round. But their chances of beating their main rivals, Russia, or the joint bid of Spain-Portugal, will be terminally weakened.
To make sure of the crucial sixth vote, England's attention has focused on the Japanese member, Junji Ogura. That is why Jeremy Hunt, the secretary of state for sport, accompanied Paul Elliott, the bid director, on the long trip to Kuala Lumpur to attend the 2010 Asian football awards. Normally this would not be on the agenda of a British cabinet minister but the presence of Hunt, a fluent Japanese speaker, was considered essential.
England must win friends and influence people if their bid to host the 2018 World Cup is to overcome Russia and the Spain-Portugal joint bid
England's World Cup bid team are this weekend desperately trying to secure at least six first-round votes of Fifa executives for the 2018 tournament. Should England not manage that on Thursday, when voting takes place in Zurich, they would still survive the first round. But their chances of beating their main rivals, Russia, or the joint bid of Spain-Portugal, will be terminally weakened.
To make sure of the crucial sixth vote, England's attention has focused on the Japanese member, Junji Ogura. That is why Jeremy Hunt, the secretary of state for sport, accompanied Paul Elliott, the bid director, on the long trip to Kuala Lumpur to attend the 2010 Asian football awards. Normally this would not be on the agenda of a British cabinet minister but the presence of Hunt, a fluent Japanese speaker, was considered essential.
November 25, 2010
Years of neglect cannot be made up for in a few months of hectic lobbying
Insideworldfootball.biz
Should England not win the 2018 World Cup, and that must be considered a possibility, then I suggest the starting point for the post-mortem should be a thin orange and blue FIFA booklet called the Committees Directory 2110. This lists the people who sit on the various FIFA committees.
These committees are the powerhouse of the organisation. They range from World Cup organisation, to referee administration, the technical development of the game, player status, legal issues and the many strategic, disciplinary, appeal and ethical matters that the world game constantly throws up. What emerges from this list of members is the limited influence and reach of English football.
Should England not win the 2018 World Cup, and that must be considered a possibility, then I suggest the starting point for the post-mortem should be a thin orange and blue FIFA booklet called the Committees Directory 2110. This lists the people who sit on the various FIFA committees.
These committees are the powerhouse of the organisation. They range from World Cup organisation, to referee administration, the technical development of the game, player status, legal issues and the many strategic, disciplinary, appeal and ethical matters that the world game constantly throws up. What emerges from this list of members is the limited influence and reach of English football.
November 23, 2010
Sir Keith Mills: I know why TV probe will not kill our 2018 bid
Evening Standard
Sir Keith Mills has had an involvement in sport that most of us can only dream of, yet the past few weeks have been more exhausting than exciting.
The 60-year-old, who is on the advisory board of England's 2018 World Cup bid, has been holding the hands of the campaign's leaders as they have, once again, been buffeted by events beyond their control.
Sir Keith Mills has had an involvement in sport that most of us can only dream of, yet the past few weeks have been more exhausting than exciting.The 60-year-old, who is on the advisory board of England's 2018 World Cup bid, has been holding the hands of the campaign's leaders as they have, once again, been buffeted by events beyond their control.
November 21, 2010
England's 2018 World Cup bid on back foot
Sunday Times
With the vote looming large too many twists and turns have harmed England's campaign
England's 2018 problem is not the British press but the policy twists and turns that have seen the World Cup bid reinvent itself three times since it was launched. This has left the 2018 team on the back foot, a position that, even insiders concede, makes a win difficult.
With the vote looming large too many twists and turns have harmed England's campaign
England's 2018 problem is not the British press but the policy twists and turns that have seen the World Cup bid reinvent itself three times since it was launched. This has left the 2018 team on the back foot, a position that, even insiders concede, makes a win difficult.
November 18, 2010
David Cameron must invoke spirit of Sir Alex Ferguson for England to win 2018 World Cup
Insideworldfootball.biz
Sir Alex Ferguson's famous comment "football, bloody hell" made after Manchester United did the treble in 1999, could well apply to the World Cup bids. Had a script-writer presented this scenario, it would have been rejected out of hand.
The script has as a key player a man who scored the winning goal against England nearly 30 years ago, and has seen the English bid team effectively apologising for the UK media.
Sir Alex Ferguson's famous comment "football, bloody hell" made after Manchester United did the treble in 1999, could well apply to the World Cup bids. Had a script-writer presented this scenario, it would have been rejected out of hand.
The script has as a key player a man who scored the winning goal against England nearly 30 years ago, and has seen the English bid team effectively apologising for the UK media.
November 17, 2010
Cyclist Victoria Pendleton is determined to fight her corner in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics
London Evening Standard
Victoria Pendleton should have little reason to complain. Success on the cycling track has won her medals galore, including gold in Beijing, she has an MBE and is much sought after by advertisers, yet she fears she will never overcome being a woman in a man's world.
"I work in a very male-oriented environment and it is hard sometimes," admits the 30-year-old from Hertfordshire. "Nobody has ever told me I cannot do anything but you have to do it in a very masculine way. You have to be harder, tougher, develop a thicker skin and emotions have to pushed to one side — you can't cry. When I do, I have to apologise, say: I'm sorry everyone, I'm just having an emotional day'."
Victoria Pendleton should have little reason to complain. Success on the cycling track has won her medals galore, including gold in Beijing, she has an MBE and is much sought after by advertisers, yet she fears she will never overcome being a woman in a man's world.
"I work in a very male-oriented environment and it is hard sometimes," admits the 30-year-old from Hertfordshire. "Nobody has ever told me I cannot do anything but you have to do it in a very masculine way. You have to be harder, tougher, develop a thicker skin and emotions have to pushed to one side — you can't cry. When I do, I have to apologise, say: I'm sorry everyone, I'm just having an emotional day'."
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