FIFA World Cup Brings Cheers For Football Manufacturing Units
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
With the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) World Cup round the corner, the Jalandhar football industry is witnessing a brisk business, courtesy the unorganised domestic and foreign market. The sports manufacturing houses are meeting the deadlines ahead of the World Cup as the demand is more than the supply.
While the soccer mania for the football industry began around October last year, the peak business period has started from March and would continue till May end. In fact football manufacturers feel that the soccer mania in the country may continue post Fifa World Cup.
And this international football season is all the more special as it has a first to its credit. It is for the first time that the Jalandhar soccer industry has switched over to machine stitched footballs. Earlier, the soccer industry was dependent on the hand stitched footballs.
However, the last couple of years saw a shift towards this trend.
Managing Director of Freewill Sports (NIVIA) - a sports goods manufacturing unit, Rajesh Kharbanda said some of the leading sporting houses joined hands with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) to revitalise the industry.
"We held a training programme to learn the art of stitching footballs through machines and installed a locally available machine for this purpose," he added.
"This time the volume of order is much high, for which retail chains have played a key role", Kharbanda said adding that actual promotional campaign would start in June and it will last till September.
For export months of April and March are the peak months and more than half of the orders received were already dispatched, he revealed claiming that in India he real season would begin in May and last up to September.
"Domestic demand has surged not less than 50 per cent, but in the world market the demand has increased more than 70 per cent," Kharbanda said.
Further elaborating the overall scene of the football manufacturing houses, he said, "The industry is upbeat as the organised retail sectors have virtually taken over the domestic market leading to brisk business. It is owing to good business that the domestic demand is no less than 50 per cent and the sales are growing," said Kharbanda.
The football industry has introduced promotional range of world cup country footballs, shin guards and football studs to meet the demands of the domestic market. "Retail houses like Big Bazaar, HyperCITY, Aditya Birla, Bharti Walmart, Spencer are leading the domestic market. And we have introduced special range of promotional country footballs and other products," he added.
Director Exports of Brightway Exports International, Jiten Mahajan, who was the first exporter from India to supply footballs to world renowned Manchester United Football Club, said, "The big chain stores in India has led to a flourishing business with bigger volumes. A major reason behind soccer craze in India is due to media and sports channels which have hooked the youth towards this game", he added.
Mahajan was the first exporter in India who had set up a special football-stitching centre in the city for Manchester United. The stitching centre was inaugurated by director of the club, P Harverson on January 25, 2001.
Among the foreign market footballs are being exported to market giants like Castrol, Pepsi, Cadbury, Philips, Samsung to name a few. "In the foreign market it is China which is ruling the roost with approximately 90 per cent share whereas India has a share of 5 per cent," said Manish Mahajan, an exporter of sports goods from Hans Raj Mahajan Worldwide.
The hi-tech technology coupled with a wider range of production is the major reason behind China leading the international market, added Kharbanda. "Moreover China has mastered the art of machine stitched footballs whereas we have just started", he quipped.
However, the manufacturers and exporters rued the acute shortage of labour in the industry. "Labour shortage has been a major cause of concern for the industry. A major reason behind this trend is the upcoming sports industry at Meerut (UP) as well. Labourers who earlier use to work here now prefer to shift their base to their homeland UP. Moreover, with market trend shifting towards machine stitched footballs the labour has to pick up fast to move ahead," added another exporter. {#}
Labels: Football
posted @ 12:25 PM,
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Soccernomics
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Nation Books, New York, 2009, 336 pp., $14.95 (paper).
Are you getting ready for the soccer World Cup in South Africa this summer? Did you know that a nation’s income, population, and soccer experience are the main determinants of a team’s survival of the first round of the World Cup? Don’t rush off and check where your favorite national team stands. These three factors explain only 25 percent of the variation in goal differences; the remaining 75 percent is unexplained random noise or sheer luck—all courtesy of the power of econometrics.
This and many other surprising facts about the world of soccer are discussed in Soccernomics, by Financial Times writer Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, a leading sports economist. They weave academic analysis and anecdotes from individual players, managers, and teams across the world into a highly readable and entertaining book about the most popular sport in the world. It would have been more fun in undergraduate economics to learn game theory through penalty kicks or regression analysis through soccer examples.
What do large financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers and soccer clubs have in common, and how do they differ? Both are subject to moral hazard (risky behavior is not penalized), because they are usually bailed out. Alas this not always the case—as the example of Lehman Brothers recently showed—but, surprisingly, soccer clubs seldom disappear. Yes, some clubs might go bankrupt (for example, Fiorentina, Leeds United), but according to Kuper and Szymanski, soccer clubs are among the most stable businesses around. Even the few that are not bailed out often reappear with a new name, money, and the same fans and swiftly move up the ranks to the highest league again (Fiorentina, for example). Although banks make enormous profits in good times, soccer clubs are in general unprofitable. The authors find no correlation between league position and profit. Yet, interestingly, soccer players’ salaries explain almost all the variation in English Premier League positions. But the next time your favorite English team announces a multimillion-pound “transfer deal of the year,” don’t get too excited: spectacular transfers do not necessarily correlate with the team’s subsequent league position in the standing.
We also learn that hosting the World Cup or European Cup reduces suicides in European countries, Norway is apparently the most enthusiastic soccer country in Europe, Iraq is among the best overperformers in world soccer, and 50 percent of British ticket holders don’t take up their seats the next season. While bank customers usually stick with their bank unless there’s a bank run, soccer fans don’t seem to be very loyal. In addition, hosting large sports tournaments doesn’t yield any profits or many economic benefits, but it does increase people’s happiness—a finding drawn from the influential field of happiness economics. So even though South Africa is likely to lose money on the forthcoming World Cup, it might be a happier nation this fall—not to mention all the other participating African countries that could reap empowerment, pride, and happiness from the South Africa–hosted World Cup.
What are some of the limitations of the book? The empirical evidence is at times overly focused on England. Economists tend to be a skeptical species (except maybe when it came to rational expectations or efficient markets), so more evidence from other countries would certainly help generalize some of the findings. Also, in general, the explanation of why poor countries do worse at sports—poor nutrition, exposure to disease, lack of networking, and organizational issues—is compelling. But it does not explain why African countries do so well in the FIFA Under-17 and Under-20 soccer World Cups. Nigeria is the most successful U-17 team besides Brazil, with three titles, and the current U-20 world champion is Ghana.
One question for globalizers is when countries such as China and India will make their mark in the soccer world. Brazil, one of their cousins in the so-called BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—has the best national soccer team in the world; the other, Russia, made it to the European Cup semifinals two years ago.
Finally, a word of caution to any soccer manager with a large budget: don’t buy the stars from the World Cup in South Africa. They tend to be overvalued. Buy players in their early twenties and players whose personal problems you can solve (both tend to be undervalued).
Soccernomics is highly recommended not only for soccer fans but for anyone who is interested in how economics tools apply to the wonderful world of soccer.
Heiko Hesse
Economist, IMF; former professional soccer player for Borussia Dortmund; and featured in the German documentaries Die Champions and the forthcoming HalbZeit
Labels: Books, Soccer, World Cup Economy
posted @ 10:56 PM,
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World Cup Venues Ready
South Africa declared it was "all systems go" Friday when it announced the 10 World Cup venues were ready for June's football tournament following a final FIFA inspection tour.
"We can say with confidence we have delivered on our promise of 10 world-class stadiums and delivered them months before the tournament even starts," local Organising Committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan said Friday.
He was speaking at the end of the 10-day inspection of the venues across nine South African cities.
"We have certainly travelled a long road since the first stadium inspection tour in 2005. With each inspection we have seen the stadiums develop from an idea on a piece of paper in an architect's office to the magnificent football arenas that we see before us today."
Six new venues have been built for the month-long tournament and a further four renovated, with Jordaan saying it was "all systems go" for the opening match in Johannesburg on June 11.
He added the focus would now turn to "the final detail."
"No longer are we inspecting where a particular wall will be built but where team buses will park, ensuring that security arrangements are nailed down and making sure the fans will be provided with correct signage to take them to their seat," he said.
Organisers had to deal with years of media speculation that FIFA might move the tournament away from South Africa, as well as repeated concerns over accommodation, transport and security.
(Editing by Sonia Oxley)
Labels: FIFA, South Africa, World Cup
posted @ 10:18 AM,
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South Africa Ready for World Cup
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
South Africa is ready to host this year's World Cup, said a top official, countering what she described as "known and unknown sources that are hell-bent" on sullying the nation's image ahead of the massive sporting event.
Nomvula Paula Mokonyane, the premier of South Africa's powerful Gauteng province, rejected recent criticisms of South Africa, saying that negative reports about its readiness for the World Cup came from opposition politicians as well as journalists inside and outside the country. These people fail to recognize the progress that has put South Africa on par with previous hosts, according to the government official.
"Who is besmirching South Africa? We've got a number of South Africans doing that," she told a group of foreign reporters Tuesday. "We think we're on a world standard, like other places."
With only 79 days to go, South Africa is racing to ensure a smooth World Cup and allay concerns that could scare off soccer fans and tourists.
The monthlong event, to be held at venues around the country, is the first time an African nation has hosted the world soccer championship. But South Africa is struggling to complete roads and venues on time; set aside sufficient electricity for stadiums; tamp down violent crime and minimize potential terrorism threats.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng government is also dealing with disruptive protests over the lack of water and power in some outlying areas as well as strikes and shootings by informal mini-bus operators who oppose a new high-speed bus system. "We aren't concerned about protests— we are living in a vibrant multi-racial democracy," said Ms. Mokonyane. "The concern is when protests are accompanied by violence."
Coupled with the global economic downturn, such concerns pose challenges to ticket sales. After three of five sales phases, about two-thirds of the available tickets for the World Cup have been sold, according to global soccer body FIFA. Officials at FIFA have repeatedly expressed confidence in its World Cup host.
"Now it is time for the whole world to put its trust in South Africa's ability to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup," the organization's president, Joseph S. Blatter, said earlier this month.
The capital of Gauteng, Johannesburg, will be front-and-center during the World Cup. The city will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the first game June 11 and the championship July 11. It will also serve as the main point of entry for foreign tourists arriving in South Africa for the World Cup.
Gauteng province is home to mining conglomerates and banks, and accounts for about two-thirds of South Africa's economic output—as well as one tenth of Africa's total. Some government critics say the predominant role South African business plays in the country improves the prospects for a successful World Cup. The event's sponsors, building contractors and hotel operators are largely private and unburdened by government's problems with efficiency, says Moeletsi Mbeki, a businessman, author and the brother of former president Thabo Mbeki.
"The South African World Cup will be delivered by the private sector," he said.
Ms. Mokonyane, Gauteng's top official, said her government has assumed a central role in World Cup preparation. She's been fielding requests from backpacker groups eager to travel the country and Christian evangelists eager to speak to large crowds of soccer fans. She said the province has shown it can stage global sporting events in rugby and cricket, and isn't daunted by what awaits with the largest of them all: the World Cup.
"We sound very ambitious, but that's because we are a very ambitious nation," she said.
Write to Peter Wonacott at peter.wonacott@wsj.com
Labels: South Africa, World Cup
posted @ 9:51 PM,
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Cybersquatting Complaints in 2009
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Complaints about football-related website addresses made up a key part of the cybersquatting disputes in 2009, said the UN intellectual property agency Tuesday.
"Football featured strongly in the WIPO Centre's 2009 caseload, including the upcoming World Cup," World Intellectual Property Organisation said in its annual report on cybersquatting.
Among the cases was a decision in favour of FIFA for the web address www.fifaworldcup2010.com after a complaint was filed by world football's governing body. The South African football federation also filed a challenge over cybersquatting, WIPO said. In all, the agency received 2,107 complaints on 4,688 domain names in 2009.
This marked a drop of 9.5 percent in 2008, when a record number of cases was put forward, said WIPO head Francis Gurry. Gurry noted that this fall reflected reductions in companies' budgets for litigations amid the economic crisis. About a quarter of the cases in 2009 were resolved by the parties ahead of a panel decision. Of the remainder, some 87 percent found in favour of the complainant. {#}
Labels: Cybersquatting, FIFA
posted @ 12:28 PM,
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International Music Stars at FIFA
Thursday, March 18, 2010
By Gerald Imray
FIFA has lined up international music stars Alicia Keys, Shakira, Black Eyed Peas and John Legend for a World Cup concert in Johannesburg on June 10, the day before the opening match.
The lineup announced Wednesday also features a strong African presence with South African folk singer Vusi Mahlasela and Malian artists Amadou and Mariam and Tinariwen. South African rock bands BLK JKS and The Parlotones will also perform as the country prepares to be the first African host in the 80-year history of the tournament.
"We are thrilled to have a concert of such magnitude and performing talent raise the curtain on the first FIFA World Cup in Africa," said FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke. "It is testament to the universal and unifying power of football and music, and will start the competition off on the right note - of celebration."
FIFA selected Emmy Award-winning producer Kevin Wall to produce the three-hour show at the newly renovated Orlando Stadium in the famous Johannesburg township of Soweto.
Wall was involved in organizing concerts to help free Nelson Mandela when he was imprisoned by South Africa's apartheid government. The 58-year-old American also produced the Live 8 concerts in 2005 and was behind the Live Earth events three years ago.
"2010 will mark the first time the FIFA World Cup will be played in Africa, so it seemed fitting to celebrate this momentous occasion with a festival of live music from Africa and beyond," Wall said on his company Control Room's website.
Organizers have also promised more artist announcements in the future. The host nation will open the tournament against Mexico at the nearby Soccer City stadium on June 11.
Labels: Entertainment, FIFA, Music
posted @ 9:31 AM,
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Tee off at Myrtle Beach
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
I am an armature golfer. Let me hurry to add that I started this sport for mandatory walk. I got the membership of local golf club – a venue for many international golf events – and started playing after hanging may helmet. I love the sport and can appreciate when quality Golf sport is being played.
Some of the best golfing arenas are the courses of Myrtle Beach. That is why Myrtle Beach Golf attracts a large number of golfers from across the world. Golfers are already familiar with what Myrtle Beach offer.
I suggest you explore neatly laid out Ttimes Only - your one stop shop for tee times at over 100 Myrtle Beach golf courses - and see what they are offering and how inviting those golf courses are. Also explore Myrtle Beach Golf Package gives you choices to select and choose the best. Golf Packages Myrtle Beach have enough reason for anyone to make an informed decision about Myrtle Beach Golf Vacations.
posted @ 9:20 PM,
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Go Fans
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The global campaign, which originally debuted in Latin America in 2009, includes television, print and out-of-home advertisements, usage promotions, experiential offers for cardholders and merchant discounts.
Go Fans was developed to connect with football fans worldwide to drive preference for and usage of Visa products, promote Visa’s association with the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa and reinforce the ways in which Visa enhances the fan’s Fifa World Cup experience. Today, 78 markets throughout the world are activating Visa Fifa-themed marketing programmes with over 200 clients.
Utilising the flexibility of the More people go with Visa campaign, advertising creative from the Go Fans campaign will be customised and will appear in 30 markets around the world to strengthen the campaign’s relevance in those regions. In addition to Go Fans, customized advertising extensions of the campaign will utilize Go Football and Go [Country] (e.g. Go Brazil) taglines.
Visa CMO Antonio Lucio says, "Football fans are unlike any other sports fans in the world. We’ve created a campaign that captures these fans’ inspirational passion for the game, taps into their nationalistic pride and reminds them how Visa can help enhance their experience."
"Building off Visa’s legacy of creating integrated marketing campaigns in support of global sporting events, our platform enables us to reinforce the ways that Visa enhances the fan’s World Cup experience while also advancing our own business and that of our clients".
The Go Fans campaign celebrates the common love that all fans have for football and creative executions featuring the colors of the national flags of each of the 32 qualifying countries, symbolize the expression of each fan’s true colors and love of country. The campaign reinforces the ways that Visa enables fans to express their true colors in support of their teams by offering an easier way to pay, their Visa card.
Television Advertising and Customisation :
Localised versions of Visa’s Anthem commercial, which debuted on 1 March 2010 in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, shows footage of fans throughout the world expressing an array of emotions while viewing football matches.
The creative execution is overlaid with the colours of individual national flags and follows the natural progression of anticipation, tension, joy and heartache displayed by football fans during a match. The spot illustrates how fans are divided by their passion for their favourite teams but united in a shared love of football.
The soundtrack to Anthem is an original composition written by South African natives Nonkululeko and Philisiwe Moya called Stand as One, Unite and is performed by the Agape Children’s Choir. First documented in the critically acclaimed film "We Are Together," the Agape Children’s Choir is made up of children from the Agape Orphanage in Durban, South Africa who find hope in song. In February, Visa made a donation of $150,000 to benefit the Agape Children’s Choir and assist with the children’s school fees, education costs and the orphanage’s administrative costs.
Anthem was directed by Jake Scott, the son of Ridley Scott, whose previous work includes the music video Fake Plastic Trees for Radiohead, as well as two films including the forthcoming Welcome to the Rileys starring Kristen Stewart and James Gandolfini.
Cardholder Experiences and Usage Promotions :
For the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa, Visa has created the Go 2010 Football Experience to provide fans with unique access and once-in-a-lifetime experiences which include a pre-match Stadium Tour, viewing the team warm-up by the pitch, and a half-time pitch-side tour. More than 500 Go 2010 Football Experiences have been offered to Visa cardholders worldwide.
Visa has also introduced customisable usage promotions in core markets that provide Visa cardholders with the chance to win tickets to the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa every time they use their Visa cards.
FIFA World Cup Sponsorship Activation: In the lead up to the Fifa World Cup, Visa provides financial institutions and merchant partners throughout the world with Fifa-themed creative and marketing materials to enhance their card-marketing efforts, help drive business and achieve corporate brand objectives. {#}
Labels: Fans
posted @ 1:50 PM,
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Dreaming of an End to Soccer's Nightmare
Monday, March 15, 2010
The 2010 Winter Olympics are over, but the year’s true global sporting event won’t come until June and July in South Africa.
Soccer’s World Cup finals generate debate and passion on every continent, including Antarctica, where the few hardy souls in the research stations during the Southern Hemisphere winter will presumably keep things heated by talking a little soccer, or futbol , among themselves.
Although there is no argument possible over which event is the most universal, the World Cup could still learn something from the Vancouver Games. Or better yet, borrow something from the Vancouver Games.
The issue is tie-breaking, which is soccer’s recurring nightmare, because its big occasions keep being reduced to the tense but wholly unsatisfying spectacle of penalty kicks.
Two of the last four World Cup finals were decided this way, including the most recent one, in Berlin in 2006, where Italy defeated France in a crucible of a game best remembered for Zinédine Zidane’s heat-of-the-moment head butt.
But it is hard not to regret the penalty kicks, too, and wonder how a game of enormous skill and endurance, a game defined by carefully constructed attacks, can be reduced to a relatively static, out-of-context lottery with the most important trophy in world sports at stake.
I have always liked the analogy that Ian Thomsen, my predecessor at the International Herald Tribune, came up with after watching Brazil beat Italy and Roberto Baggio, its poor, pony-tailed star, on penalty kicks in the 1994 World Cup final in the United States. Thomsen called it “the equivalent of taking Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson off the Augusta National after 72 even holes and ordering them to settle The Masters at the Putt-Putt miniature golf course on Route 17 somewhere outside the city.”
An exaggeration? Sure, but a fun one that gets the cursed incongruity of it all just about right. The soccer players train and dream for years. They hustle and sweat through qualifying matches, round-robin matches and knockout stages, and it all comes down to this ?
Sepp Blatter, president since 1998 of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, defended the status quo after the 1994 shootout, essentially equating penalties with democracy (the worst form of tiebreaker except for everything else). But Blatter, who has been known to change his mind or have it changed for him, sounded as if he had truly had enough after the 2006 final.
“Football is a team sport and penalties are not about a team, they are about individuals,” Blatter said. “When it comes to the World Cup final it is passion, and when it goes to extra time it is a drama. But when it comes to penalty kicks it is a tragedy.”
Although tragedy seems a term best reserved for real-life difficulties and Shakespeare, Blatter was obviously fired up, and he said then that FIFA had four years to come up with a better approach. But four years have just about passed, and the approach remains no better. It would come as no surprise if Blatter, who has been known to float ideas and then watch them sink (the biennial World Cup? tighter shorts and lower-cut jerseys for women?), presides over yet another shootout , this one in Johannesburg.
Which brings us back to the Winter Olympics or, more specifically, to the Olympic ice hockey tournament, where each team played the overtime periods in the knockout round with five players instead of the usual six.
The idea, carried over from the National Hockey League, was to create more space for offense, for resolution, and it worked. One of the reasons that Canada’s victory over the United States in the gold-medal game was so terrific was that it ended with a goal — a real goal, scored by Sidney Crosby during the normal give-and-check of hockey instead of some artificial construct.
Hockey has a shootout format, too, and needed it to decide the gold in 1994 when Sweden beat Canada, but there were no shootouts from the quarterfinals onward in Vancouver nor from the quarterfinals onward at the 2006 Games in Turin.
Soccer, for the moment, can only dream, but it is not as if penalty kicks have always been the ultimate tiebreaker. Pioneered in domestic leagues and minor competitions in the 1950s and 1960s, shootouts were not introduced to a major tournament until the 1976 European men’s championships and were not used at the World Cup until 1982.
Penalty kicks do seem an improvement on the previous solution for two teams that could not break a tie: a coin flip. But while soccer’s rule makers have tinkered with extra time — trying sudden-death, or golden-goal, formats at the European Championship and World Cup — they have never attempted to reduce the number of players in extra time.
Creators need space to create, and, in truth, many a modern sport could benefit from removing a player from each team, even in regulation time, considering that most of the dimensions of the world’s fields and courts were established in an era when elite athletes were not as strong and, above all, as fast as those of today.
But requiring soccer teams to play the first, say, 10-minute overtime period with 10 players each and the second period with nine would be a good way to start and, much better yet, finish. If that still does not resolve the conflict, let them play 8-on-8 and then 7-on-7, which would seem the minimum on a full-size field.
If and only if all that fails, then resort to penalty kicks or some less-random arbiter, like games won or goal differential during the tournament.
Allow extra substitutions if there are health concerns about pushing players to their limits, and let the first goal decide the winner to make ties even more unlikely. Those who believe pulling players off violates the spirit of soccer should remember that many players grow up playing short-sided games and continue to do so in training as professionals, just as they play short-sided in official games in the event of expulsions.
What matters is preserving the essence of a game as you force a result. Soccer, however many are on the field, is essentially an ongoing series of contests for control within a larger struggle. Playing 9-on-9 in full flow sounds much more preservationist than asking someone to trot forward and try to kick a stationary ball past a lone goalkeeper and then face the wrath of a nation if he or she somehow cracks and hits the crossbar.
posted @ 7:06 PM,
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Goal Line Technology
Saturday, March 13, 2010
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has defended the decision to rule out goal-line technology on the grounds of cost and keeping the game the same throughout all levels of football.
FIFA, supported by the Welsh and Northern Irish Football Associations, voted at the International FA Board at the weekend to block any further experiments with technology.
Blatter said on the FIFA website: ''The application of modern technologies can be very costly, and therefore not applicable on a global level. The universality of the game: one of the main objectives of FIFA is to protect the universality of the game of association football.
''This means that the game must be played in the same way no matter where you are in the world. If you are coaching a group of teenagers in any small town around the world, they will be playing with the same rules as the professional players they see on TV.''
Blatter said goal-line technology would lead to the introduction of video replays which would disrupt the rhythm of the game.
''If the IFAB had approved goal-line technology, what would prevent the approval of technology for other aspects of the game?'' he added. ''Every decision in every area of the pitch would soon be questioned.
''No matter which technology is applied, at the end of the day a decision will have to be taken by a human being. This being the case, why remove the responsibility from the referee to give it to someone else?
''It is often the case that, even after a slow-motion replay, ten different experts will have 10 different opinions on what the decision should have been. Fans love to debate any given incident in a game. It is part of the human nature of our sport.''
Blatter added that FIFA's goal is to improve the quality of refereeing, which is why experiments such as with additional referees or the role of the fourth official will continue.
Labels: Technology
posted @ 7:03 PM,
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FIFA and Technology
Thursday, March 11, 2010
They think it’s all over...it is now’ stands as one of the most famous lines in commentary history.
It also lends itself rather nicely to FIFA’s latest decision on goal-line technology, considering that Kenneth Wolstenholme’s remark during England’s 4-2 World Cup triumph over West Germany in 1966 featured Sir Geoff Hurst’s ‘goal’ that never was. Unless you’re an ardent England fan, that is.
Congregating in Zurich on Saturday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter chaired the AGM in which the International Football Association Board (IFAB) declared, after more than five years of trials and debate, that they would not pursue goal-line technology.
Why the door has been closed
If you presumed this decision was reached without any input from these shores, you’d be very much mistaken. The IFAB is actually made up of representatives from the FAs of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who all receive a vote each; FIFA then have a further four votes. While the English and Scottish FAs advocated the use of technology, Wales and Northern Ireland did not. Six votes are deemed enough to pull the plug.
Following the meeting, FIFA’s general secretary, Jerome Valcke, said: “The door is closed. The decision was not to go ahead with technology at all. It was a clear statement made by the majority of IFAB.
“If we start with goal-line technology then any part of the pitch will be a potential space where you could put technology to see if the ball was in or out, whether it was a penalty and then you end up with video replays. Let’s keep the game as it is.”
Just bad luck?
People aren’t on the pitch but the pursuit of technology in football really is all over, folks. Yet on the very day this announcement was made Birmingham’s Liam Ridgewell was wrongly denied a perfectly good goal against Portsmouth in the FA Cup because the linesman believed it hadn’t crossed the line. The technophobes at FIFA must be cursing their luck at the unfortunate timing.
But then maybe it wasn’t just bad luck considering almost every year there seems to be a contentious goal-line decision to discuss. Freddy Sears’ goal that wasn’t given for Crystal Palace against Bristol City in August comes to mind, Fulham’s David Healy also wrongly had a late equaliser against Middleborough in 2007 chalked off and then, the worst of the lot, Pedro Mendes’ spectacular goal for Tottenham Hotspur in 2005 that Manchester United’s Roy Carroll definitely didn’t save. Curiously, the match report said it finished 0-0.
Conservatism
Such awful and transparent mistakes should not be tolerated and FIFA’s rather woeful ‘let’s keep the game as it is’ mantra just does not cut it. The developments to technology in sport over the last decade have been unprecedented with technology successfully incorporated into numerous other sports including cricket, rugby and tennis.
Admittedly, the fluidity of football does not draw many parallels with cricket, for example, but that does not mean technology should be dismissed out of hand. It seems FIFA and this ‘majority’ of the IFAB fear that the introduction of goal-line technology would open the door for other more sinister modifications to creep into our beautiful game, and have instead thought it better just to slam it shut to any potential innovations. Such a conservative outlook from those who decide on football’s future is more than a little concerning.
If this policy had been adopted in the past football would never have seen the ‘back’ of the unpunished back-pass, or introduced a new and supposedly improved offside ruling that no one really understands. OK, so the latter is probably not the best example but, by declaring an end to any hopes of introducing technology, the opportunity to improve the game disappears with it.
Goal-line technology would be beneficial
Purists will argue football is fine as it is. They’d probably be right, but what if it could be better? Those who point to the controversy that human error causes as an argument against technology though are mostly certainly not.
If technology was used for every decision then football as a spectacle would be ruined. But if it is used to eradicate mistakes made when deciding something as simple as to whether or not the ball has crossed the goal-line surely it would be beneficial for everyone, Roy Carroll being the one notable exception. Football’s bureaucrats are running scared because of what goal-line cameras or a micro-chip in the ball might lead to, not because of the suggestion itself. However, if they make the decisions, why can’t they just stop there?
Fans around the globe must surely all agree that there is nothing more frustrating than, when watching the team you support on television, seeing the officials make a grave error that costs your team the match. Some of these mistakes we have to accept but phantom or disallowed ‘goals’ should not be one of them, especially when a yes or no answer can be reached in a matter of seconds.
However, and rather ironically, the real sufferers here will actually be the officials themselves. Birmingham boss Alex McLeish, speaking after Saturday’s game, makes the point: “There must be stringent rules for this level for referees to be top match-fit and obviously the eyesight is a huge factor.
“But sometimes it happens that quickly that you can see why assistants make mistakes, which is why they should bring in technology.
“You don't have to disrupt the game throughout the 90 minutes and make it boring for the crowd, but at key moments like that I think they're actually doing the officials a disservice.”
Steve Bennett’s assistant on Saturday got berated by Ridgewell following his error, and on that historic day in 1966 Tofik Bakhramov quickly became surrounded by players from both sides as he dithered over whether Hurst’s shot had crossed the line. The scene verged on the ridiculous and, under such pressure, the Azerbaijani linesman’s decision was surely based on guesswork.
If guessing is all we can hope for, than surely goal-line decisions should be taken out of human hands. Those who have the power to change the laws of the game have dismissed this suggestion but, and this is a big but, if another bit of ‘bad luck’ takes place in a certain final this summer, it might not be all over after all. If it is though, football will continue to suffer. {#}
Labels: FIFA, Technology
posted @ 3:27 PM,
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World Cup Tickets in China
The 2010 FIFA World Cup tickets are going on sale in China, according to a Chinese agency here on Wednesday.
Wang Qi, vice president of China Sports Industry Group (CSIG), told media that his company has earned about 2,000 World Cup tickets from world soccer governing body FIFA..
The tickets selling in China, as part of the 14 tourist products designed by the CSIG, include those for group and knockout stages, even the the third-place playoff and the final, according to Wang.
"We focus on group matches involving world powers Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, as well as the Asian teams DPR Korea, Japan and South Korea," said Wang.
The CSIG came out the only authorized agency by FIFA for the ticket sale in China. It boasts a string of successful ticketing operations in China for the 2004, 2006 and 2008 Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
Labels: Tickets
posted @ 3:24 PM,
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Top 20 Richest Football Clubs of The World
Monday, March 8, 2010
Real Madrid have become the first sports team in the world to generate annual revenue in excess of 400 million euros (362 million pounds, 543 million dollars), according to figures compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte. The Deloitte Football Money League table for 2008/09 (position, last year's position, club, country, revenue in millions of pounds, revenue in million of euros):
01 (01) Real Madrid (ESP) -----------341.9---- 401.4
02 (03) FC Barcelona (ESP) ---------311.7 ----365.9
03 (02) Manchester United (ENG) ---278.5 -----327.0
04 (04) Bayern Munich (GER) -------246.6------289.5
05 (06) Arsenal (ENG) ---------------224.0 -----263.0
06 (05) Chelsea (ENG) ---------------206.4 ----242.3
07 (08) Liverpool (ENG) -------------184.8 -----217.0
08 (11) Juventus (ITA) ---------------173.1 -----203.2
09 (10) Inter Milan (ITA) ------------167.4------196.5
10 (07) AC Milan (ITA) -------------167.4 -----196.5
11 (15) Hamburg SV (GER) ---------124.9 -----146.7
12 (09) AS Roma (ITA) -------------124.7 -----146.4
13 (12) Lyon (FRA) ------------------118.9 -----139.6
14 (16) Marseille (FRA) --------------113.5 -----133.2
15 (14) Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) ----113.0 ----132.7
16 (13) Schalke 04 (GER) ------------106.0 -----124.5
17 (n/a) Werder Bremen (GER) -------97.7 ------114.7
18 (20) Borussia Dortmund (GER) ----88.1 ------103.5
19 (n/a) Manchester City (ENG) ------87.0 ------102.2
20 (17) Newcastle United (ENG) -----86.0 ------101.0
X-Posted From Cost of Externalities
Labels: Football
posted @ 8:07 PM,
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Anxieties Over Ruling Out Technology
Fifa's general secretary, Jérôme Valcke, admits he hopes the decision to rule out goal-line technology does not come back to haunt him in the World Cup final this summer.
The International FA Board meeting in Zurich voted against continuing any further experiments with goal-line technology and effectively ended any chance of video replays coming into the game. The decision was swiftly followed by a legitimate Birmingham goal being ruled out during their FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Portsmouth.
The Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said afterwards that he supported the introduction of technology to assist officials. "My stance has always been that they should," McLeish said. "That is a frustrating decision by Fifa because I think they are doing their officials a disservice.
"It's not easy for their guys to see it in a split second. We feel he should have seen that but in a split second, you see offside decisions [given].
Valcke said the game should be prepared to accept referees' mistakes but admitted he hoped the ruling would not be shown up in this summer's World Cup in South Africa. Valcke said: "Questions will always come, we just hope they will not come in the final of the World Cup. Technology should not enter into the game, It was a clear, clear statement made by the majority of the board. The main part of the game should be humans – players and referees.
"Whatever are the mistakes – and, yes, there are mistakes – people will review the match and discuss what happened but there was a clear statement that technology should not enter in the game.
"If we start with goal-line technology then any part of the game and pitch will be a potential space where you could put in place technology to see if the ball was in or out, whether it was a penalty and then you end up with video replays. The door is closed."
The former leading referee Graham Poll today said he was "disappointed but not surprised" by the decision. Talking about football's reticence to embrace the technology on Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme, Poll said: "It's probably because of the level of arrogance. They feel that we have the best game, it's our game, the number one game and it's the same as experimenting with things like sin-bins – 'Oh no, that's a rugby idea we wouldn't do that'.
"It's like having a look at a different method of offsides – 'Oh, we won't do that, hockey have done that, we have to be different, we're football'. It's hugely disappointing.
"And to hear one of the reasons as 'Well, it's what people like to talk about in pubs, think back to 1966. Was the ball over the line or not?' The world has moved on massively since then.
"In 1966 we didn't have the possibility of seeing immediately whether the ball was a goal or wasn't a goal. It's changed completely and it's really affecting the confidence and respect that match officials now have."
The Scottish Football Association's chief executive, Gordon Smith, a vocal supporter of technology, said the development of two different goal-line systems had been a waste of time and money. Smith said: "There was no problem with the technology. For me the sad thing is that decision could have been made four years ago.
"It's not based on the fact that technology's not good enough, just an ideological idea that technology does not belong in football."
The FA and SFA had both voted in favour of technology but were defeated by six votes to two – Fifa's four votes plus those of the Welsh and Irish FAs.
The board will decide in May whether to pursue the system of having an extra two officials behind each goal-line.
The FA chief executive Ian Watmore had also been in favour of goal-line technology and said: "In the end it came down to a difference of opinion about whether you believe the future of football involves technology or not.
"But some of the arguments were very powerful and persuasive and we have to accept them.
"The credibility of football is always improved if you get the critical decisions right. I would have liked to try it out in the real game to see whether it is good or not."
Labels: FIFA, Technology
posted @ 10:02 AM,
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FIFA Ranking
Saturday, March 6, 2010
England and Germany have both moved up one place in the FIFA rankings while Greece have returned to the top ten for the first time since June 2008.
With 31 friendlies taking place since the last edition of the rankings, England have climbed above rivals Argentina and into eighth place, with Germany usurping Portugal to take fifth place.
Greece are back in the top ten but Egypt, winners of the African Nations Cup under Hassan Shehata and due to face England on Wednesday night, fall seven places to 17th.
Spain continue to lead the rankings, with Brazil in second and Netherlands in third. All three countries will contest the World Cup finals in South Africa in the summer.
While Scotland have moved up to 45th, Wales remain 76th and Northern Ireland (40) have closed to within one place of Republic of Ireland (39). {# }
posted @ 9:41 PM,
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posted @ 7:54 PM,
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South African Security Plans
FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he has confidence in South African security plans for the World Cup.
Blatter says South Africa proved in recent sporting contests, including last year's Confederations Cup, that it can stage the tournament successfully.
He spoke Friday after a two-day workshop that included World Cup organizing chief Danny Jordaan, team security and police representatives from 29 of the 32 nations playing in the tournament.
Interpol security chief Christopher Eaton said the coordination has been "exceptional" ahead of the June 11-July 11 tournament.
South Africa suffers from high crime, including one of the worst homicide rates in the world. {#}
Labels: Security, South Africa
posted @ 9:47 AM,
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Awards for all Occasions
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Trophies, plaques, medals and other awards are important form of many fields of human activities like sports. These mementos are symbols of excellence for the achievers. Those who get them have emotional attachments with the awards they get. I have lined up all my awards in a cupboard and always take pride in showing them to my friends.
Most organizers are already familiar with trophiesales.com – the leading award suppliers. Those who need a single engraved Corporate Plaques, Basketball trophies or Soccer trophies must start at trophiesales.com. Explore neatly laid out information and resource rich site and see what they are offering and how.
Given my own interest, I explore Golf trophies, Golf cups and Golf resins. Imagery is good and there are enough accompanying details to help you make informed buying decisions. Given the quality, prices are competitive. What is more, they offer 100 worry free shipping.
I suggest you shop for all occasion awards at trophiesales.com.
posted @ 10:33 PM,
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World Cup, 100 Days Away
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
By Marine Veith
FIFA on Tuesday brushed aside lingering doubts about South Africa's readiness for the World Cup, as cities across the nation staged street parties to launch the 100-day countdown.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter insisted the nation was ready, and said he was bothered by naysayers who worry South Africa won't pull off the June 11 to July 11 tournament.
"It's not so much that there's pessimism, but that it's always being thrown into doubt. It's bad, because when there's doubt, there's no confidence. For me and FIFA, that bothers us sometimes," Blatter told a news conference in Durban's new stadium.
"There is no doubt, no doubt," he said. "Let's go now, let's have this World Cup, and then we will discuss end of July."
He spoke after a tour of South Africa's 10 stadiums that will host the month-long tournament. Construction is complete at all the stadiums, and only two have yet to host games to try out the new facilities.
"We are on track, we are ready to make this World Cup and this is the main message following this inspection tour," FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said.
The 100-day countdown dominated South African media Tuesday, but only a few hundred revellers joined the celebrations that were mostly held in downtown districts, far from the townships where most football fans live.
Ella Matlhare, a 65-year-old from Sebokeng township 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of Johannesburg, said she took two mini-buses on a two-hour journey to join about 300 people at a street party in the posh Sandton business district.
"I was supposed to be doing my washing, but I will do it some other time. My mind is on soccer,"
she said. "I am so excited, everyone has been talking about the World Cup, now it is here. There is no turning back."
In Cape Town, a helicopter carrying the South African flag flew past the landmark Table Mountain, while schoolchildren prepared for lessons in the "diski" -- a dance inspired by football movements.
In Durban, about 1,000 people blew vuvuzela trumpets -- mandatory accessories for South African fans -- and danced to drumbeats outside City Hall. Amid the cheering, some fans said they were disappointed that they wouldn't be able to attend World Cup matches, even with heavily discounted tickets for locals.
"It's a dream come true for South Africa, but I can't afford a ticket," said Pretty Soni, an mother of two who like millions of South Africans has no job in a country where unemployment is officially at 24.3 percent but believed much higher.
South Africa has poured 33 billion rand (3.9 billion dollars, 3.2 billion euros) into preparations for the tournament.
In addition to the stadiums, major upgrades to airports in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Bloemfontein are complete, while Durban's new airport is set to open on May 1.
FIFA says that 2.2 of the 2.9 million tickets have already been sold, even though fewer foreign fans are expected to attend.
South Africa is banking on 450,000 foreign visitors, though the actual number could be lower, with many fans overseas still recovering from the shock of the global recession.
The country is seizing the publicity around the 100-day to try to reassure foreigners about visiting South Africa, which has one of the highest crime rates in the world, averaging 50 murders each day.
South Africa has spent more than 2.4 billion rand on security, recruiting 41,000 additional police and buying hi-tech equipment for the competition.
Overall, South Africans are increasingly optimistic about the World Cup. A survey out on Monday found that 85 percent believe the nation will ready for the games.
The public was less rosy about the hot-and-cold fortunes of Bafana Bafana - only 55 percent said they thought the national team was ready to compete.
posted @ 9:52 AM,
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Opening Night Spectacle
Monday, March 1, 2010
Fifa is remaining tight-lipped about preparations for the World Cup opening ceremony to be held at Soccer City in Johannesburg. But if the 2006 opener in Germany is anything to go by, fans can expect a spectacle.
The 2006 World Cup opening ceremony attracted a record global television audience of 26.29 billion, who tuned in to see German super model Claudia Schiffer and Brazilian soccer legend Pele carry the Fifa World Cup Trophy into the stadium in Munich, followed by 170 former World Cup winners.
There was a 37-minute multimedia theatrical production and hip-hop dancers and rappers performed to the beat of 120 drummers. Videos of memorable scenes from World Cup tournaments were shown on massive screens.
The details of this year's opening ceremony are expected to be announced only two or three days before the big event.
But Fifa has announced that fans will be treated to a pre-opening "Official Kick-Off Celebration Concert" on June 10 at the renovated 40000-seat Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
Fifa announced the concert in October, after appointing Emmy Award-winning producer Kevin Wall and his company as executive producers of the concert.
In a press release, Wall said: "We are honoured to have been selected by Fifa to organise and produce this event for the world's largest sport. We believe sports and music transcend cultural, language and geographic barriers, and through this international event, we will present the sights and sounds of unity and celebration ."
Beyonce, Jay-Z, Akon and the Black Eyed Peas are some of the celebrities who have been invited to perform.
Proceeds from the concert will go to the official campaign of the 2010 World Cup, "20 Centres for 2010".
In a statement last year, Jerome Valcke, Fifa's general secretary, said: "This kick-off celebration will be one of the greatest events of its kind in Africa and a must-see for football and music fans around the world."
Wall's company was responsible for the Live Earth concert in 2007. {# )
Labels: FIFA
posted @ 9:35 AM,
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