FIFA President, Sepp Blatter decides to finalise the integration of Goal-Line Technology

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How many times have fans seen legitimate goals waived and controversial goals counted by linesmen and referees alike; too many times. This is why it does not come as a surprise as FIFA has publicised that the much-awaited World Cup in Brazil will feature goal-line technology. In addition to that, bidders have been invited to present their programs before the CONFED Cup starts in the summer.

Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, was known to be a lover of such technology. Thus, during the Club World Cup last year, they tried the program and saw success. That’s why he would want to finally implement said technology starting from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The FIFA president expressed his delight at seeing success in what was the first time he allowed goal-line technology. When he was interviewed, he stated his plans of finalizing the use of the technology before the CONFED Cup and the World Cup so as to see how good it will be for the players, the fans and the officials alike. However, there are a lot of people that have expressed their thoughts on the matter negatively but still Pres. Blatter stands firm on his decision earlier in the year.

The goal-line technology that Sepp Blatter wants to integrate in football is primarily intended to help the linesmen and referees during the course of the game. Furthermore, it somehow helps both teams because the eyes of the fans across the globe have realised that there are some instances when human error is costly.

On the other hand, this shows some kind of disrespect to the legacy of football. The past has seen the skills of officials in deciding whether or not to give a foul or not, let alone allow or disallow a goal but Sepp Blatter has seen and has hear enough of this shenanigans and imposes upon world football to use goal-line technology.

 

FC Metalist sold by Yaroslavskiy for $300m

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Aleksander Yaroslavskiy is one of the Ukraine’s most influential businessman and was the main investor in the Euro 2013 contest. He is also the owner if the DCH Group and football club FC Metalist, and his announcement that he has sold the latter has sent shockwaves throughout Russian football. Neither the new investor nor the price paid was initially disclosed, but Forbes have estimated it as approximately $300m.

During the 7 years in which Yaroslavskiy was the president of FC Metalist, the club experienced the brightest stage of development in its entire 85-year history. The businessman has invested more than $ 570 million in the development of Kharkiv football and preparation of the city for Euro 2012.

Formerly 173th place in the UEFA club ranking, FC Metalist now consistently ranks among the top 30 clubs in Europe. Over the past six seasons the team won Ukrainian championship bronze medals six times. In 2007, after a 20-year break, Metalist returned to the European Cup arena: the UEFA Cup first, then Europa League, with victories over Bayer, Sochaux”, “Austria”, “Sporting”, Sampdoria, Debrecen, Besiktas, Galatasaray, and Olympiakos.

This season, the Kharkiv team also excelled with “the goal of the century” scored by Taison, and, as a result, UEFA has added Metalist`s striker to the symbolic European team. In addition, thanks to Yaroslavskiy, the Kharkiv club now has a training camp which, according to football experts, is comparable to the infrastructure of Barcelona and Bayern. And Kharkiv no longer needs to give its young football talents to other clubs – thousands of children are able to train in the academy of Metalist.

At home games the team enjoys the support of full stands, and, thanks to Euro 2012, Kharkiv fans were able to witness matches between the strongest teams in Europe, and with the brightest football stars, such as Michel Platini, or Cristiano Ronaldo, in their native city.

In his statement Yaroslavskiy named the reason for the sale of FC Metalist: “There is only one (and this is the main one) reason why I have to leave the club: The confusing claims of the city government on me as the investor and as a result, an unprecedented psychological pressure exerted on the team and staff. This unhealthy atmosphere threatens all that was created by hard work of many people.” So politically correctly the businessman referred to pressure to transfer the Metalist stadium – the home arena of the club, built for Euro 2012 under the direction of Yaroslavskiy in the format of public-private partnerships (30% of the investments from Yaroslavskiy, 50% from the state budget, and 20% from local budgets of Kharkiv city and Kharkiv region) – to municipal ownership.

Kharkiv journalists found out that the object was built for the money of the president of FC “Metalist”, which the state then gradually and with long delays was compensating. In turn, Gennadiy Kernes is also known for trying to cut popular Gorky Park under the pretext of preparing for Euro 2012, sparking violent protests of the “green”. And for the purchase of overpriced benches for Kharkiv subway and several other controversial decisions.

At the same time, in his farewell letter, Aleksander Yaroslavskiy wrote: “I do not leave Metalist to fend for themselves, I act in their interests. The change in the investor eliminates the personal factor while preserving the source of funding of the club.” In an interview to Forbes, he said: “This is not the first attack to me and to the club, these things had been happening for a long time.

The question is not just me. There is a team, there is the head coach, the administration. I can not always breathe courage and bravery in people. I am sure for myself, I am a self-sufficient person, and the players do not understand how this can happen. Many of them are foreigners. For them, things like that are just wild…. So I found a sponsor who will fund the club.”

The new owner of FC Metalist is the non-public young Kharkiv lawyer and businessman, 27-year-old Sergii Kurchenko. In his inaugural statement, he announced ambitious goals for the club, but his meeting with the head coach of Metalist, Myron Markevych, has not yet taken place.

 

European football

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European football is made up of all the national football teams across various countries that are all governed over by the Union of European Football Associations.

The culmination of European football comes once every four years during the UEFA European Football Championship. The major competition has been held since 1960 with the German football league holding the most titles overall and the Spanish football league currently holding the title.

Two of the strongest football nations in the union are the Spanish football teams and the German football teams. Both the Spanish football league and the German football league have major games within their own countries that are watched throughout the world.

As mentioned, Spanish football is leading the news these days due to their dominance of the Football Championship. However, it is ironic that while Spain is known for their league players, the world has not yet seen a Spanish World Cup victory.

On the other hand, German football teams have been able to not only win the European Championship title multiple times but have also succeeded in taking home a world cup showing that the German football league is well deserving of a note in the history books of European football.

 

Football fan who lied to get passport back is jailed

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A football fan that was banned from going to matches abroad and went to the Ukraine to watch England during Euro 2012 will spend five months in jail. Pele Duncan, a Manchester United supporter, told police that he wanted to visit his girlfriend’s father in Germany who was seriously ill so that he could get his passport back.

However the 26-year-old supporter was photographed in Kiev where he was partying with other England fans during the Championships, then in the Olympic Stadium where England played Kiev.

Duncan, who lives near Preston, earlier admitted failing to obey his order from June15-25 and to not handing his passport in before August 8. He said that he went to the Ukraine after having an argument in Germany with his girlfriend’s mother. He later admitted that his defence was a complete lie, at Preston Magistrate’s Court, and there had been no family sickness.

James Towey, defending, said Mr Duncan’s friends had travelled to the tournament and he was jealous. In his defence he said that Duncan should be credited for the fact he told the truth eventually. The original story was told when he was originally arrested; it was not supposed to be heard outside the police station. Mr Towey said that Duncan was simply envious of his friends.

The father-of-one was first handed the order in November 2010 following his eviction from Old Trafford when he was seen drinking alcohol near the pitch. Under the terms of the order he has to surrender his passport to officials when England or Manchester United play a match abroad.

Magistrate Barbara Bennett, when sentencing Duncan to a total of five months in prison, said that he had blatantly disregarded the court orders. She continued by saying that it had been planned in advance.

More European football fans than expected make the trip the Euro 2012

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Many thousands of fans from across Europe have travelled to the European Championships. Fans from crisis-hit countries, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain have left behind the huge spending cuts, chronic unemployment and widespread disenchantment of their home countries for a few weeks.

Fans are putting their trust in their teams, where they can no longer put it in their banks are politicians. A local government worker from Spain made the journey to Poland to support his country’s team, saying he just had to be there.

The Spanish team, who won four years ago, is amongst the favourites to win the European title. Julio travelled with a budget airline and is staying for five days on a campsite in Gdansk, northern Poland. Julio, from Caceres, like most fans, is pleased that the cost of living is cheaper in the Ukraine and Poland.

In 2007 UEFA voted for the Eastern European countries, who are neighbours, to jointly host the four-yearly tournament. The finals four years ago were held in Austria and Switzerland, which are very expensive, and the 2010 World Cup took place in South Africa, very expensive for Europeans to travel to.

The official areas where the supporters can follow the matches on giant screens are called fan zones. A beer in one of these fan zones will cost about half as much as it would have in a fan zone in Austria at the 2008 tournament.

Spain’s economic situation is absolutely dire, with the resources of the ordinary working Spaniard steadily dwindling. Unemployment is very high and unfortunately so is the cost of living. Many have made huge sacrifices to be able to attend the matches, and save long and hard. For many it is national pride that they are supporting.