Wayne Rooney is benched

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Wayne Rooney is benched A decision by UEFA has banned Wayne Rooney from playing in the group stages of the Euro 2012 competition. The ban is to last for three matches and was announced after he was given a red card during a game against Montenegro. He was given the card during the 74th minute of the game after kicking one of the players.

A statement from UEFA has said, “Following Wayne Rooney’s behaviour in the match against Montenegro we have decided that disciplinary action should include a three match ban.” An appeal could be launched but the Football Association has yet to decide whether to do this as it risks him being punished further. They have commented, “We are currently considering the matter and it will be an internal decision as to whether we pursue an appeal. We will make the decision before we make any further public announcements.”

England fans had hoped that Rooney would only get a one match ban, especially after the referee of the match said that Rooney accepted the card without much hesitation. Questions had previously been raised about Rooney’s temper, in 2006 he was sent off during the World Cup for a similar act against Portugal.

Fabio Capello who is the coach of England has said, “this is an unfortunate mistake by Rooney and we’re going to use friendly matches we have next month to ensure that we could still succeed without him. There is no defence for the sort of behaviour we saw against Montenegro and we need to work out a way to be able to win without him on the pitch.

“Rooney is a very important player on the side but he can make these mistakes, he apologised for his actions but we must see an improvement in his behaviour.” In response to a question whether Capello was ready to have an England team without Rooney he answered in one word, “yes.”

Other comments from Capello have suggested that if he finds a way to play without Rooney the striker will have to make a great deal of effort to remain on the squad. Alan Shearer, a former strike if England, has said, “this is a huge blow to English football and to the fancy follow it, it is likely that Rooney realises the error he has made. If he did not see what he had done as wrong it is even more likely that he would repeat this kind of mistake in the future.

“Personally, I believe that the English team can still succeed without him. Seeing how the team performs in these next three matches will give Capello an idea of what the performance of the English side will be like without Rooney.”

His ban from the pitch for three matches can be seen as good news for others who could potentially play on the English squad. They will be able to prove themselves so that they might be selected to play for the Euro 2012 finals which are being held in the Ukraine and Poland.

Jermaine Defoe who plays the Tottenham Hotspur, Danny Welbeck who plays alongside Rooney in Manchester United, Andy Carroll who plays the Liverpool, and Darren Bent who plays for Aston Villa are all in line to replace Rooney for the next three matches, and potentially over the longer term.

Pub landlady crushes Sky sports and Premier League TV

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Pub landlady crushes Sky sports and Premier League TV The Premier League has just been handed a judgement form the European courts that are going to affect the broadcasting of the sport significantly. The courts have said that the way that the rights to broadcast sports on a nation by nation basis are contrary to EU law. This ruling is going to change the way that the sport has been broadcast for many years and is also going to affect the broadcasting of other media including television shows and films.

Initially people are going to be able to get around the restriction by buying a foreign television decoder and watching the sport in a different language. Or the can just mute the sound and tune into the radio commentary. This is something that people who are in another country have been doing for years so they can watch UK games abroad.

While this decision has been something of a blow for television operator Sky the situation is unlikely to cause them too much concern. They have an army of lawyers who are working on ways to keep the situation as it has been and the shares in the company only slipped three per cent after the ruling.

The other person who lost on the verdict was Karen Murphy, the owner of the pub who started the whole controversy by going aboard to buy a TV decoder so she would not have to pay the high prices Sky charge to broadcast games in pubs. Interestingly the court said that she was not breaching copyright for broadcasting the match itself, but she was for broadcasting the logo of the Premier League  The Premier League is sure that it will be able to stop people from broadcasting the games by ensuring that the logo is viable at all times during games.

Carlos Tevez controversy rumbles on

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Carlos Tevez controversy rumbles on Carlos Tevez is facing a misconduct charge by his club after he refused to warm up before a game. The incident occurred when the striker for Manchester city refused to go on the field before a game. The striker has said that while he did not refuse to play, he did say that he would not warm up. The clubs lawyers are currently looking at the terms of the players fifty million pounds contract to see if he has breached a condition.

An interview was conducted at the player’s house by legal representatives and people from the clubs HR team. This was decided to be held away from the clubs building as they feared that the media situation would get out of hand. Tevez maintains that when he was asked to go on as a substitute he said that he would not warm up because he had done it already. Mancini, the club manager claims that he refused to play altogether.

Tevez has said that he will not apologise to the manager because he believes that he has not done anything wrong. However, an interview with the player after the match clearly shows him stating that he, ‘did not want to play.’ The footage from the interview will form a part of the internal investigation, as will testimony from the clubs trainers who said that events unfolded in the way Mancini describes, not in the way Tevez says. A decision is due by the end of the week and right now it does not look like Tevez will avoid punishment.

If the player is found to have committed misconduct then he will be fined two weeks in pay. This will just be a start of the proceedings as the player will then have to face the Professional Footballers Association which may choose to ban and fine him further.

FA looking for new ‘Carling Cup’ sponsor

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FA looking for new ‘Carling Cup’ sponsor The Carling Cup has lost its sponsor and the Football Association is going to be looking for a new one to pick up a sponsorship deal after this current season. Molson Coors will be ending their fourteen year association with the cup and will not be sponsoring it again once this season has finished. The League may have trouble finding a sponsor because they are having to do so at a time when most clubs are not really too interested in the Carling Cup.

Greg Clarke is the chairman of the League and has said, “This is the first time in a long time that one of the major cups in the UK is open for sponsorship. We are hoping that the market will respond well to the news that there is a sponsorship deal available. This cup will have a great appeal for sponsors because British football is now being broadcast in 150 countries around the world. We are very grateful to Molson Coors for the valuable work we have done with them over the last fourteen years; it has been a very positive partnership.”

Molson Coors commented, “It has been a great opportunity for us to work with the Football League and we are very proud of what we have been able to do as partners. Despite the contract being up we are continuing to talk with the League about the future of the cup. In the mean times we are still the sponsors for the cup for this season and we are working our hardest to make it the best competition yet and look forward to the upcoming fixtures.”

Is Abramovich stepping away from football

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Is Abramovich stepping away from football It was Roman Abramovich’s investment in Chelsea that has allowed for the club to become one of the best in the country. He took over ownership of the club in 2003 and has a serious passion for the game. Some have noticed though that he is not attending as many of the matches as he used to and some fans are seeing this as him losing interest.

Chairman of the Chelsea is Bruce Buck and he says this is anything but true. In a recent interview for a book by Ian Ridley called There’s a Golden Sky, he says that Abramovich has an incredibly deep knowledge of the sport and that is passion for it is as alive as ever.

Buck said, “Abramovich’s knowledge and passion for the game has only increased. He is so informed about the game it is incredible. There is probably not a player in the world that he couldn’t give you up to date statistics for. I would say that since taking over the club he has only become more interested in the game. He still watches the Chelsea games, just he can’t always do it in person, but wherever he is in the world, you can be sure he is tuning in.”

In the book Buck is also reminiscing about when Abramovich wanted to get involved with the Premier League, “He asked UBS to look at which clubs where the best ones to invest into. He considered Manchester United and Aston Villa, but they did not seem so financially viable. In the end it was down to two Tottenham or Chelsea. For whatever reason Tottenham were not willing to meet, so Chelsea, who needed the capital were the club Abramovich chose. Our fans have sure been pleased with the results.”