Scottish Football Association struggles with referee crisis

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Scottish Football Association struggles with referee crisis The Scottish Football Association is in deep trouble dealing with the current referee’s crisis.  A call out to several other countries resulted in a response from Polish officials and the Scottish Football Association thought it had a match on, when it appears they did not.

The Polish referees who had agreed to participate in the Morton v Falkirk match backed out and now it is quite apparent that the whole Polish FA has backed out on their promise to help the Scottish Football Association by sending 12 match officials.

This has resulted in the cancellation of the 26 November Morton v Falkirk match and will result in further cancellations throughout the Scottish FA.

It looked like a situation where matches would be cancelled had been avoided when the Polish FA agreed to send officials, but the association reversed itself at the seeming last minute.  As of yet, no explanation for the reversal is clear, but the Scottish FA has had trouble enticing the aid of other countries since the problems with its own match officials began.

The threat of a similar strike action on the part of Welsh match officials was beaten down when the FAW sent emails that they said were letters of resignation and the referees were given the choice to agree to work matches or resign.  The threatened expulsion destroyed the unity of the protest and all hopes of strikes fell apart at that point.

Whatever the reason, it is clearly apparent that other countries want no part of the Scottish crisis, cancelled matches or no.

Did a team of imposters play international match

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Did a team of imposters play international match It is possible that a fake Togo team played a football match against Bahrain this month.  Togo football authorities are exploring the possibility that imposters lost a 3-0 match to Bahrain.  This is confirmed by the fact that Togo says it never sent its national team to play a game against Bahrain on 7 September at the national stadium in Riffa.

FIFA has been asked to investigate.

Bahrain officials said that nothing appeared unseemly in the arrangement of the match, as it was all done through the usual channels and with the services of an agent they have known for a long time.

It wasn’t until play actually began that the Bahrain team noticed peculiarities.  The alleged Togo imposters seemed unfit to play the entire ninety minutes and the poor quality of their performance was surprising.  The Bahrain team won easily and found the game to be boring.

Bahrain Football Association spokesmen report that all procedures and processes where handled entirely up to proper guidelines, with the Togolese players even providing their passports.

Togo’s sports minister, Christophe Tchao, said that no one in his country new anything about the match and vowed to determine exactly what had happened.

Meanwhile, Bahrain Head Coach, Josef Hickersberger, expressed dismay and irritation over the situation.  He had wanted to get good practice in for his team as they prepare to participate in the West Asian Championship.  He felt the match with the fake Togo team was nothing more than wasted effort and opportunity.

Virtual Penalty Shoot out – take part to win amazing sports prize and also to help AIDS in Africa

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If you could attend any sporting event in the world, which would you choose? Who would you take? All questions for anyone who plays to win the ultimate sports prize, the Yahoo! Sports Pass. The prize will give one lucky winner two tickets to 16 of the world’s greatest sporting events, four events per year for four years. In addition to allowing the winner to pick the events of their choice, the Yahoo! Sports Pass also includes travel and accommodation for each event.

To win the Sports Pass prize, play Yahoo! Penalty Shootout, an online game that allows you to face off against friends, other fans and rivals in a virtual penalty kick competition. Fans in more than 16 countries will be able to play the game at http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/world-cup/penalty-shootout/ for a chance to win the Yahoo! Sports Pass.

The Penalty Shootout contestants with the two highest scores in the world at the end of the online competition will be flown to Brazil to compete in a real live penalty shootout featuring famous England and Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman. The winner with the highest number of kicks against Seaman will be awarded the Yahoo! Sports Pass.

“The penalty shootout is always the most intense, highly charged aspect of any football competition,” said Andrew Cocker, Yahoo!’s UK Head of Marketing. “For the winners of the Yahoo! Penalty Shootout promotion, the stakes could not be higher – a prize that any sports fan would love – tickets to 16 of the biggest sporting events in the world. The final challenge is to beat David Seaman: a big test for the ultimate sports prize.”

In addition to trying to win the ultimate sports prize, fans that play Yahoo! Penalty Shootout for (RED) on the first day of the World Cup will help eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa.  For every goal scored on June 11, Yahoo! will contribute USD $1, up to USD $100,000, to the Global Fund, the recipient of (RED) monies. Since 2006 (RED) has been engaging business and consumers to help eliminate AIDS in Africa and to date (RED) partners and events have generated $150 million for the Global Fund. For more info about (RED) visit www.joinred.com

The big match in your local

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The big match in your local The local field may not be the best place to watch the big match, after last Saturday when Sky screened the Manchester United and Chelsea Premier League game in 3D to over 1,000 pubs.

Those who now cannot score tickets for Old Trafford can instead head the local pub where they can grab 3D glasses and a pint while they watch Didier Drogba rack up the goals

Although the installation of 3D televisions and equipment has been expensive for pubs, the payoff may be large with some already asking customers to reserve viewing space as they anticipate a large amount of excited fans to show up.

Commercial manager at Walkabout, a popular chain of Australian styled pubs, James Mawer said that 35 of their chain pubs will  be screening the next game which is likely going to lead to ticket selling in the future as an increasing amount of people are booking their viewing spots in advance. 

Mawer said that they will continue to gauge the response of customers but early research suggests some will pay up to six or seven pounds to get inside for a 3D match viewing.

Walkabout has been hit hard with the smoking ban and the recession which in turn has also hit many other pubs forcing the Australian bars to close down about 52 last year.  However, Mawer suggested that the 3D football matches may be the key to getting customers back in their doors as the appeal of watching live sports mixed with drinking has never faded away.

European stadiums can’t help heart attack victims

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European stadiums can’t help heart attack victims A new study conducted in Sweden and including 187 football stadiums found that many European football grounds do not have the correct action plans or equipment on the grounds in order to save fans that have a heart attack while in attendance.

According to the results of the poll, more than a quarter of the stadiums accessed do not have emergency plans or the necessary defibrillators.   The survey was carried out by club doctors who stressed that more should be done since it is not always possible to quickly get fans to an ER.

Currently, it is only considered to be advisable to have defibrillators at sporting events but the researchers are pushing for mandatory requirements to be put in place.

In the last few years however authorities across the UK have been attempting to do more to place the life saving pieces of equipment in public areas.

Official medic for GAIS the Swedish club and a member of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, Mats Borjesson, stated that every sporting ground should have a supply of defibrillators due to the fact that those that are emotionally engaged in a sporting event are more likely to suffer a heart attack.

Borjesson also noted that given that Europe is where football is the most popular it is quite likely that the situation is even more alarming in other areas.  He also added that planning and procedures also need to be in place so that they could be properly used.