Italian manager assaults his own player during match

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An Italian football match last night saw incredible scenes unfold when the manager of one of the teams playing physically assaulted one of his players. The assault took place after the manager took the player off in order to substitute him and the event was captured on television.

The substitution came at half time when the manager Delio Rossi substituted Adem Ljajic. The player was obviously such a great fan of the decision and he proceeded to sarcastically clap the decision by his manager. Once that he was off, the manager pointed his finger at him and clearly began to verbally reprimand him.

However, this did not seem to be enough for the manager because after the player sat down in the dugout, the manager jumped into it and slapped him in the face. It then appeared as if he wa about to punch him but he was dragged away by other people in the dugout before anything could happen.

The president of the team made the instant decision to sack the manager and has commented, “I’m sad that I have to make this decision, it is clear that months of stress had been building up for the manager and they all came out of one moment. He has never acted in this way before and I’m just sad that I have to make the decision to fire him.

“That said, it is clear that this sort of action cannot go unpunished as there was no provocation strong enough to cause this kind of response.” The player is also going to face reprimand for his actions but they are unlikely to be as severe as those that have been facing the manager. It is currently unclear who will be taking over the management role at the club in the immediate future.

Arsene Wenger calls for a change to football discipline

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Arsene Wenger, the manager of the Arsenal football team, has recently spoken out against the current disciplinary system in the football world and says that he would like to see an ethics committee installed which will have the ability to over rule the decisions of referees.

The current rules from the football Association state that it is not possible for a player to be punished in retrospect if no officials in the match saw the incident where the rules were broken. The complaint has come about after a match last month where a player was injured by another but the game continued because no official saw the problem.

This was a decision that was met with a great deal of criticism and the whole situation has been made much worse as much smaller infractions have been punished much more heavily, suggesting that there could be bias among some referees.

Arsene Wenger has said that the system just lacks the common sense of systems in other sports and he would like to see it overhauled in the immediate future. He has commented, “The current system basically means that if it’s out of sight for a referee then its out of mind.

A player could openly punch another player and if no official saw it, then it will go unpunished, no matter what is revealed through video footage later on. For anyone who loves the game of football they should support a reform of these rules as they are clearly ridiculous and need to be changed.”

Mr Wenger added, “There are so many things in football to work well but this is an area where there is so much friction it can be very frustrating for fans as well as players. Of course, the decision of a referee should be respected, but there should be a higher authority.”

Euro 2012: Extending the football feast into the summer

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As April gives way to May there are only a few weeks left of the football season left, with professional and amateur players alike being left to look back on a season of highs and lows. But this year, of course, the end of the football season means one thing: more football.

Because before the dust settles on the 2011/12 domestic season, Europe’s elite players will head out to the 2012 Uefa European Championships. Few are looking past current European and World Champions Spain to take the overall crown, but if the Champions League exits of Real Madrid and Barcelona (teams from which almost all of the Spain first 11 will be gathered) are anything to go by, the Iberians may not have it all their own way. Germany look stronger than ever with an exciting crop of young players, while Holland only narrowly lost out in the final of the 2010 World Cup. France have quickly recovered from their South African embarrassment and Italy, well they’re Italy. This all points to a potentially strong and exciting competition, even if England are bound to frustrate again.

For the armchair fan, the tournament’s evening kick-offs provide the chance to get out and stretch your legs with a friendly kickaround in the day; the good news is that this time of the year is also a great time to buy new football boots. The marketing departments of Nike, Puma and Adidas will shortly work themselves them up into a frenzy with all the new lines, meaning that boots that were the in-thing a month ago will soon be out in the cold, with a much lower price tag.

Shop for football boots online and you’re likely to find big discounts, which are happening with many retailers already. Then you can take that discount and try the new Euro 2012 ball, which Adidas has promised is nothing like the much-maligned Jabulani, some of which are probably still in near-earth orbit. Here’s hoping.

This was a guest post provided by JD Sports.

Delay in Olympic match tickets frustrates fans

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The organisers of the Olympic Games which are taking place this summer have still not announced when the remaining tickets for football matches at the games are going to go on sale. The reason for the delay is because the online systems are still being tested to make sure that they will function properly.

Football is not the only sport that has seen a delay in the release of tickets and the tickets were supposed to go on sale earlier this month however, they have been pushed back until the start of next month. A spokesperson representing the games has stated that the system is going to be back online shortly and all the technical problems should have been resolved.

The original site responsible for selling the tickets experienced an enormous amount of demand which caused it to crash. The spokesperson stated in an interview with the BBC, “Before we put these tickets on sale we want to make sure that the system is working as well as possible. It is essential that we do the appropriate testing so it doesn’t crash again when it starts up.”

The chairman of Locog has stated, “We don’t want to push the release of the tickets forward unnecessarily. It is best to be absolutely sure about systems before we release the tickets and this is what we’re doing. We are also currently working on finalising the seating plans for the venue and this is also pushing back the release of the final batch of tickets a little.”

Wage capping could protect clubs from financial hardship

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Something of a doomsday scenario has come over the Football League as clubs are struggling with the rules that limit the amount of turnover that can be spent on the wages of players. Championship clubs have also recently just voted to say that they would prefer to have the same financial rules that are seen in Leagues one and two.

The sort of rules that would be implemented in the championship would mean that it is less difficult for the clubs to fall into significant amounts of debt, and risk collapsing.

The chairman of the football league is Greg Clarke and he has commented, “These new regulations are going to create more financially sustainable football clubs. They are going to lay a foundation for creating a more responsible sport where clubs are less able to rack up large debts very quickly.”

The chairman has also said that the rules are going to be brought into effect next season and any clubs that are not being in compliance with the rules are going to face transfer embargoes as well as significant fines. He has also said however that these fines will not start being handed out until the season after that in order to give clubs an opportunity to get used to the new rules and restrictions.

A lawyer who specialises in sports at the law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, Daniel Geey has commented, “These sort of regulations are going to help ensure the football clubs are able to break even and that they do not take on a large amount of debt.

Fortunately, there is some leeway and it means that these rules will not be too restrictive on clubs, just enough to protect them from themselves. It is a good idea for them to have implemented the grace period before they started implanting finds in the 2014 season.”

Sanctions are also going to be put onto clubs that are not able to break even. Over the next five years these are going to be gradually increased so that clubs are able to improve their performance and not take unnecessary risks.