Warning of unexpected broadband charges from watching the World Cup online

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Kick off is only a day away and many football fanatics will be planning their schedule to make the most of World Cup viewing – something that will be made considerably easier with live TV streaming and catch up TV services now available through their broadband connection.

Fans can now watch the action at home, at work, even outside if they have a mobile broadband connection. However many viewers may be unaware they are at risk of breaching the download limit/fair usage policy administered by their broadband provider and landing themselves with speed throttling or a hefty fine.

Michael Phillips of Broadbandchoices.co.uk comments:  “The convenience of internet TV coupled with the immense popularity of the World Cup games means a significant number of people are now more likely to be tuning in through their broadband connection. Unfortunately this also raises concerns over download limits and fair usage policies. Streaming just one world cup match in HD alone will use up around 2.4GB, but with over 50 games scheduled to be broadcast in June online football fans could easily breach the terms of their contract.  Any football fan who experiences speed throttling will find it seriously impairs their viewing experience. Furthermore those who breach the terms of their broadband download limit may find themselves paying anything up to £1 per additional GB downloaded – with over 60 games to watch in total, this will mount up very quickly. We strongly urge any World Cup viewers planning to watch through their broadband connection to check with their broadband provider before downloading any content. Even if they have an ‘unlimited’ package there are still likely to be rules in place they must adhere to.”

Broadbandchoices.co.uk offers these tips for watching the World Cup online:

Pick the right ISP – Some providers like Be Broadband or O2 Broadband are designed with heavy downloaders in mind. Although their ‘unlimited’ packages come with fair usage policies attached, both ISPs are more generous with their allowances than most.  The top packages from Sky and Virgin Media have no download limits or traffic management policies attached. Ultimately, you need to compare what is available in your area using an Ofcom-accredited comparison calculator to find the best deal for you.

Track your usage – If you have a set download limit, or you’re concerned about exceeding your fair usage allowance during the World Cup, then installing a free Broadband Download Monitor is a great way of tracking your downloads and you can even set alarms to alert you as you near your limit.

Stampede before World Cup brings new security measures

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Stampede before World Cup brings new security measures The stampede and resulting injuries amongst soccer fans at an exhibition match between Nigeria and North Korea prompted football authorities to put some better security measures in place for the games in the upcoming World Cup.  At least 14 people, including one police officer, were injured in the crush trying to get through the stadium gates at Makhulong on Sunday.

FIFA, football’s chief governing board, maintains that the responsibility for the melee lies with the Nigerian security organization, and that FIFA had nothing to do with arranging the ‘friendly’ match.

The FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, said his organization takes this warning very seriously, and assured members of the media that this sort of thing will not happen during the World Cup games.

The stampede was apparently caused chiefly by the distribution of free tickets at the stadium just prior to the match.  Fans both with and without tickets mobbed the gates once they were opened, and police and security guards managed to get them closed temporarily, but another stampede occurred when they reopened a short time later.

FIFA emphasized that they will exercise greater caution in several respects, including pre-game distribution of tickets and keeping a wider perimeter around the stadiums where World Cup matches are played.  Presumably, no one without a valid ticket will be able to get closer than 40 metres from the gates, and there will be more entrances to keep bottlenecks from forming.  Fans will also be warned to get there on time or early, and leave their cars parked elsewhere.

Football hooligans ordered to hand over passports

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Football hooligans ordered to hand over passports Convicted football hooligans must hand over their passports this week in order to prevent them from attending the South Africa World Cup.

Those who reside in Wales and England that are under football banning orders must give their passports to police stations and are ordered to report to police on every England match day until the tournament is over in order to ascertain they are in the country.

When the World Cup ends on July 11th, all passports will be returned to their owners.

South African police officials have already warned UK hooligans not to attempt to travel into the country with Police minister Nathi Mthethwa stating that the South African officials are already working with the British police to stop hooligans from attending the World Cup in Africa.

Mthethwa stated that they will not take any nonsense and they have made a concrete commitment to the UK authorities.

Head of the domestic World Cup operation, Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson, stated that with the success of football banning orders hooliganism is now a problem of the past due to the fact that less than ten percent of those that receive banning orders reoffend.

Thompson stated that despite this fact, there are small amounts that take part in football related violence which can create a risk to the large amount of people who properly obey the law at football games.

However, he said that the Association of police Officers and police forces has been working closely to identify individuals that are problems and act accordingly.

UEFA brings in common sense finance rules

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UEFA brings in common sense finance rules Michel Platini the UEFA president said that the approval last week of new financial play fair rules is the start of a vital journey for football in Europe that will lead to the stabilization of economic common sense.

The approval of the rules means that clubs that want to compete in the Europa League or Champions League will need to break even during each season in order to be eligible.  Additionally, club owners will only be able to invest £38m for the first three seasons after the regulations start in the 2012 and 2013 football season.

The aim of the new legislation is to level the playing field, but the biggest clubs in England may feel the impact deeply with super rich owners of clubs such as the Manchester City and Chelsea unable to contribute millions of pounds in order to purchase star players and cancel out losses.

During this time, the Premier League, which has turned away from any suggestion that clubs should have to pass through tighter regulation, is also introducing a new set of financial rules.

Next week the Premier League will meet in order to stamp a new set of laws that will hopefully prevent another collapse like what happened in Portsmouth.

Included in the new financial laws are measures that will permit the Premier League to withhold TV rights payments and or to intervene if it is not happy with the club’s financial direction which includes stopping a takeover, access to details of all loan deals, and the ability to assess the suitability of any potential new owner of a club.

Cheryl Cole’s quickie divorce for the sake of England’s World Cup hopes

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Cheryl Cole’s quickie divorce for the sake of England’s World Cup hopes After months of rumours about what Cheryl Cole’s next more would be she has finally ended speculation by filing officially for a quick divorce from the cheating Ashley Cole.

Cheryl stated that she wants the divorce to quietly and quickly be over so as not to disrupt England’s performance in the World Cup and is not asking for any money from Ashley.

Within the filing, Cheryl stated that she wanted the divorce for ‘unreasonable behaviour’ which is easy to understand as Ashley’s continuous cheating.  She instructed her lawyers to finish the divorce quickly so that Ashley will be free to head to the World Cup without worrying about her.

Surprising in the divorce is the fact that Cheryl gave up the Surrey mansion valued at £6m, which many people speculated she would want to keep.

The divorce is expected to be finalized before June 12th comes which is the date that England is due to arrive in South Africa.

Cheryl’s goal is to show she can support herself without Ashley’s money and seeing as she is worth millions due to her past with Girls Aloud and her current million pound contract as an X Factor judge.

The Cole’s split originally back in February when news that Ashley was cheating was printed in the tabloids.  In 2008 it also came to light that he had cheated on her and she forgive him, but apparently second time is not the charm and Cheryl decided it was time to move on.