Interpol and Fifa will fight football corruption together  It has been reported that Interpol will join forces with Fifa the world football governing body to combat match fixing and corruption in football. Sepp Blatter Fifa President and Ronald Noble the Secretary General of Interpol will announce their plans after a session on May 9 in Zurich at the headquarters of Fifa. The cost would be about $20 million for the Interpol and Fifa joint scheme.

The Fifa president says he is aware of where international matches were organized and played to benefit betting scams. The monies will be used for pre-emptive measures and not for investigative purposes. The funding by Fifa would allow Interpol to help develop programmes that are pre-emptive for officials, administrators and players to raise awareness of how the fixers employ their methods.

The education of young players is a priority if the fight to eradicate corruption is to be a success. And it is important for the administrators to adequately perform due diligence when reviewing third parties that want to arrange matches. Monitoring and educating match officials are a must since they are pivotal in not allowing the games to be manipulated.

Sir Alan Sugar steps up to save football  Football needs a savior it is in dire straits. The game needs someone who loves the sport but is also an expert in business. A business expert that does not suffer fools gladly, take any nonsense, and wants more that just cautious Carols and steady Eddies. The answer is Sir Alan Sugar.

He is not shy about letting his opinions be known and he has already investigate why the game finds it self up the proverbial creek with no paddle in site. While talking with members of the fraternity of football, he tries to find out what is the cause behind such financial disaster in the world’s most beautiful game.

In 1992 when the English Premier League premiered the chairmen of all the clubs had agreed to a television contract with BSkyB television, part of Rupert Murdoch’s empire for the sum of £300. With all that money coming in the clubs starting handing out large contracts and starting purchasing players from other countries and other clubs and the spending soon spiraled out of control.

Now the Premier League is seen in more than a half a billion homes and Sky is paying more than a billion pounds for the TV rights and the clubs are selling millions of pounds in tickets, merchandising and TV deals. But why are seven out of every 10 clubs in debt. The total debt in the Premier League stands at a whopping £3.3bn which is higher than any other league in the world.

What the general consensus is that the player’s salaries are the culprits. The wage bills for teams have skyrocketed to colossal levels never before seen and are draining the clubs of all their earnings. Many put blame on the money hungry sharks known as agents as well and the overall consensus is that something needs to be fixed quickly.

The oldest set of rules of football up for auction  Sotheby’s is auctioning in July the oldest set of rules of football as part of an historic group that should bring in over 800,000 quid. The world’s oldest club Sheffield Football Club, is offering the collection that includes, dating from 1858, handwritten original draft rules and the only surviving copy the Sheffield Football Club’s Rules, Regulations & Laws of the Sheffield Football Club published in 1859.

Sotheby senior specialist, Gabriel Heaton stated that the documents were very important to the history of football and form part of what lead to the development of the modern game and much of what the game takes for granted today, came from Sheffield. The sale by Sheffield is to help fund new facilities and to further secure their future as the home of football.

Many of the rules would be familiar to today’s football fans while there are others that may even seem quite liberal in a time when many are complaining about the refereeing. The early years of success by Sheffield was able to encourage other clubs to be developed in the area and to play by the same set of rules that Sheffield had and caused what some consider the growth of the world’s first football culture.

The other Royal couple make a fashion statement at the wedding  It fell in the hands of showbiz royalty to provide the glamour amid chatting invitees as the guests continued to arrive at Westminster Abbey. Just after 9:00am the Beckhams made their way to the abbey knowing that millions of people were watching and eagerly waiting to see just what their wardrobe would reveal. He was in Ralph Lauren she was in Victoria Beckham.

This very pregnant beauty elected to model a midnight blue tunic dress that was of her own collection – with no flashing of the baby bump as she is more reserved in her approach to being pregnant. It was the accessories that set her apart from the rest; a Philip Treacy hat that was reflective of a Werther’s Original. It was the deal.

The hat was placed comfortably in the center and on the front of her forehead and was the announcement of a new era in hat wearing that was displayed by other guests such as Princess Beatrice and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.

David Beckham on the other hand stole the spotlight for style in the congregation. He was far and away ahead of David Cameron with his tails tailored by Ralph Lauren that said out loud that Eton training is not a requisite to mastering the art of posh suiting.

His OBE was pinned on his right lapel signifying that for men medals are not used as the new broaches. His hat was from Philip Treacy as well by he wisely decided to have it in hand and not on his head. The couple was the bright spot in the congregation and with the exception of the beautiful couple, stole the show for the huge event.

Granary Art Gallery focus on sports

Granary Art Gallery focus on sports

An energetic new sporting focused art exhibition will open at the Granary Art Gallery this summer located on the border of Staffordshire and Shropshire within Weston park.  The inspiration for the sporting exhibition will be the work of Ben Mosley.

The emotional and energetic display of Mosley’s work captures the true spirit of football and bridges the very different worlds of sports and arts with a great deal of excitement.

Mosley has seen his career move forward since 2003 when he graduated from the University of Liverpool with a BA in Fine Art Honours.  He is known for his use of fine art, acrylics, and mono prints and has created many private commissions, earned the League Managers Association patronage, and has seen his work featured in a collection of many different London exhibitions.

Speaking of his work, Ben said: “Through my paintings I aim to bring together the world of art, football and sport by portraying the passion and raw emotion that can generate amongst players and fans.”

Gareth Williams, Curator to the Weston Park Foundation added: “We aim to provide a diverse range of art to the gallery and the region and so we are looking forward to welcoming Ben’s striking work to our growing portfolio of exhibitions.”

The Ben Mosley selling exhibition in Granary Art Gallery will run throughout July from 11am – 4pm. Free Entry. For further information please visit: www.weston-park.com