Olympic Stadium takeover to be announced soon

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Olympic Stadium takeover to be announced soon This argument has been brewing for a long time and finally there’s an end to it that’s near at hand. We should know the results of who’s going to be taking over the running over of the stadium for the Olympics after the games of 2012 in Stratford. There are only two, aggressive competitors, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur.

While they have both handed in their plans, Tottenham has caused the most stir. They want to move nearly 5 miles and remove the athletic track and this has everyone up in arms, from the guy at the corner pub to the man upstairs, in the government top tiers.

There is even a rumbling of a parliamentary debate.

The alternative plan is to renovate White Hart Lane. However, the difference in cost is not insignificant. Estimates have it that the difference is £200 million. Before you slough it off as just another sports figure that’s too large for mortals to comprehend, consider that it is almost 100% more expensive for the Hart Lane project than to move the stadium.

Money is a different beast when it comes to football. It doesn’t just talk. It’s shouting and yelling, while it’s running around wild. Finally it won’t stop until its throat is worn out and bleeding. The game today depends more on money than ever before, and on more money than ever before, that’s for sure. A trivial amount gets done without big money being swapped to do it. This is exactly the reason Channel 5 and ITV have been given the go ahead to air the matches.

It’d be a sad sight to see Tottenham lag behind Chelsea or Manchester City, simply due to lack of financial punch to nab the top players. Changing stadiums fro White Hart Lane might seem a pity, but it doesn’t have to elicit such sad emotions as some are expect to yield. It is a huge step forward and that’s for sure.

Home nations championship in 2013

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Home nations championship in 2013 To mark the 150th anniversary of the English Football Association in 2013, home nations are talking about having a one-off tournament.  The last home international tournament took place in 1984, one hundred years after the very first championship.

The FA would like to make the tournament a one-time tournament and not revive the home internationals, which involved England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland on a regular basis.  Of course no one is saying what their plans are as far as the tournament goes and how many years it will go on for.

With the new sponsorship with Vauxhall, who are sponsoring all of the home nations, it might encourage England to enter yearly.  This year Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales will take part in the Carling Nations Cup in February and May.

General Secretary for the FA, Alex Horne, has stated that the tournament planning is still in the early stages and is not ruling a yearly tournament out in the future.  On March 26 England is due to face Wales twice in their first game in Cardiff.  The two games are part of the Euro 2012 qualification campaign.

Nationwide ends FA relationship

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Nationwide ends FA relationship The Nationwide building society has ended its 11 year FA sponsorship deal.  Wondering what company was going to take their place did not take long to find out.  Six months after the sponsorship deal ended, carmaker Vauxhall took over with a three-and-a-half year, multi-million pound deal.

The car firm is very excited on their new sponsorship and has many ideas for the FA.  They have started to complete deals with national associations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  Vauxhall will sponsor not only the men’s national team but also the other 23 representative England teams.  The deal will cover sponsorship of the women’s teams, men’s youth teams and all the England disability sides.

BBC sports have stated that the car firm wants to revive the Home International championship that ran for 100 years until England and Scotland lost interest in 1984.  With the new sponsorship Vauxhall has become the official vehicle supplier to the FA.

In the time period of the sponsorship agreement they will be covering Euro 2012 in Poland-Ukraine and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.  Managing director Duncan Aldred of Vauxhall has a strong history with supporting football.  He believes in not only an amazing senior team for England but also youth and junior football.

Qatar winter world cup debate

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Qatar winter world cup debate In round four, after eliminating Australia, Japan and South Korea, FIFA’s final vote was 8 for the USA and 14 for Qatar.  Therefore, Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the middle of its two hottest months, when it is illegal for labourers to work outside if the temperature reaches the seasonal average of 40 degrees centigrade.

Either that, or the World Cup will be moved from Qatar’s summer to Qatar’s winter, sometime smack in the middle of several other international winter sports competitions, like Europe’s football season and the 2022 Winter Olympics, for instance.

No one seems to be quite sure just why the tiny and very wealthy emirate of Qatar won the coveted position of host, and hardly anyone seems to be happy about it.  Sports fans, commentators and analysts from all over the place are logging in to express disbelief and dissatisfaction at what most are calling at best a huge gamble and at worst a total fiasco.  There are of course rumours of knavery and corruption, though none have been even faintly confirmed.  What is fairly certain is that FIFA’s credibility is at very low ebb.

Sepp Blatter has been FIFA’s president for 12 years now and apparently intends to go on for another four after the FIFA congress in Zurich this June.  He said he would personally clean up the Association’s image, proposing a new committee to oversee the ethics of the voting members.  He said this committee would be composed of reputable and experienced figures in finance, business, culture and politics as well as sports, and would thereby shore up the sagging credibility of the world’s foremost football authority.

Possibly the most serious blow to the Association’s image is the suspicion that all of Qatar’s magnificent promises regarding new infrastructure, new stadiums, and carbon-free air-conditioning may have been a smokescreen.  It has become apparent that a change in the timing of the World Cup was already on the table before the final votes were counted.

Christine Blakely sees the down side of being a WAG

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Christine Blakely sees the down side of being a WAG If she didn’t know it before she does now; Christine Blakely discovered yesterday that there is another side to being a WAG; one that is less about glamour and luxury and more about standing by your man in difficult times.

The famous TV presenter was in the stands watching her boyfriend, Frank Lampard, playing for Chelsea in their game against Bolton. Chelsea managed to secure their first win in a long time. However, the reaction of the crowd to Lampard’s performance manifested itself in the solemn look on Blakely’s face.

It also showed in the body language of Frank Lampard Senior, who sat watching the game next to Christine. Himself a former West Ham player and assistant manager, Frank Lampard senior is not new to the fickle, moody nature of football supporters. Nevertheless, he looked angry and crossed his arms while witnessing the fans’ disapproving reception of his son’s performance.

The game was Frank Lampard’s first  appearance for Chelsea after a spell on the sideline because of injury. And despite the win, thanks to Florent Malouda’s 61st minute goal, the supporters remained less than convinced by their team’s current form.

Frank will no doubt find consolation in the presence of his girlfriend. As she watched him play, the 31 years old TV Presenter was wearing a beige Mac and a black polo neck and clutched a brown handbag. Perhaps Frank can hope for more loving eyes from the crowd in the coming matches if Chelsea regains their verve on the pitch. But, unlike Christine and Frank's apparent steady relationship, the romance between the crowd and Chelsea's star player might end up with more than a few fans left unsatisfied. Instead of watching Chelsea perhaps they would prefer to start dating again, a few new girlfriends out there could be happy not to become football widows, for a short while at least.

Despite the doubtlessly awkward moments in the stadium all is going fine with Frank. The couple has been together for almost a year. Celebrating Christmas early, the couple were spotted coming out of an exclusive night club in London at 3am. Merry and rather sleepy, they jumped into a taxi and headed home.