Five by Rio Ferdinand, new fashion footwear

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Five by Rio Ferdinand, new fashion footwear It looks as if Rio Ferdinand will miss the start of the season and won’t get back on the field until September, according to Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United.  The damaged knee ligament that kept him from the World Cup has not healed quite as fast as originally forecast, but the injured captain has not been entirely idle.  Last week Ferdinand was in London to launch his new collection of footwear fashion for men, which he’s calling ‘Five by Rio Ferdinand’ – or just ‘Five’.

Rio designed the collection for Strutt Couture, named it for his jersey number and has already found a space in Manchester, i.e. Aspecto in the city centre and at Trafford Centre, to showcase his stuff.  He told interviewers that he is always looking for interests outside of football and that fashion is one of his passions.

There are 24 different shoe styles in the Autumn/Winter collection including boots and trainers and ranging from classic to casual.  The collection also includes accessories for men, wallets and ‘manbags’.  Sure, there are plenty of skeptics, but Rio’s shoes actually look pretty good, and he’s never been one to let a little opposition bother him.

Victoria Beckham shaken by BA flight failure

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Victoria Beckham shaken by BA flight failure Victoria Beckham was thrown into a panic after a flight she was on from London headed to LA declared an emergency and turned around to Heathrow an hour after it took off.

The flight experienced a technical problem at 30,000 ft Saturday forcing the British Airways airliner to turn around and head back to the airport.

Posh is said to have been terrified since she was by herself and on her way to LA in order to see her children and David.

A source close to the star stated that she was scared and had no one else she could turn to.  The source added that given the plane had already been in the air for such a long time it took some time to get safely back into Heathrow.

On Sunday Beckham was finally able to catch another flight to LA, and BA apologized to its customers for any problems that the cancelled flight may have caused.

A spokesperson for BA stated that the airplane had a small technical problem soon after takeoff and it was decided that it would be best for the plane to fly back into London.  The spokesperson added that there was never a risk to anyone on board the craft and that safety is always the top concern for BA.

Liverpool may become Chinese football club

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Liverpool may become Chinese football club Chinese investor Kenny Huang has been rumoured to have shown interest in buying Premier League team Liverpool. Though Huang has yet to make an official offer, it has been speculated that any offer he does make will be backed by the Chinese government.

Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, doesn’t foresee any problems with Huang buying the club even if he does receive his funding from the Chinese government. Scudamore admits he will investigate the situation further if the rumours are confirmed but also states that it would not be much different to Manchester City receiving funds from Abu Dhabi.

Current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillet along with Chairman Martin Broughton are reportedly in talks with six other bidders but a formal decision of the new owner is to be made next week.

Asia backs England to host World Cup

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Asia backs England to host World Cup It does appear that the ‘soccer wars’ will be heating up in the coming months before FIFA announces the winner of the bidding to host the 2018 World Cup.  The announcement will come in December, and until then the race is on.

England got a boost from Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, with his comments in an article for the Premier League’s season review.

Bin Hammam praised the League’s work with the Asian soccer community, referencing coaching clinics in India and speakers from the English league who share their knowledge at AFC seminars.  He certainly gave the strong impression that he’ll cast his vote for England in December.

However, it’s going to take more than the Asian vote to land the World Cup on British soil for the first time since 1966.  Since this year’s win by Spain, the Spanish contingent, in a joint bid with Portugal, is focusing on the challenge with renewed vigour, but Russia and the U.S. are both strong contenders, and both have a lot of positives to offer in the venue department.

Depending on who you’re listening to at any given time, the odds on the favourite keep changing, and there may be even more surprises before the winner is declared.

Scottish football looking to move forward

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Scottish football looking to move forward Craig Levein and Stewart Regan will sit down together in an effort to create a foolproof plan for the SFA that will help to increase the national side fortunes back to their former glory.

Regan is the new chief executive of the SFA and has reviewed the Henry McLeish report as a start in his work to make Scotland a powerful force in the world of football once again.  He replaced Gordon Smith as Chief back in April and has set his sights on finding resources and funding to make McLeish’s recommendations a reality.

Regan has a strong background in both sporting and business with previous work experience at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club and with the Football League.

However, even with his background Regan is aware of the fact that he has a large amount of work in front of him as he attempts to win back fans that are tired of the national team’s exploits and the current status of the game.

He stated that he is aware of the fact that acceptance of football and of him in the lead position will not happen overnight and that he plans to talk with Levein in regards to what the best way to bring football success to Scotland will be.

The last time that Scotland qualified to play in an international tournament was the France World Cup in 1998, twelve years ago.  As each year passes it becomes harder to get into a qualifier since the country loses its seeding and ranking.