The ref’s a woman !

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The ref’s a woman ! At 9:15pm Tuesday one of the last reminders of male dominance in the sporting world fell to the ground when referee Tony Bates was forced to leave the field with a calf strain, after which a petite woman with dark hair took over to help finish the Sky Blues’ game against Nottingham Forest.

Bates was replaced by his referee assistant, Amy Fearn, who is has now become the first woman to ever referee in a Football League game.  The 31 year old from Loughborough who’s day job is as a Rolls Royce financial analyst is a part of feminist history that will have males re-evaluating their role in the sporting world.

This is not the first time than a woman has landed on a line, however as Postmistress Wendy Toms from Dorset was on the Premier League in the nineties and Fearn herself has also worked the line using her maiden name, Rayner, as an assistant for the last four years.

Fearn is certainly not a stranger to the game since she has been refereeing since age 14; however, it was still a leap for women in the sporting world.  She stated that it was a great experience to get the chance to referee at a Football League and laughingly said that she could get used to being in charge every week.

She also added that she did not notice at the time that the crowd had reacted to the change, but was glad that nothing controversial occurred while she was in charge of the match for twenty minutes.

Garry Mann may not go to jail in Portugal over football hooliganism

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Garry Mann may not go to jail in Portugal over football hooliganism Garry Mann, an avid England football fan, has received a temporary stay of extradition from the European Court of Human Rights over a prison sentence for a riot he participated in while in Portugal during the 2004 UEFA Euro tournament.

The Court of Human Rights stated that it was not ready to make a decision on his case until every domestic legal procedure was attempted.  Instead, it referred the question of his extradition and punishment back to UK courts, which should hear the case before the close of March.

A spokeswoman for the court stated that the High Court will still hold a hearing and thus the Human rights judge are not yet ready to hear his case.  She also stated that at the moment Mr. Mann will not face imminent extradition due to the fact that UK legal procedures must be completed first.

The Portuguese authorities have requested Mann’s extradition due to the fact he did not serve his two year term in prison in the UK after his deportation for violence that he allegedly helped create in the Alburgerira Algarve resort in June of 2004.

Mann, who is 51, has maintained that he was not given a fair trial since he was taken into custody by the UK in March of last year.  He said that he is stuck in limbo between the court systems, which has taken away his ability to work and provide for his family, as well as offer his family any type of closure to the situation.

John Terry’s wife leaves him and flies to Dubai

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John Terry’s wife leaves him and flies to Dubai John Terry’s wife left Britain for Dubai after declaring to Terry that their marriage was over.

Toni Terry, his wife, was reportedly destroyed after finding out that the star Chelsea footballer was cheating on her with his team-mate Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend.

After telling Terry that she wanted a divorce she took her twins to Dubai.

Friends reported that Toni was torn apart by the news that Terry had cheated twice a week for four months on her with Vanessa Perroncel. This is in the face of Terry’s Dad of the Year award in 2009.

According to her friends, the last straw came when she learned that Terry had arranged for Perroncel to have an abortion after Terry found out she had become pregnant.

Toni left Saturday night for the Gulf accompanied by her three year old twins and her mother.  At the moment she is looking at retaining the services of Fiona Shackleton, a top divorce lawyer, to ensure she gets at least half of Terry’s fortune.

Terry is thought to earn about £8m per year.  He also enjoys several sponsorship deals with Umbro, Nationwide, and Samsung as well as owning two lavish properties and a handful of luxury cars.

However, legal experts say that if Toni files for divorce his lifestyle may end given that he could owe over £10m to her. A source close to Toni stated that she has had more than she can take and is fairly certain that she wants a divorce at this point.

African Nations Cup Behind The Scenes Footage

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With the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola about to conclude with Egypt and Ghana playing in the final in Luanda, we have been given access to some exclusive training and interview footage with the Angolan, Cameroon, Ghanaian and Ivory Coast football teams.

Manchester United V Arsenal in 3D on Sky

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Manchester United V Arsenal in 3D on Sky Sky will feature a live Premier League matches that will be broadcast to nine UK pubs over the weekend to kick off its introduction of the UK’s first channel to air 3D television.

The match can be viewed in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Dublin and will feature the match between Manchester United and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

Sky plans to add its Sky 3D channel to customers who subscribe to its Sky+HD plan by April.

The Sky 3D channel will feature documentaries, movies, entertainment, and sporting events.  In order to view the content provided in 3D viewers will need to pick up a pair of 3D glasses.

3D has grown massively in popularity since cinemas started to show films in 3D such as Avatar, although 3D ready televisions will not be available on the consumer market until later in the year.

Director of strategic product development for Sky, Gerry O’Sullivan, stated that due to the fact the public has embraced 3D in movie theatres, the company is confident that there will be a high demand for their new television channel.

Other 3D events that will be filmed include the 2010 World Cup and two of the Six Nations championship matches.  The latter will be shown in cinemas around the UK.

Sky also has promised to air a Premier League game once a week on its 3D channel once it fully launches.

Director of Sky operations, Darren Long stated that when television moved from black and white to colour there was an amazing spark of excitement which believes will happen once 3D television truly hits the market.