Japan pushing forward with international friendly matches

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Japan pushing forward with international friendly matches Despite an earthquake and a Tsunami severely damaging many parts of the country, Japan is still hoping to stage two soccer international friendly matches in March even though many thousands are feared dead after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake last Friday.

Kozo Tashima, Japan Football Association, General Secretary, has stated that more than ever it would mean a lot and send a message to the world if the country could stage the games which are still more than two weeks away, when Japan plays Montenegro on the 25th March at Shizuoka Stadium near Tokyo and New Zealand on the 29th March.

He has said that that we need to let people know that, regardless of the images that we see on CNN, Tokyo is okay and functional and order is being restored in the City.  The world probably does not have an accurate view of the situation at present and the Japanese football community, as well as the entire Japanese sports world, can assist in returning the country to normality.

On Monday, however, an announcement was made, postponing all domestic matches set down for March.  The football season will continue into July.

The Chairman of the J.League, Kazumi Ohigashi, has said that the situation is serious at present, with aftershocks still continuing. As they are unable to guarantee complete safety at the stadiums the J.League has decided to cancel all J1, J2 and NABISCO Cup matches for March.

Fixtures for J.League, NABISCO Cup are stretched and games will need to be played in July. These arrangements could affect Japanese plans to compete in the Copa America tournament as a guest in South America later this year.

Thomas Müller to receive “Hyundai Best Young Player Award”

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Germany’s talented midfielder Thomas Muller has been named as the winner of the prestigious FIFA/Hyundai best young player of the year award. Muller had an outstanding World Cup, with his 5 goals and 3 assists helping the Germans to claim 3rd place in the competition. He really came of age in South Africa, mesmerising football fans across the globe with his vision, pace and overall ability. The young players who finished behind Muller were Giovani dos Santos from Mexico and Andre Ayew from Ghana.

“As a committed supporter of football, we are delighted to join FIFA to support this special prize which has been a feature of the FIFA World Cups since 1958,” Werner H. Frey, Managing Director of Hyundai Motor Deutschland GmbH, said today at the handover ceremony. “We feel that the young and dynamic nature of this award fits perfectly with our brand,” he added.

Oliver Takahashi, FIFA head of Marketing Alliances and Event Management, presented the Hyundai BYPA trophy and the Hyundai ix35 compact sport utility vehicle (known as Tucson in some markets) to Thomas Müller. Müller is the third German national football player to receive the award since Franz Beckenbauer received it in 1966 and Lukas Podolski in 2006.

“It is a great pleasure for FIFA and our partner Hyundai Motor Company to officially recognize Thomas Müller as the brightest young star of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. His five goals and outstanding displays for Germany make him a very worthy recipient of this award. We would like to thank Hyundai for their support of the Best Young Player Award which continues the proud tradition of recognizing exciting talent at the FIFA World Cup™,” Takahashi said.

The Hyundai BYPA is one of FIFA’s official awards recognizing the most outstanding FIFA World Cup™ performances by footballers aged under 21 and is selected by the Technical Study Group, a FIFA-appointed group of top football coaches and analysts.

Judges look for certain technical qualities such as skill, style and charisma but also other important factors such as a sense of fair play and a genuine enthusiasm for the game.

Hyundai is extremely proud of its twelve-year strong association with FIFA, during which the company has demonstrated itself to be a reliable and effective partner by serving as the official automotive supplier to all FIFA-sanctioned events around the world.

Hyundai is currently esteemed as one of FIFA’s top partners and has extended its strategic sponsorship agreement with FIFA to cover 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil, 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in Russia and 2022 FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar.

New Era at sports exhibition

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The lifestyle brand, New Era Cap Co, have announced their presence at this Monday’s Exhibition of Sprot Merchandise. It is to be held at Wembley Arena and record crowds are expected.

Since it was started 90 years ago as a small family business, New Era has become a  lifestyle brandacross the globe. They were the original pioneers of such classic styles as the Newsboy, Gatsby and flapper. Their designs epitomised the 1920’s in America. The new EK collection features the classic men’s headwear of the time tailored to suit the consumer today..

The brand is rightly proud of it’s football heritage; a bond with supporters forged by their creation of authentic sporting merchandise. Their stand will emphasise these bonds by having a ‘football in the 1920’s’ theme.There will be a large image of football fans in 1923 entering a football ground ans they  are all sporting classic caps from the time.

Today, New Era is now the official on-field headwear provider for Major League Baseball and also holds major licenses with the NHL, NFL and the NBA. New Era continues to specialise in creating quality headwear which transcend time, culture, sport and fashion; those classic styles which defined an era still stand as some of the most popular silhouettes today.

It was a natural progression for New Era to become the brand of choice in customising accessories for some of the best football teams across Europe, proudly collaborating with over 70 of Europe’s top Premiership clubs, including Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and West Ham. At this year’s exhibition, New Era will be showcasing a mix of EK by New Era, Authentic MLB 59FIFTY and football licensed product.

To honor this flourishing relationship, New Era is proud to present an authentic EK by New Era Newsboy cap with unique heritage inspired lining, available exclusively to VIPs and executives during the event.

For more info detailing the brand’s 90 years in the headwear and sports merchandise business, log onto: www.neweracap.co.uk.

Stewart Downing fights it out with his agent in court

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Stewart Downing fights it out with his agent in court Stewart Downing, the winger who has played for both Middlesbrough and Aston Villa was in court recently to settle a long running dispute with his agent, Ian Elliott. The court heard how Downing, 26, had trusted Elliott so implicitly to the point where he signed papers without even checking them.

It was in January 2007 that the cracks first started to appear in their seemingly solid relationship. In a radio interview, Elliott stated that Tottenham Hotspur had shown an interest in Downing, a fact the player didn’t want broadcasting as he was settled at Middlesbrough.

Soon after that Downing discovered that one of his companies had only £11,000 in its account, not the £600,000 + he thought should be there. The court was told that Elliott was siphoning off the money to support his own business ventures, which were failing and had mounting debts.

Downing admitted he never checked over contracts and the like before signing as he trusted Elliott, and believed him to always have his best interests at heart. He also admitted that he left a lot of the running of the businesses solely to Elliott so he could concentrate on his football.

A further allegation against Elliott is that he created a conflict of interest by acting as agent for both Middlesbrough FC and Downing during crucial contract negotiations, an act that is against the rules of the F.A.

The prosecutor, Christopher Attwooll, told the court that Elliott had dishonestly managed Downing’s affairs to meet his own financial need and abused the complete trust that Downing had placed in him. Elliot vehemently denies the charges that have been brought against him and the case continues.

‘Old Firm’ warned about possible arrests

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'Old Firm' warned about possible arrests Following problems at the last ‘Old Firm’ football game between Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic, culminating in an altercation between Rangers Assistant Manager Ally McCoist and Celtic Manager Neil Lennon, both clubs have been warned that they could be arrested in future, if conduct does not improve.

Strathckyde Police Chief Constable Stephen House said that, in future, police officers would visit the grounds and speak to both players and managers to warn them of possible offences, together with any action that might be taken. There was also a recent high-profile incident featuring AC Milan player Gennaro Gattuso and Tottenham Hotspur Assistant Manager Joe Jordan. Mr House said that an arrest on the pitch would only be made in extreme circumstances, such as those involving potential assaults of use of obscenities, however, action would be considered after the game.

A four hour summit, convened by Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond, was held after the game, leading to an eight point action plan, including the prospects of holding games mid-week, banning the sale of alcohol near the grounds, the banning of fans convicted of domestic violence, and a new Football Intelligence Unit. There was also an increase in reported violent crime after the game, although the Chairmen of both clubs felt that there was a general over-reaction to the game.

Mr Salmond considered that the meeting had been a success, that the priority had to be to reduce violence connected to such games and that players, managers and officials should be left in no doubt as to the possible consequences.