Steve McLaren may be returning to England

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Steve McLaren may be returning to England Former England football team manager Steve McLaren could be on his way back to England, if he has his way, fresh from getting the sack from Wolfsburg, after seven months in charge. This followed a poor spell of results that saw the team just outside the relegation places in the German Bundesliga.

McLaren is still held in very high regard, despite the England and Wolfsburg experiences, as a result of his time at Manchester United as Assistant Manager and as Middleborough Manager. He also won the Dutch championship last year, as manager of FC Twente.

McLaren would even be prepared to work for a Championship club, saying that there are just as many challenges in that league, highlighting the experiences of Blackpool, now in the Premiership.

There is no doubt that he would receive a mixed welcome if he returned, given the performances of the England team with him in charge.

Football leadership comes under government microscope

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Football leadership comes under government microscope Football leadership is under fire over the Parliamentary Inquiry into Football Governance. A war of words has broken out between the two main governing bodies of the sport in this country, the Football Association (FA) and the Football League.

The former Chairman of the FA Lord Triesman hit out at Sir Dave Richards, the Chairman of the Premier League, accusing him of previously bullying FA board members into stifling reform, using the financial clout of the league. However, current FA Chairman David Bernstein paints a different picture, one of co-operation.

Richards immediately hit back, asserting that he was no bully and reminded Lord Triesman that he was one of the people involved in changing the FA constitution in 1996 to create a new, more progressive board.

It’s clear that a power struggle may ensue as Richards was in no mood to back down and added that if the FA wanted total control they would have a fight on their hands.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport sponsored inquiry has recently been taking evidence from all manner of interested parties, largely as a result of high profile press coverage of the governance of elite Premiership clubs.

FIFA faces backlash over Qatar world Cup location

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FIFA faces backlash over Qatar world Cup location Football’s governing body FIFA is in danger of coming into dispute with top clubs in Europe over its handling of the decision to give World Cup 2022 to Qatar and the expansion of the international footballing calendar, with many of the European leagues, in particular the Premiership, stretched as things currently stand.

FIFA apparently did not consult clubs over its suggestions that the World Cup might be played in the winter months in Qatar – which would have huge ramifications for Europe’s premier league fixtures – instead of playing in the hot summer, as proposed by the Qatar bid. The Qatar soccer organisation has continued to insist that the World Cup will be played in their summer, as originally planned.

The heads of both Barcelona and Manchester, President Sandro Rosell and Chief Executive David Gill, respectively, have both expressed their surprise over FIFA’s handling of the affair.

With UEFA Champions League coming up in the next week, many competing clubs have also expressed concerns at the wisdom of having 4 games plus travelling in the space of only 10 days.

Umberto Gandini of AC Milan also expressed his displeasure at FIFA’s treatment of the international calendar. An alternative has been proposed by the European Club Association, including a limit of one international tournament annually and, instead of having individual games, to have entire periods for the national teams. Commenting, Michele Centaro of the association said that there must be greater transparency in FIFA decision-making, particularly where those decisions impact on club football.

All of this couldn’t have come at a worse time for controversial FIFA President Sepp Blatter, with elections imminent.

Bobby Charlton aims for British football team

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Bobby Charlton aims for British football team The London Olympics in 2012 could see an all British football team for the first time ever if Sir Bobby Charlton and Lord Coe have their way. All of the home countries compete together at the Olympic Games as Great Britain in every other sport except football.

Sir Bobby, 1966 England World Cup hero and one of Manchester United’s famous ‘Busby Babes’, speaking at the Laureus World Sport Awards, dropped very strong hints that this is a possibility, saying that Lord Coe, the chairman of the London Olympics, had asked him to help turn the dream into a reality. He added that, although, competing as a unified team might mean the home countries lose their individual passion and pride, he thought that they might be able to pull it off.

Previous efforts to create a unified team have met with resistance from all of the other home nations except England, because their national football federations have been worried that a joint team would weaken their position as individual nations, at least in the eyes of the governing body, FIFA. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said in the past that it would welcome a Great Britain football team.

The home nations used to compete in a series called the Home International Championship until 1983-4. This has been revived as a one-off for 2011, the Carling Nations Cup, with all home countries except England represented.

The great football pub TV war ignites again

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The great football pub TV war ignites again Karen Murphy is a determined woman, and even though she was fined £8,000 about four years ago for breach of the Premier League’s copyright, she’s still fighting, and she may win.  If she does it will mean a major upheaval for the League’s broadcasting strategy.  Murphy is the proprietor of Red, White & Blue, a street-corner pub in Portsmouth, and her crime was bypassing the Premier League’s exclusive broadcaster, BSkyB and using a much less expensive Greek broadcaster to screen matches in her pub.

The Premier League said that Murphy had no right to go with the cheaper decoder, and sued her for copyright infringement.  They won at that level, but Murphy has taken the case to a higher court.  This week the Advocate General at the European Court of Justice, Juliane Kokott, ruled that Murphy did have the right.  Since the opinion of the Advocate General is followed in about 80% of cases before the EU high court, it looks like a good possibility that the decision will be passed to the High Court in London after the EU panel meets in three months.

BSkyB and ESPN are the only two networks authorized to broadcast Premier League football matches in the UK at this time, and that is a very lucrative operation for them, and for the League.  The current 3-year deal with BSkyB will make the League about £1.6 billion.  BSkyB makes about £200 million every year from sales of subscriptions to commercial customers such as pubs.  Both the Premier League and Sky are expected to fight the anticipated decision, on the basis that such a change in the structure of broadcast rights in the UK should be done through “proper legislative processes” and not through the courts.