Day -888. WorldCup2018
In today's most unsurprising news, Michel Platini announced that he will not be a candidate in the Fifa presidential elections. It seems only logical seeing as he was recently banned from all football activities for 8 years.....by Fifa. There was hope that he may rush his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in order to get the ban overturned by election day on February 26th, and even give himself sometime to campaign. However as he conceded today, "The timing is not good for me. I don't have the means to fight on equal terms with the other candidates."
And he added, "I have not been given the chance to play the game. Bye bye Fifa, bye bye Fifa presidency." If, as a young boy you were a fan adoring a football idol you could easily read that with a tinge of sadness and could easily forget things like "disloyal payments" and allegations of bribery and corruption. For this once-upon-a-time young boy, Platini was THE football hero, after Pele and Cruyff, just before the questionable idol status of Maradona, but definitely before the manufactured football celebrity-Beckham, Ronaldo...Messi?
1982 was my year, the year that I say it all started, my love for football. It was Brazil in World Cup '82 that got me all excited. But that love needed sustaining until Mexico '86. Sure there was Big League Soccer and Gary Shaw, Peter Withe and Trevor Morley. But I needed something big and it came out of France in 1984. I remember the European Championships that year for two things. One was that it was my brothers and I that watched the matches together. That my Dad (and even my sisters who maybe reluctantly watched the World Cup) wasn't around made my young football brain think that the Euros were nowhere as significant of an event as the World Cup.
The second memory was that it seemed that Platini was the only player on the pitch. Whenever a commentator shouted "goal!" it seemed to be followed by "Platini". Whenever we at home said, "wow, did you see that?" it was because of something Platini had just done. When France won the Euros, it wasn't 11 players who beat Spain in the final and the other teams along the way. It was just Platini, Platini took everybody on and beat them all.
After the Euros, the legend grew in my head. I discovered Juventus, because of Platini. While Italian football may have seemed boring, it was a different level when Juventus and Platini played. When I spent hours practicing bending free kicks around pretend player walls I wish now there was a 1980s Platini equivalent of "bend it like Beckham". When I got a pair of French football boots (Patrick) I was ecstatic that they were French. Now I would play like Platini! Many years later when I was lucky enough to visit the UEFA headquarters I only had one question, "When can I meet Mr. Platini?"
And if anybody would ever like to watch one of the greatest World Cup matches ever look for France-Brazil, Mexico, 1986. Platini was the maestro leading his famous midfield orchestra.
Is this too much? Was it too much adulation? As a young football fan it was fun to have a hero. Now there are no heroes I my head, only players who are admired for what they do. But with Platini, what now? He did do a lot for European football as UEFA president. Do I agree with one of his biggest projects, the Champions League? Not with most of it. But it has spread money around European football. Who would have thought, in 1985, that teams from Cyprus would be able to compete with the best teams in Europe. But therein lies a contradiction. All this has come about because more football (too much?) has led to more money. Platini has helped create the super teams, built with the influx of incredible amounts of money. And with more money come the temptations, the greed for even more. And that was his downfall.
All his mastery on the pitch was outdone, ultimately overshadowed, by what happened over the last year. Whether he is justified in his argument for innocence, through simple ignorance and naivety, will be forever debated. But as a long time fan, yet trying to remain impartial, it's hard not feel a bit of empathy with the man and his dignified fight.
"I'm taking this philosophically. Let's wait and see what happens. But injustice is revolting me and I'm trying to fight it."
Thursday, 7 January 2016
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
More Prince Ali
Day -889. WorldCup2018
I wonder if I can steal my earlier Facebook post about Prince Ali and use that as my countdown post. It was a good one. Ah, here goes anyway in case it was missed. The best thing about it was that the questions asked were exactly what I would have said to Prince Ali.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/35246908
I wonder if I can steal my earlier Facebook post about Prince Ali and use that as my countdown post. It was a good one. Ah, here goes anyway in case it was missed. The best thing about it was that the questions asked were exactly what I would have said to Prince Ali.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/35246908
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
Prince Ali to the rescue
Day -890. WorldCup2018
Thrown off as I am by my mathematical error discovered yesterday, which in all honesty was so silly it would be disrespectful to the world of numbers, I am today lost for words. I was therefore extremely thankful that just when he was needed Prince Ali bin al-Hussein came along with his vision for Fifa: it would be a "catastrophe" without him as President. The good Prince is one of 6 candidates standing in next month's election which, in his words,... is Fifa's "last chance to get it right".
The Prince may be a suitable candidate. After all he is the one with the least involvement with Fifa. However, my view that Fifa's only chance to get it right is to call off this election and take the time to find somebody for this role who has had no connection at all with the rot in this organisation, still stands. Prince Ali is President of the Jordanian Football Association and a former member of the Fifa Executive Committee. And I do hope that his proclaimed niceties about the English are taken for what they really are- an opportunity to garner some more votes.
"People around the world respect England and English football in particular. They want to know that England cares about the future of Fifa and that's very critical in how they will go in the future."
He said something of almost equal grandeur about the Maltese Association and it's President and thanked the Maltese by hosting them in Turkey, while their respective football teams had a kick-about on a specially rented out stadium there with no spectators.
So there's two votes he's banking on. There's a long way to go, your Highness. And, as good a man as you may be, I do hope that like all your fellow candidates you step aside for the long term good of Fifa and football.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/35238493
Thrown off as I am by my mathematical error discovered yesterday, which in all honesty was so silly it would be disrespectful to the world of numbers, I am today lost for words. I was therefore extremely thankful that just when he was needed Prince Ali bin al-Hussein came along with his vision for Fifa: it would be a "catastrophe" without him as President. The good Prince is one of 6 candidates standing in next month's election which, in his words,... is Fifa's "last chance to get it right".
The Prince may be a suitable candidate. After all he is the one with the least involvement with Fifa. However, my view that Fifa's only chance to get it right is to call off this election and take the time to find somebody for this role who has had no connection at all with the rot in this organisation, still stands. Prince Ali is President of the Jordanian Football Association and a former member of the Fifa Executive Committee. And I do hope that his proclaimed niceties about the English are taken for what they really are- an opportunity to garner some more votes.
"People around the world respect England and English football in particular. They want to know that England cares about the future of Fifa and that's very critical in how they will go in the future."
He said something of almost equal grandeur about the Maltese Association and it's President and thanked the Maltese by hosting them in Turkey, while their respective football teams had a kick-about on a specially rented out stadium there with no spectators.
So there's two votes he's banking on. There's a long way to go, your Highness. And, as good a man as you may be, I do hope that like all your fellow candidates you step aside for the long term good of Fifa and football.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/35238493
Monday, 4 January 2016
10 days here and there......
Day -891. WorldCup2018
An apology and clarification is in order.
Math or Maths, depending on whether you read this with a British English language processing mind or a North American English one, was never my strongest point. Much to my father's despair (and maybe disappointment) I was kind of like England at the World Cup- did enough to get by to a certain point, had one stellar exam, but generally fell short of repeated greatness and had to hear constantly about a much better performing brother (think Germany). Come to think of it this disappointment with me ran in parallel to our disgruntled viewing of England at World Cups, which I shouldn't have been watching because I was supposed to be studying for an upcoming end of year Math/s exam to make up for the previous below-expected grade. Lucky England had 4 years in which to redeem themselves. I had exams or tests quite a few times every year.
I will get to my point. Yesterday I came across an online countdown to the World Cup in 2018 and it was 11 days ahead of mine. Russian calenders and math/s, I thought. Probably different and confusing. Nevertheless, it was probably a good idea to look into and be ready to admit my error. So I sat down with pen and paper and calculator, thinking that the only solution was to do my own actual count from now until June 14th 2018. Thankfully, before I started doing that some of my smarter brain cells (in a minority but they come good at opportune moments) made themselves heard and suggested counting back to the 1000 day mark, September 18th.
It didn't take too long. September was fine but somewhere in October I must have regressed to my earlier school days of silly errors which messed up the rest of my work on my exam paper and try as I may I would never find the cause. (Father's advice: always go back and check your work and if you make a mistake don't try looking for it, just re-do the whole thing). So what comes after 980, when counting down to zero? Not 989. That will mess up the next 78 days, or is that 88?
So I have been off for a while and am in the process of editing everyday since sometime in October and, if it matters to anybody, I apologise for putting you under the impression that you have an extra 10 days to wait before the World Cup starts. I'm sure nobody's life balance has been put off kilter, so this has probably just been a long winded explanation as to why I jumped from Day-902 to Day -891.
Therefore in 891 days (oh no, I have to change all those posts where I mentioned the days in my post) England will probably be on the verge of threatening to be world beaters again and my daughters might be preparing for a math (what's maths daddy, that's funny) exam and I hope they won't be asking me for any help with the studying.
An apology and clarification is in order.
Math or Maths, depending on whether you read this with a British English language processing mind or a North American English one, was never my strongest point. Much to my father's despair (and maybe disappointment) I was kind of like England at the World Cup- did enough to get by to a certain point, had one stellar exam, but generally fell short of repeated greatness and had to hear constantly about a much better performing brother (think Germany). Come to think of it this disappointment with me ran in parallel to our disgruntled viewing of England at World Cups, which I shouldn't have been watching because I was supposed to be studying for an upcoming end of year Math/s exam to make up for the previous below-expected grade. Lucky England had 4 years in which to redeem themselves. I had exams or tests quite a few times every year.
I will get to my point. Yesterday I came across an online countdown to the World Cup in 2018 and it was 11 days ahead of mine. Russian calenders and math/s, I thought. Probably different and confusing. Nevertheless, it was probably a good idea to look into and be ready to admit my error. So I sat down with pen and paper and calculator, thinking that the only solution was to do my own actual count from now until June 14th 2018. Thankfully, before I started doing that some of my smarter brain cells (in a minority but they come good at opportune moments) made themselves heard and suggested counting back to the 1000 day mark, September 18th.
It didn't take too long. September was fine but somewhere in October I must have regressed to my earlier school days of silly errors which messed up the rest of my work on my exam paper and try as I may I would never find the cause. (Father's advice: always go back and check your work and if you make a mistake don't try looking for it, just re-do the whole thing). So what comes after 980, when counting down to zero? Not 989. That will mess up the next 78 days, or is that 88?
So I have been off for a while and am in the process of editing everyday since sometime in October and, if it matters to anybody, I apologise for putting you under the impression that you have an extra 10 days to wait before the World Cup starts. I'm sure nobody's life balance has been put off kilter, so this has probably just been a long winded explanation as to why I jumped from Day-902 to Day -891.
Therefore in 891 days (oh no, I have to change all those posts where I mentioned the days in my post) England will probably be on the verge of threatening to be world beaters again and my daughters might be preparing for a math (what's maths daddy, that's funny) exam and I hope they won't be asking me for any help with the studying.
Sunday, 3 January 2016
Mutko: Russian man of the Year
Day -902. WorldCup2018.
You've got to love those Russians and their unashamed self praise. I came across this gem of a report on the Russian award ceremony "Sports facilities. The results of the year 2015". Yes, that is the official title. When you consider that Russia is trying to put itself in the world spotlight in the build up to the World Cup one would think they would have contracted an English speaker to translate the award ceremony name from Russian.
However, that is just a little part of this fun Sunday story. The award ceremony is organised by SportB2B publishing with the assistance of the organising committee of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the Russian Ministry of Sports and the State Duma (the lower house of Parliament). Last year the jury recognised Vitaly Mutko as it's Man of the Year. Vitaly Mutko is the Chairman of the World Cup Organising Committee and is the Russian Minister of Sport. I wonder if he cast the deciding vote or if anybody dared vote against him.
Hilarious as the award is, it is even funnier that it is so happily and openly reported by the Russians. I guess irony doesn’t translate into Russian.
You've got to love those Russians and their unashamed self praise. I came across this gem of a report on the Russian award ceremony "Sports facilities. The results of the year 2015". Yes, that is the official title. When you consider that Russia is trying to put itself in the world spotlight in the build up to the World Cup one would think they would have contracted an English speaker to translate the award ceremony name from Russian.
However, that is just a little part of this fun Sunday story. The award ceremony is organised by SportB2B publishing with the assistance of the organising committee of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the Russian Ministry of Sports and the State Duma (the lower house of Parliament). Last year the jury recognised Vitaly Mutko as it's Man of the Year. Vitaly Mutko is the Chairman of the World Cup Organising Committee and is the Russian Minister of Sport. I wonder if he cast the deciding vote or if anybody dared vote against him.
Hilarious as the award is, it is even funnier that it is so happily and openly reported by the Russians. I guess irony doesn’t translate into Russian.
Saturday, 2 January 2016
Friday, 1 January 2016
The definite end of Musa Bility.
Day-904. WorldCup2018
This bit of news may have been missed by many while we enjoyed updates of which country's turn (in a time zone ahead of ours) it was to let off a ridiculous amount of fireworks to welcome the new year. If it was a competition everybody should pretty much stop once Sydney are done, although Hong Kong did give them a good run.
To the bit of news: Musa Bility's appeal to have his exclusion from the Fifa presidential elections overturned was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That means he is now definitely out with no chance of further appeal. He accepted the judgement (seeing as it was his last legal recourse, he didn't really have much choice but to accept) but said it will not stop him and the Liberian FA from continuing the fight to bring transparency to international football. Strong fighting words there, Mr Bility. You're in good company. Reform and change are the buzz words for anybody connected with Fifa these days.
This bit of news may have been missed by many while we enjoyed updates of which country's turn (in a time zone ahead of ours) it was to let off a ridiculous amount of fireworks to welcome the new year. If it was a competition everybody should pretty much stop once Sydney are done, although Hong Kong did give them a good run.
To the bit of news: Musa Bility's appeal to have his exclusion from the Fifa presidential elections overturned was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That means he is now definitely out with no chance of further appeal. He accepted the judgement (seeing as it was his last legal recourse, he didn't really have much choice but to accept) but said it will not stop him and the Liberian FA from continuing the fight to bring transparency to international football. Strong fighting words there, Mr Bility. You're in good company. Reform and change are the buzz words for anybody connected with Fifa these days.
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