FIFA: New Frontiers or Same Old Story?

(PIC: Stephen McCaskill)

The day had started with a genuine sense of optimism within the England camp. The bid team felt that they had weathered the storm resulting from the BBC’s Panorama investigation into corruption within FIFA and after a perfect presentation fronted by David Beckham, David Cameron and Prince William, spirits were high. However by the time the FIFA Executive Committee had exited their conclave, news was filtering through on twitter and media outlets that England had been eliminated from the first round of voting. After FIFA’s trademark pomp and ceremony delayed the announcement, we were finally put out of our misery as Sepp Blatter announced that Russia and Qatar had won the race to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively. While there are genuine reasons for selecting Russia as hosts, the selection of Qatar and the bidding process itself have highlighted fundamental problems within FIFA.

Russia has never hosted the World Cup before and the tournament offers the country a chance to improve the nation’s infrastructure and repair its image tarnished by decades of communist rule. A genuine legacy is possible in the world’s biggest country, something that was arguably not as true of the three other competing bids, Despite the desire of FIFA to bring the World Cup to new countries, many have questioned the wisdom of awarding the World Cup to the two countries ranked worst in FIFA’s technical report. England, who were ranked the highest in the same report, did not have a divine right to host the competition but for the bid to finish behind the rank outsiders Netherlands & Belgium in last place is nothing short of astonishing. For two years, the bid team had been campaigning around the world in an attempt to secure the votes of the members of the Executive Committee. The bid cost £15m and its return yielded just two votes, one of which is expected to be England’s sole member on the committee, Geoff Thompson. Following FIFA’s decision, many were quick to point to the effects of the Sunday Times investigation that revealed two members offered their votes for cash and of the BBC Panorama programme that aired allegations of corruption by another three members. The timing of the broadcast of Panorama was criticised by those who felt that showing it just three days before the vote would sabotage England’s bid.  FIFA did not welcome the intrusions and although they suspended Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii after the Sunday Times investigation, they made it clear that they were not grateful for the exposure of the corruption. The BBC’s Panorama programme largely consisted of old material and although it was not the most enthralling pieces of investigative journalism, the British media should not be forced to censor itself. FIFA stated that they are against any breach of their code of ethics, but rather than attempt to clean up their organisation, FIFA felt that it was necessary to hold this against the England bid. 

Qatar’s selection as host for the 2022 World Cup is difficult to justify. The Emirate has a population of just over 1.6 million people, summer temperatures of anything between 40 to 50 degrees and six of its proposed stadia are in the capital, Doha. These are genuine practical problems that must be considered, and the heat was noted by the FIFA technical report as a possible risk to spectators and competitors’ health. Qatar’s solution for the heat is to regulate the climate of the stadia to a more manageable temperature but problems such as the country’s human rights record will be more difficult to overcome. The case for giving Qatar the world cup rests almost solely on the basis that they have never hosted it before, but Australia, a country with a growing appetite for football that has never hosted the World Cup either, were eliminated in the first round of voting after receiving just one vote. Qatar does have some experience in hosting major sporting events as Doha successfully hosted the 2006 Asian Games and the country will host the 2011 Asian Cup in January. However both of these tournaments take place in the winter, when the heat will be far more bearable than June and July.

FIFA’s lack of transparency and reform has left it open to accusations of corruption and greed while some decisions appear to be improvised and at the whim of Sepp Blatter. Allegations have been raised intermittently of members of the executive committee, yet FIFA has done nothing about them. The whole bidding process is designed for its members to gain favours from countries who daren’t offend them for risk of losing the chance to host the World Cup. Jack Warner was courted by the English bid and he managed to have England play a friendly in Trinidad in 2008 and David Beckham open a soccer school in the Caribbean country as the bid team massaged his immeasurable ego only for him not to give them his support. Governments were required to agree to a set of FIFA demands that promised them to waive visa regulations, strengthen laws that protected FIFA’s commercial partners and to gift FIFA tax exemptions. The governments were instructed not to publish these extortionate demands but when the Dutch government objected to them and did so, it damaged the Netherlands’ joint bid with Belgium. The bidding process itself is secretive and the room where the Executive Committee made their decision looked like something that a James Bond villain would have designed for his secret lair. The vote was only given a degree of transparency when in the dying moments of the campaign FIFA revealed that they would make the detailed results public.

Until the structure of FIFA and its host selection process is overhauled and made more transparent then allegations of corruption will persist. The IOC has managed to reform itself and would provide an ideal model for FIFA. Following the Salt Lake City scandal, members of the IOC are forbidden from having private meetings with bidding candidates while members are not permitted to vote if their country is a candidate. Executive Committee members had long decided who they would vote for and offered empty promises of their support to rival bidders. England’s bid was rated the best by the technical report and on profitability, yet lost to the country that rated the worst. The same was true in the bid for the 2022 World Cup where the United States and Australia were thwarted by Qatar whose bid was the worst technically and deemed ‘high risk’. If England’s bid was indeed derailed by the efforts of our free press then perhaps the World Cup is a price worth paying for bringing these allegations to light and for not jumping when FIFA clap.

Fog on the Rhine

Switzerland 1 - 3 England

After Friday’s 4-0 demolition of Bulgaria, England travelled to Switzerland for what was on paper their toughest fixture in their European Championship Qualification campaign. The build-up to the game was dominated by tabloid allegations about Wayne Rooney’s private life and whether he was in the right state of mind to start the game in Basel. Capello selected Rooney, who scored and built on his good performance against Bulgaria, removing any doubts that some sections of the media held over his selection.

England’s 3-1 won was one of their most impressive away performances under Capello as they took command of Group G with two consecutive wins. There were a number of positives to take from the match, most notably the continuing upward trajectory of Adam Johnson’s fledgling England career. Johnson, who narrowly missed out on selection for South Africa, scored his second goal in as many games as he took the ball around Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio and coolly finished from a tight angle. The Manchester City winger threatened from the right-hand side, cutting inside on numerous occasions. Capello has obviously been watching Manchester City a lot over the last few months, with the Italian manager adopting Roberto Mancini’s system of deploying left footed Johnson the right to allow such runs. Unfortunately for Theo Walcott, Johnson’s success was at the Arsenal winger’s expense after he was injured in the build-up to England’s first goal. Walcott has struggled to combine form with fitness since he moved to Arsenal four years ago and this latest injury setback, combined with Johnson’s rise, may hinder his efforts to making the right-midfield position his own.

The England goal which led to Walcott’s injury was scored by Wayne Rooney, the man at the centre of all the pre-match build up. Rooney scored from close range in the first half to set England on their way and in doing so scored his first competitive goal for England for twelve months. Rooney, who was out of sorts at the World Cup, has produced two performances that will give Fabio Capello great confidence for the rest of this qualification campaign. Whatever his problems may be off the pitch, Rooney left England in no doubt of his importance to the team.

                

Rio Ferdinand and John Terry’s absence from the squad created the chance for one of England’s central defenders to stake a claim for a starting place in the team. Phil Jagielka did his chances no harm with two competent performances which betrayed his inexperience at this level. Michael Dawson’s injury sustained in the match against Bulgaria and the poor recent form of Matthew Upson mean that Jagielka may well have established himself as England’s main understudy at central defence.

                

After all the uncertainty over the position in the lead up to the World Cup, the goalkeeping position is no longer a dilemma for Capello as Joe Hart is surely the undisputed number one for England. After a good season for Birmingham City last year, he has now displaced Shay Given as first choice at Manchester City. Hart has been in sensational form for club and country so far this season and although there were a few nervy moments against Switzerland, England could finally have some stability between the posts.

                

Switzerland were not at the top of their game and rarely posed a threat. While their defence has been their strength in recent years, most notably at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, their inability to score goals let them down in both tournaments. Veteran Alex Frei of FC Basel and Leverkusen striker Eren Derdiyok led the line, but never looked to threaten the resolute England defence. Stephane Lichtsteiner showed his indiscipline as he was sent off for two yellow cards. The first was avoidable, a yellow card for dissent while the second one was the result of a poor tackle. One positive for “Die Nati” was Xherdan Shaqiri, the 18 year old wonderkid from FC Basel. His goal from outside the area was spectacular and demonstrated why the Swiss are so excited about him.

                

England’s next game is a friendly against France which will be used as preparation for the game against second placed Montenegro, who have also won their first two games despite being deemed the weakest team in the group. England may not have banished the memories of South Africa, but there is reason for optimism after two impressive wins that leaves them in command of the group.

Redeem Team

FOOTBALL: England

It was the worst day I have ever experienced as a fan of football, possibly even as a fan of sport. As the rain poured down at Wembley and on England's Euro 2008 qualifying ambitions, Croatia celebrated in the cold November night. England had many chances to qualify for that tournament, the most harrowing being the game against Russia in Moscow where England were a whisker away from qualifying before capitulating to the team that would ultimately take their place at Europe's showpiece. It was a truly terrible qualifying campaign and even defeat in Moscow wasn't the end as Israel beat Russia to ensure that England's fate remained in their own hands. England didn't deserve a place at that tournament, poor performances coupled with disappointing results against the likes of Macedonia and Andorra ensured that a team more used to spectacular, gallant failure endured a painful, pathetic end to a torrid attempt to qualify.

Nearly two years on from those painful memories, England, now under the stewardship of Fabio Capello, are a different team. Qualifying has seemingly been a breeze for the Three Lions and are now just one victory away from the World Cup finals in South Africa next year. A victory against Croatia on wednesday would surely banish any lingering memory of that defeat and will allow England to move forward.

England are a completely different outfit from the solid, if unspectacular days of Sven Goran Eriksson and certainly from McClaren's hapless spell in charge. No player is sure of his place, players such as Carlton Cole are being blooded and may well force their way into the reckoning should England qualify. Gone are the days where reputation preceeded form as a criteria for selection as Capello moulds a team rather than a collection of eleven, although talented, individuals.

England are far from the finished article as Saturday's friendly against Slovenia showed, but they are drastically improved. Defensive options beyond Terry and Ferdinand are unproven and as yet unconvincing and although Capello's recent squads have been relatively settled, the names of the 23 members of the potential World Cup squad remain a mystery.

Hopefully England can clinch a place at South Africa 2010 and take their place at a tournament where they have an outside chance of victory, especially with the likes of France, Portugal and Argentina struggling to book their place to the first World Cup in Africa.

Brave New England

England 2 - 1 Switzerland

This was the first game in Fabio Capello's reign as England manager and it was capped by a victory. The big stories leading up to the match were the exclusion of potential England centurion and the reports of Capello's strict discipline. Gone were the players phones and Playstations and the players were expected to sometimes train twice a day. Wednesday night was going to be an indication of what England fans can expect for the next couple of years, so what did the friendly show?

The morning's papers had predicted a team that would include Ashley Young and Owen Hargreaves, but Capello fooled them all by including Gareth Barry and Jermaine Jenas, the latter of whom justified their selection by scoring the first goal. The formation was 4-5-1 with Gerrard the No.10, as there was no place for the Michael Owen. It represented a change in system for the England side with the team so used to variations of 4-4-2. Capello's change from the system represents a different direction for the team and in the first half, the players seemed unable to adapt to the new formation. Things were better in the second half, Rooney, Gerrard, Cole and Jenas thriving . The performance wasn't great, but a winning start is always welcome. Upson occasionally looked out of place at times and Ashley Cole's mind seemed elswhere at times. With the exception of the Switzerland goal and a few nervous moments at the back, England looked solid.

With Beckham out of the squad, David Bentley was given his chance on the right-hand side of midfield, and produced a competent performance. As one of the suitors for that position, he may have earned himself another crack at securing his place in the team. Beckham is believed to still be in Capello's plans, but found himself stuck on 99 caps. Capello has made it known that sentiment will not play a part in his selection process, so Beckham will have to earn his 100th cap. There was also no place for Michael Owen, who may become the first victim to England's new style. However, his goal record at international level is unrivalled by any other England player, so surely he must remain in and around the squad.

England's performance wasn't spectacular, but it was solid and something for the new manager to build on. Hopefully the players will become used to the way England play and the team will be able to put the misery of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign behind them.

You can see SvenSport's photos from the game on the right hand side.

Euro 2008: Plenty Of Football, No Patriotism

Since I started watching football over ten years ago, I greeted major tournaments with enthusiasm and while my head said England could never win it, my heart would say it was possible. Occasionally the two would overlap and I would be convinced England had a chance. Not this summer. With the England players enjoying their summer holidays and Steve McClaren wondering "what if", Euro 2008 will take place without the Three Lions. While most England fans are disappointed at the national team's absence, it gives us all a chance to appreciate the football on offer at a major tournament, rather than watching wall-to-wall news coverage about an England player's metatarsal.

Firstly, the pre-game programmes and half-time analysis will not focus on the issues surrounding the England camp. Nor will we have to put up with Garth Crooks and Gabriel Clarke reporting aboutthe contents of Wayne Rooney's lunch during half-time. During the last World Cup, I was unable to focus on the other stories of the tournament due to my obsession with England. Indeed, it took me a week to recover from the trauma that was England's defeat against Portugal and I only took a passing interest in the semi-finals before recovering to watch the 3rd/4th play-off and the final itself. This time, however, like much of the football appreciating section of the nation, I will be watching the football on offer. The European Championship has often been a more exciting competition than the World Cup, due to the fact that the majority of the 16 teams competing are of a higher standard than some of those contesting the World Cup. This means, without England we can watch the football on offer, and be enthralled by the drama of the tournament, rather than England's campaign.

Of course the main attractions will be the giants of European football; France, Italy, Holland, Germany, but there will be other teams competing. Since I will be in Switzerland for the tournament, I will be supporting them. It would mean that the atmosphere in the joint-host nation would be sustained for longer, and since I have links to the country, perhaps it will finally bring out the hidden patriot in me.

The fact is, the quality of football in majour tournaments, and the coverage and devotion to it, is often sacrificed in favour of England, since the broadcasters and the fans are too busy with the latter to care about the former. With the absence of England, perhaps we can pay more attention to a great tournament this time round.

The England Fashion Show

England will wear their new away shirt for the first time against Switzerland on the 6th February at Wembley. Pictures of the new shirt have been leaked and it will probably be the worst-selling England shirt in years due to the failure of England to qualify for Euro 2008. The design is an interesting metaphor for the England side; a promise of change, but ends up being a re-hash of the previous effort.

From Football Shirts.co.uk

The red shirt, like the England side, isn't a poor one or in the case of the shirt, a fashion disaster. Initially it looks different, with the flags on the shoulders and the England crest moved into the centre. But after a while of looking at it, you realise. It's basically the same shirt. Nothing has really changed.

Steve McClaren promised a New England. He brought with him a new ethos, he wanted to make the national team like a club side. The press praised Mac after he had beaten the heavyweights of world football, Greece, Andorra and Macedonia, while praising "Club England". Of course, the media relationship turned sour after disappointing results cost England their place at Euro 2008. By the end of McClaren's tenure, the only way in which New England was successful, was the Patriots maintaining their unbeaten record in the NFL.

The new shirt, like England, will not be at Euro 2008 and is therefore likely to be a failure in terms of sales. Svensport loves new kits, but the current shirt looks like a training shirt. In all fairness, it doesn't look terrible, but doesn't exactly inspire a sense of change nor does it break from the past. Fabio Capello must ensure that England cannot be compared to the designs of their shirt.

Euro 2008: The Failure

The last time I posted, I spoke of the possbility of a British sporting renaissance. Since I uttered those famous last words, I will never dare of making such a suggestion for a very long time. In the time that has passed between entries, England bravely lost the Rugby World Cup final, Lewis Hamilton failed to win the Formula One World Championship by a single point, Scotland and Northern Ireland valiantly punched above their own weight to narrowly miss out on Euro 2008 qualification. These are achievements, but England's failure to reach Euro 2008 is just that, a failure.

A nation blessed with the richest league in the world and the home of the sport's heritage has failed to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since USA '94. True Steve McClaren had horrendous luck with injuries, but to use this as an excuse would simply be a facade. England got their "get out of jail free" card when Israel beat Russia, but they failed to qualify. McClaren's poor decisions continued to the last stand. He wanted to be popular and dropped Beckham, who along with Peter Crouch was England's best player against Croatia in that ill-fated qualifier. McClaren executed a poor piece of man-management when he dropped Paul Robinson for Scott Carson, who succumbed to the pressure in his first competitive start for England in their biggest match since the 2006 World Cup Quarter-Final. But McClaren's failure is history and he will go down as England's worst manager in England's.

The search for his successor has begun and former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is the fan's, and SvenSport's favourite. He has a proven track record and would be able to overhaul the national side that is a serious state of disarray. Italian coach Fabio Capello has great pedigree and is the only big name to throw his hat into the ring so far, but he does not speak English, which could be a hinderance. Harry Redknapp is the "outstanding" English candiate, but he feels his chances have been ruined by his arrest as part of the corruption in football investigation. England have a talented pool of players, but that pool is decreasing and the current group don't seem to able to gel. Whether the manager is Mourinho, Capello, Redknapp or someone else, they have a task on their hands. They have to take England to South Africa 2010 and restore some pride to English football.

England 1-2 Germany: The Aftermath

Once again, England failed to impress in another friendly. The accusations that this was "meaningless" are perhaps unfounded; international managers do have to test their squads before their crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers, but England were poor against a second-string German side. For the first twenty minutes, England played rather well and capped it off with a goal from Frank Lampard that he hopes will silence his critics. After that, England were unimpressive and rarely looked like converting the chances they created. Paul Robinson took the headlines for his mistake, which was not really the "howler" that was widely reported. It was a mistake, but the clamour to have the Spurs 'keeper replaced has been coming. The match proved that issues such as goalkeeper selection, Beckham's workload and forward options must be resolved before England face Israel and Russia.

Robinson came in for David James during the 2006 World Cup Qualifying campaign following mistakes made by the latter against Austria and has held the place since. James has since moved to Portsmouth, after being dropped from the England squad by McClaren when he took charge after the World Cup. Impressive form has seen James recalled to the squad and despite an unspectacular half in the goal at Wembley on Wednesday, has every chance of playing in the upcoming qualifiers. Despite looking slightly unconvincing against Chelsea at the weekend, he is perhaps the best choice in the short-term as the players need to have confidence in their goalkeeper. With Ben Foster injured and Scott Carson, while impressive in the U-21 European Championships is inexperienced, James is the only viable option for McClaren, should he dispense with Robinson.

Another talking point was David Beckham's inclusion following his trans-atlantic flight from Los Angeles. McClaren, now seemingly reliant on a player that he inexplicably dropped once appointed England manager, allowed him to play the full 90 minutes. Beckham is still nursing the ankle injury that has hampered his start to life in the MLS and one would have thought that in the interests of everyone he should have stayed in the USA to allow him to recover for Galaxy and for England. Even more absurdly, he played in the "Superclassico" against Chivas, just thirty hours after playing for England on a different continent. Indeed the players representatives and Alexi Lalas will have to handle the situation differently next time Beckham plays for England.

Jermain Defoe was included in the squad despite not being in Tottenham's first team plans, and his hapless start to the season continued as Peter Crouch, who is suspended for England's next match, and winger Kieron Dyer were brought on ahead of him. Michael Owen played at Wembley and although his positioning was usually quite good, his lack of match fitness was evident as he missed chances that a fully fit Owen would have put away. Owen is getting there, but with Wayne Rooney injured and Crouch suspended, England's options up front look limited, which makes the selection of Dyer over Defoe as a substitute all the more baffling.

There were a few positives to take from the game, and although we may not all share Steve McClaren's optimism, the match wasn't a complete waste of time. Micah Richards was impressive once again, this time at right-back and has managed to continue his good start to the season. A fully fit Joe Cole is certainly an asset to England and didn't look out of place. Michael Owen needs games, and he managed to get involved at Wembley. Problems are still there for McClaren and the Brave New England we were seeing at the start of his reign last summer could not seem further away as he brings back players such as James and Beckham that he dropped in order to rescue a Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in danger of falling short.