Blatter sparks fresh controversy…

Yep, that’s right. Another blog about Sepp Blatter, the head of footballs governing body, FIFA. This time he has caused outrage by suggesting gay people- homosexuals and lesbians, should refrain from ‘gay activity’ if they go to the 2022 Qatar World Cup. I have already made my opinions clear about the decision to award a country like Qatar the world cup, but ironically Blatter has opened up further potential problems with this unthoughtful comment. For a start FIFA have created problems for themselves by awarding the world cup to a country which hold prejudices and laws that conflict with the rest of the world. Laws against homosexuals and lesbians restrict people’s human rights, and are quite frankly ridiculous in the 21st century. This threatens to overshadow the whole of the 2022 world cup.

Blatter says what he wants, when he wants, as he pleases. This is definitely not suitable, considering he is supposed to set an example to the rest of the sport. Quite clearly he has caused outrage with his recent comments, persecuting the whole of the gay community in a sense. This will surely raise further questions about his suitability to run FIFA. NBA star John Amaechi, who was the first basket baller to publically reveal he was homosexual, has been deeply offended by Blatter’s comments. He said, “Anything less than a full reversal of his position is unacceptable and if the FA and football and sporting associations around the world fail to acknowledge this insult, they too will be complicit.” Something I have to agree with.

Speaking for many English football fans, it would be fair to say, England do not like Sepp Blatter, or FIFA at all for that matter. Considering we are supposed to be ‘the home of football’, we don’t get treated with the respect we deserve. Various decisions, including the farcical world cup bidding voting process have gone against us as a nation recently, and this leaves me questioning what is the point? I would absolutely love us to leave FIFA, but then I realise, who would we be able to play football against then? The sad answer is no-one. Because of this reason we will always be tied to FIFA, let’s just hope when a new president takes over they have morals and a better understanding of the game than their predecessor. To watch the video of Blatter click here.

 

Blatter brands England ‘bad losers.’

Well, Sepp Blatter has branded England bad losers, after the nation complained after only receiving two votes. He says FIFA are a fair organisation and aren’t corrupt. How can a fair organisation promise votes to a bid team, only to lie and vote for other bids? How is that a fair organisation. It is not fair to lie to people, and make them waste vast resources on an unsuccessful bid (England are rumoured to have spent over £13million putting together the bid.) If that is the case, this whole process has been a complete waste of time for the whole of England. Many people were excited and hoping to host the 2018 World Cup. Only to have their hopes dashed by the controversial president of FIFA, Blatter.

I for one am not his biggest fan. For a start, as the governing head of football FIFA should be impartial and show no favouritism. Therefore is it really acceptable that Blatter can come out and say things like this? Clearly the power has got to his (fat) head, and know he rules like a dictator. I cannot wait until Blatter’s term ends, as to be quite frank, I am sick of his presidency. I don’t agree with his ideas, and I believe he is taking football backwards. The sooner he is gone the better!

These are the comments Blatter made… make up your own opinion.

“To be honest, I was surprised by all the English complaining after the defeat. England, of all people, the motherland of fairplay ideas,” Blatter told Swiss weekly magazine Weltwoche in an interview released ahead of publication on Thursday.

“Now some of them are showing themselves to be bad losers,” he said. “You can’t come afterwards and say so and so promised to vote for England. The results are known. The outcome came out clearly.”

Russia to host 2018…What a disgrace.

Well, I have recently just saw that Russia have been given the right to host the 2018 Fifa World Cup. It’s a sorry state of affairs when the home of football can’t host the biggest event in football. I must say, as a huge football fan this has left me feeling very angry. For one, many of Russia’s stadiums that are being used for the world cup haven’t been built. This means the Fifa delegates who voted on their bid have based their vote on video technology of the what the stadiums might look like. To me, this is an absolute joke. Who the hell knows how a stadium is going to turn out??!! Also, look at all the problems Wembley had with the turf after it was built. Who’s to say the same thing won’t happen in Russia? Secondly the fact we sent a royal prince, and the Prime Minister David Cameron and STILL got eliminated in the first round of voting seems to suggest we’re never going to host the world cup. What is it Fifa have against the English? This was the England bid video.

Various flashbacks come to me. Firstly England vs Germany in the summer. A blatant, obvious goal wasn’t given. A goal that would have changed the course of the game, I have no doubt Germany wouldn’t have beaten us as easily if Frank Lampard‘s goal had been allowed to stand. I can’t remember the referee or linesman who didn’t give that goal receiving any  disciplinary action. Fifa were probably happy England were knocked out. Another flashback that comes to mind is the Chelsea vs Barcelona 2009 game, were Chelsea were denied a number of blatant penalties. Prompting suggestions that there was a Fifa conspiracy to not have two English teams in the final two years in a row. Both times I was left furious at the incapability of the referees Fifa had delegated to officiate on these matches. After all these referees are supposed to be the best in the world, and yet they are incapable of making obvious decisions, something smells fishy to me…

On a side note, to complete an absolutely farcical day Qatar were awarded the 2022 World Cup. Why does the world want to see a World Cup in Qatar? Please tell me… For a start the Qatar national football team are awful. They have never qualified for a world cup, and never will. Apparently the bid team impressed the Fifa delegates with the idea of knocking the stadiums down after 2022 and giving the parts to third world countries. While this is a nice thought, it’s probably because Qatar will never need a football stadium again.  Do they even care about football? Or Association Football as those posh idiots at Fifa call it. For me this is a very sad day, this proves the roots of football have been lost, and the idiots in charge at the top don’t have a clue with what they are doing with it.

First piece of work published!

As a studying Journalist the aim is to always get published. I recently covered a young and upcoming striker, training with the Kidsgrove Athletic FC reserves. Hoping to break into the first team, click the link here, to learn about how he hopes to break into the first team. I was pretty surprised to see it published, as I had never ever been published before. I tried with a few local newspapers from home, but they all knocked me back. So to eventually get published, even if it is a small site, is quite a nice feeling. It also inspires me and motivates me to try and get more published! Fingers crossed I can get some new material published.

Aston Villa, going forward or backwards?

This is probably the question on many Villa fans minds at the moment, as we are currently in the middle of a rather up and down season. Martin O’Neil‘s departure at the start of the season laid down the precedent. Then the will we, won’t we appoint Kevin MacDonald as MON’s successor didn’t help. Thankfully we didn’t choose MacDonald, not that I have anything against the guy, I just don’t believe he’s cut out to be a manager in the Premier League. Which led to the appointment of Gerard Houllier… Good or bad appointment? I can’t decide.

Firstly he hasn’t been in the job long enough for me to make a solid judgement. However, judging him on results thus far it has been a topsy turvy start. For example, we should have beaten both Chelsea and Manchester United, and only took a point out of both these games. Although, before the start of these games most Villa fans would have taken a draw. Houllier hasn’t been bad, there just appears to be too many draws currently. The only two disappointing results would have to be the 2-1 defeat to Stoke, and the 1-0 loss to Sunderland. This would tend to suggest Houllier is too cautious? Many Liverpool fans labelled him ‘boring’, I hope this is something that turns out to be untrue.

Many people should remember that Aston Villa aren’t a top four team, this is perhaps one of the problems with our fans. We demand a lot from a team that is currently going through a transitional period. We have youngsters like Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan, Ciaran Clark and Nathan Delfouneso all coming through. Clearly these players are all talented, but they are young and will make mistakes. Villa fans need to be patient and let these players get the vital experience they need; as they could provide a solid foundation for the team in a few years.

Overall it will be interesting to see how much/ if any money Houllier has to spend in January. I would expect to see him bring in French players, as he has a vast amount of knowledge about French football. As long as these players are good enough to take the team forward I don’t have any issues with this either. The real answer to whether Houllier is a good or bad appointment will be based on the final league table. I believe the best we can realistically achieve is 7th, maybe 6th if we have a good run. It appears as though only time will tell if we are club going forwards or backwards.

Hate to say I told you so…

So, Saturday night all of Britain are sat around their television sets. We’ve all paid for David Haye vs Audley Harrison, and are about to watch it on sky box office. Not a cheap fight at just under £15 either. Everyone is hyped up for a super fight after the amount of hype and publicity it has received. Some people even went as far as truly believing Audley Harrison could win… not me. I’ve said before that this fight was an extreme mismatch. However, saying that the last thing I expected to see was one measly jab thrown by A-farce Harrison. In my opinion his strategy to try and fight David Haye on the counter was a stupid tactic. He was not the quicker fighter, or the lighter fighter, so he needed to try and assert his authority over Haye. He needed to press on and make his weight advantage count. Instead he chose to sit back and Haye picked him off with consummate ease.

Image taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing

I was left furious but not surprised after the 3rd round. Mainly because Audley did not take that much damage. It was the first real flurry of punches Haye had thrown and Harrison was on the canvas ready to give in. Yes, he got up and beat the count, as he told us numerous times in his post match interview where he was desperately searching for any positives to take out of the fight. But the fact of the matter is, Audley Harrison is a disgrace to boxing. He offered nothing on the night, after promising so much to his loyal fans.

The fight had an air of pathetic fallacy about it, Audley Harrison’s entrance music ‘Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” is a song that ultimately builds up to the climax which comes at the end of the song. Was the hidden meaning suggesting Harrison’s climax would come at the end of his career? If that was his hope then it failed miserably, with his song being cut off before it reached the crescendo of banging drums. Thus, much like his career, Harrison’s entrance song ended in an anti climax. But credit must go to David Haye who had the perfect game plan and predicted Audley’s game plan to a t. Haye also seems to have moved on and forgotten the ‘bad blood’ between the two men. Something most certainly introduced to promote the fight. Although it must be a lot easier for him knowing that he is moving onto bigger and better things, i.e. Wladimir Klitschko. In contrast it must be a whole lot harder for Audley knowing his career has ended in humiliating circumstances. Surely there is no way back now for the man who once won Olympic gold ten years ago. Audley should retire now after earning a reported £1.2 million from the fight, that is far more than his performance deserved, something the BBBC are considering looking into. It is probably fitting that Audley “A-farce” Harrison’s career has ended with a farcical display.

Defiant Don still aiming high

Don Broadhurst

Birmingham born Don Broadhurst still has eyes set on becoming a multiple boxing champion despite his most recent defeat to Najah Ali on the magnificent seven fight card.

Broadhurst who has had over 90 amateur bouts believes he can still resurrect his professional fighting career, and go on to achieve glory at British, Commonwealth, European and even World levels.

The Flyweight who most recently fought at Bantamweight is currently recovering from a displaced rib and isn’t worried about who he will fight next.

“I don’t have a clue who I’m going to fight next; I don’t really focus on these issues too much. I am more concerned about getting myself ready.”

The man from Birmingham, who began training as a ten year old at Kingsbury road community centre, will be looking to emulate one of his boxing idols, Sugar Ray Leonard, as he plans to make his impact on the world stage.

“Sugar Ray Leonard had it all in and out of the ring; talent, looks, intelligence, respect, dignity, dedication, the whole package. He is a living legend and a true gentleman.”

Broadhurst’s past achievements include Commonwealth gold in Melbourne 2006, and the Commonwealth title which he held from October 31^st 2008 to December 11^th 2009.

He admitted that although he hates not being able to train, he has been making the most of his spare time by socialising with his family and friends. He has also been following his beloved Aston Villa.

Broadhurst’s professional boxing career consists of 13 fights, which includes 11 victories and 2 defeats.

Haye vs Harrison… The battle to be King of Britain.

Boxing fans all over Great Britain are eagerly anticipating the upcoming all British match up between David Haye and Audley Harrison on November 13th. The fight is proving to be extremely intriguing for a number of reasons. Firstly, Audley Harrison has a history riddled with empty promises and claims he has never lived up too. It must be remembered that the main achievement of his career was Olympic gold won in Sydney; some ten years ago.  He also has a European Heavyweight title to his name after defeating Michael Sprott, which in my opinion was down to a minor lack of concentration on Sprott’s part. A combination of dropping his guard, mixed with Audley’s bull of a left hand has led to the current state of circumstance. Had Sprott defended himself potently for the final round he would of picked up an easy points victory over Harrison. This would have surely closed the book on one of boxing’s most disappointing and frustrating careers. However, luck was with Harrison that day and here we are 6 months later with a fight the Klitschko brothers have dubbed “The Battle of London“. A rather crude and obnoxious statement when you consider the two men they most recently fought (Shannon Briggs and Samuel Peter.) I believe Audley is better than both of these men and that is why this fight will prove to be far more interesting than the past two Klitschko fights.

Audley finds himself with a much greater problem than he has ever had to deal with in his career. David Haye is ten years younger than him and will have no intention of relinquishing his crown to a man on the brink of retirement. If Haye trains as well as he talks then it could be a very short and sweet fight. The main concern I have about Haye in this fight is his current state of mind. With one eye on either of the Klitschko brothers there is the chance he could become complacent, and not train as well as he should. This could open the door for Harrison to come in and steal the title. Haye’s superior speed and ability to weave in out, dodging blows and being elusive should be too much for the slow, ageing figure of Audley Harrison. The one and only question mark about David Haye’s fighting prowess lies in his ability to take a punch. Many critics question his chin and observe it to be a weakness. This is something he will have to prove to people. I believe this ties in with Audley’s one and only advantage over Haye. Punching power. Everybody knows when he lands cleanly with a big shot the results are devastating. Here lies his main hope of winning the fight.

Realistically and honestly I do not expect Harrison to land a ‘hayemaker’. Audley has broken too many promises before and let too many people down. In the video below Haye mocks Harrison “A-Farce” which is symbolic of a career which has struggled to obtain a period of stability and prolonged success. One could argue Harrison’s career has reflected a roller coaster. However there have been far too many downs, outweighing the ups. David Haye must surely recognise that a defeat to Harrison would be disastrous for his career, and this should be reason alone to not take the fight lightly. If Haye loses this fight he can kiss goodbye to the opportunity of facing either of the Klitschko brothers. Who are looking for any excuse to avoid the Londoner. My prediction for the fight is a TKO stoppage in favour of David Haye. I expect him to take Harrison apart and put on a real exhibition for the fans. In my opinion if Audley Harrison won this fight it would be one of the great sporting upsets in recent times. One thing is for sure, the hype surrounding the fight is huge. But on November 13th there will be no hiding place for either men, and they both must live up to the claims they have made. Will Haye retire Harrison? Or will Harrison achieve his goal of becoming a World Heavyweight Champion? All will be decided on the night when somebody will be crowned the King of Britain.