“The article below covers the financial impact of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and was first published a couple of years ago in Issue One of The Blizzard, the thinking fan’s football magazine of choice. Each issue can be purchased on a pay-what-you-like basis and includes some of the finest writing in the world of football, so I would encourage you to visit their website and invest some of your hard-earned cash. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. Although this is an old piece, I thought that it might be worth republishing on my blog, as it seems very timely given the recent criticism aimed at FIFA over the money it will make from the World Cup in Brazil – in stark contrast to the billions invested by the host country. As you will see, many of the concerns are nothing new and would surely find resonance with many of the South African people.” Swiss Ramble

How delicious: Sepp Blatter has kicked off Fifa’s Arab Spring in Brazil
“It may be a little early to call this, what with several days of the Confederations Cup and an entire World Cup to run, but there’s a nagging sense that Sepp Blatter is somewhat miscast as a Brazilian counter-revolutionary. At time of writing, Fifa had yet to request covert support from the CIA in the form of arms shipments and financial backing. But with protests in Brazil continuing to make the most explicit of links between the money the country’s government has spent on Fifa tournaments, and the money it hasn’t spent on less uplifting things such as healthcare and education, Herr Blatter finds his usual arsenal increasingly wanting.” Guardian