“Last year I was in Ecuador, South America, to spend time with a team called Sociedad Deportiva Aucas. Founded in 1945, and originally owned by oil company Royal Dutch Shell, financial troubles have cost them dearly in recent years, resulting in a dramatic fall from grace. They were floundering in the third tier of the league system when I arrived, but had begun to benefit from the backing of local businessman Ramiro Gordon and had ambitious plans to return to the top.” In Bed With Maradona

“While the world and its blogger were getting hot under the collar this week about satirical articles on French football websites, men in Qatar with ties who don’t know anything and a man who probably only lives in Sheffield, a statement on the FA’s website points to the story which ought really to be ringing alarm bells for English football. It’s easy to focus on the big money story, the primal fears of wealthy Arab oil men buying ‘our’ game, but the likelihood is that the prerogative of short-term politics will win the day. There is no Dream league, the major European clubs appear to have dialled back on the breakaway rhetoric which they were employing after the FIFA corruption scandal first burst into life, and the likelihood of Qatar fomenting a revolution against football’s authorities is small. After all, why would they need a revolution when they can just buy themselves a World Cup?” 2nd Yellow

“It was around eleven in the evening when the melody of gunfire and car horns erupted piercing (literally) the night sky. This is how the residents of Baghdad celebrate a victory for the national team, however what goes up must come down, not just the bullets in this case! The Iraqi national team had just squeezed past the hosts Bahrain (after extra-time and penalties) during this year’s biannual Gulf Cup of Nations semi-final. The celebrations were both spectacular and protracted. The ‘the lions of Mesopotamia’ eventually lost the final 2-1 to the UAE (after extra-time, once again) although the tournament had been a success for the nation and it’s near fanatical followers.” World Soccer

“Football in Lebanon is a curious thing. Both a unifying force and a potential spark for sectarian violence. When Lebanon faced the UAE in their final group match in the third qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup, the country came to a standstill. Pupils were given the day off school, shops closed and the bars were packed. With the opportunity to qualifying for the final round for the first time in their history, the entire population congregated around television sets.” In Bed With Maradona

“The Russian Second Division can be a hard place for a footballer to ply his trade. Pitiful levels of support, matches in stadia which barely qualify for the term, and even the regionalisation of the league into five zones fails to compensate for the huge distances often travelled in the build-up to matchdays. With salaries understandably low in the country’s lowest professional league, it is little surprise that teams struggle to keep squads together between seasons, and that clubs on the periphery struggle to stay afloat – when the likes of First Division sides Luch-Energiya Vladivostok and Baltika Kaliningrad are fighting to survive, prospects are bleak for teams further down the pyramid.” In Bed With Maradona

“It’s one of the great mysteries of soccer: In a sport where the objective is to score goals, why do we put up with needless uncertainty about whether the ball has actually crossed the line? Why doesn’t soccer use the technological tools at its disposal to objectively determine whether the very raison d’être of the game has actually taken place? Soccer has a long history of so-called ghost goals.” WSJ

“It can include governments demanding that its national team be allowed to wear poppies on the shirts, regimes getting involved with the affairs of associations, militaries owning clubs and even the imprisonment of fans and players, but politicians and rulers around the world often seek to use football to their advantage. No wonder – it is the world game and has a unique power to bring people together.” ESPN

“It’s been a few days in Africa proper and rain has put a damper on filming but through a little sunshine the Balls gets the “freestyle” trick treatment from Urban Freestylers Morocco! Enjoy their adventurous day and the impromptu beats.” blip.tv

” A book called The Bob Marley I Know is planned for publication later this year. It’s possible that a copy will be sent to FIFA headquarters as Sepp Blatter presented an award to the writer, Alan ‘Skilly’ Cole, in September 2010 in recognition of his contribution to Jamaican football. A month later the appeals courts in Kingston quashed an 18-month prison term for drugs offences which had been hanging over Cole since 2007. As you may have gathered, Skilly Cole was not a run-of-the-mill professional footballer.” WSC

“We’ll hear what impact the political upheaval in Egypt is having on Football. Khaled Mortagey from Al Alhy explains that the teams are in limbo and the players haven’t trained in over 2 weeks after the domestic leagues suspension. Journalist Mohamed Sabe feels there is no real appetite for football during the current climate in Egypt.” BBC

“Domm Norris reports on how the issue of racism in Russian football must be considered in a wider historical context, and the potential for positive change.” In Bed With Maradona

“Everyone from the Muslim Brotherhood, to labor unions, to Wikileaks are being credited for contributing to Egypt’s uprising. But what about hardcore soccer fans? These guys are better at tangling with cops than just about anyone. When asked about the role of political groups in organizing protests, prominent Egyptian blogger Alaa abd El-Fatah told Al Jazeera today: ‘The ultras – the football fan associations – have played a more significant role than any political group on the ground at this moment.'” Gawker

Soccer clubs central to ending Egypt’s ‘Dictatorship of Fear’
“Over the decades that have marked the tenure of Egypt’s “President for Life” Hosni Mubarak, there has been one consistent nexus for anger, organization, and practical experience in the ancient art of street fighting: the country’s soccer clubs. Over the past week, the most organized, militant fan clubs, also known as the “ultras,” have put those years of experience to ample use.” SI

Egypt’s Soccer Revolution
“He was wearing a soccer replica-uniform but he was not on his way to watch a game but to Tahrir Square in Cairo to tackle Mubarak and his regime. Some reports from the region suggest that Egypt’s soccer fan organizations, known as Ultras, have been on the vanguard of the country’s revolution. An Egyptian blogger, Alaa Abd El Fattah, was quoted on Al Jazeera, – ‘the Ultras have played a more significant role than any political group on the ground.'” SFGate

‘Ultra’ soccer fans at heart of Egyptian protests
“‘Ultra’ soccer fans in Cairo long have had a reputation for street fighting. This past week, they’ve turned their fury from rival clubs and countries to the government. Alaa Abd El Fattah, a prominent Egyptian blogger, said in an interview seen on Al Jazeera, ‘The ultras – the football fan associations – have played a more significant role than any political group on the ground at this moment.'” SFGate

“Rather luckily for FIFA, there seems to be no way of measuring how much the phrase ‘FIFA’ has come to refer to the video game as opposed to world football’s governing body. And yet the story of FIFA the video game franchise is in many ways a celebration of the power of social marketing and the tremendous rewards it can bring to those who dare to innovate. And spend. It is a story that spans two decades.” The Oval Log

“As the economic crisis affects all areas of daily life in the Republic of Ireland, Lee Daly looks at how the football league has suffered and discovers that not everything can be blamed on the politicians.” In Bed With Maradona – 1, In Bed With Maradona – 2

“On the surface, The Two Escobars is a mesmerizing documentary about the tragic intersection of soccer and the drug trade in Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s. But just below the surface, the film reveals a deeper, personal story about a Colombian society simultaneously enriched and shaken to its core. It re-introduces us to legendary soccer icons, reducing them to emotional figures bearing the unique burden of simply being Colombian and incredibly talented during the rise of narco-soccer (loosely defined as the period when soccer was inextricably tied to and funded by narco-trafficking).” Nutmeg Radio – 1, Nutmeg Radio – 2

World Cup in 2022
“Qatar’s winning bid to hold the 2022 World Cup was marked by a spending spree that included investments in the home countries of several executives who were responsible for choosing the host nation, according to internal documents from the emirate’s bidding committee. The spending sheds light on how FIFA regulations—outlined in the two-page rules of conduct for World Cup host-nation bidding—left the door open for hopefuls to open wallets to exert indirect influence on international soccer’s small circle of decision-makers.” WSJ

“Recent comments made by Michel Platini have forced Tomasz Mortimer to look at the state of the game in Hungary. Troubling times lie ahead…” In Bed With Maradona

“Every once in a while, an individual comes along that just excels in their chosen profession. This isn’t an introduction to Leo Messi though, here’s Eric Beard to tell you more.” In Bed With Maradona

“Its December, which in my part of the world means that the snow is falling, the roads have iced over and its impossible to open an Airport, a school, or more importantly a football stadium. As a result, countless games have been called off up and down the country in Scotland and England to deal with the ‘danger’ of fans commuting to games and risking their very lives to follow their sides. Such behaviour leaves one to ponder, why can’t we have a winter break?” The Oval Log

“1. FIFA corruption. It’s been a long time since anybody thought of FIFA as a bunch of do-gooders, but this has been a damaging year for its reputation nonetheless. As Sepp Blatter’s merry troupe was courted by World Cup bidders, two members (Nigeria’s Amos Adamu and Tahiti’s Reynald Temarii) were suspended for offering to sell their votes, and the rest of the executive committee did nothing to quell suspicions that it was standard practice by giving the 2018 and 2022 tournaments to mega-rich, risky options Russia and Qatar, respectively.” SI

“Today I write about a country unlike our own, an ordinary sized country based in northern Europe of just over 9 million that defines itself with its beautiful countryside, over priced cities, and miserable weather. Yes I’m of course talking about Sweden. The land of the honourable Henrik Larsson, the not so honourable Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but perhaps more importantly, the land of an interesting football history.” The Oval Log

“Next year celebrates the 80th anniversary of the Cyprus Football Association. In 1931, football clubs from the Greek and Turkish communities on the island of Cyprus came together to set up the CFA. Of the eight founding members, 7 were Greek-Cypriot clubs – Anorthosis Famagusta, APOEL Nicosia, Olympiakos Nicosia, AEL Limassol, Aris Limassol, Trast AC and EPA Larnaca. Meanwhile, Nicosia-based Lefkoþa Türk Spor Kulübü were the only Turkish-Cypriot side in the inaugural Cypriot First Division.” In Bed With Maradona

“In the last 12 months we’ve suffered heavy defeats to Spain and Cameroon on an international level, while our clubs still have the problem of failing to advance past the early rounds in European competition – only Lech managing to buck the trend. Deciding to delve a little deeper, I wanted to take a closer look at 2010.” In Bed With Maradona

“Cypriot football’s story is more complicated then you could ever imagine. With the first of a two-parter, here’s Ryan Hubbard” In Bed With Maradona

“It wasn’t all fine wines and canopies at last nights NOPA awards. In between hobnobbing with Barry Glendenning, the chaps from the Football Ramble, Zonal Marking, Swiss Ramble and virtually all of Twitter, I managed to grab a few words with European football freelancer, Andy Brassell.” European Football Weekends

“2011 will be the year that dictates who will and won’t be going to the European Championships in 2012. Tomasz Mortimer is feeling confident that this might be a good twelve months for Hungary.” In Bed With Maradona

“A couple of weeks ago I was doing the translating when Dan Roan interviewed former Fifa president Joao Havelange at the Soccerex conference in Rio de Janeiro. Still entirely lucid well into his 90s, the Brazilian was asked what needed to change in Fifa. ‘Nothing,’ he replied. ‘It’s perfect. It’s not because of one fact in 50 years [a reference to the recent corruption scandals] that we have to change.’ It is impossible to agree.” BBC – Tim Vickery

“This week, the FIFA executive committee convened in the ‘House of Football’ a secretive, lavish and generally ostentatious layer nestled in the heart of Zurich, insulated from the public and out of touch with reality. FIFA welcomed the nine bid committees vying to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups – England, United States, Spain/Portugal, Holland/Belgium, Russia, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Qatar.” Soccer Politics

“The Polish league has never really been an attractive one to those in modern Western countries with their modern football. For years, the Ekstraklasa was known only for it’s seismic corruption scandal (that has now been solved, hopefully), the few goalkeepers that made it to a better world and an international team that had their heyday in the 1970′s and 1980s’s. Were it not for the fact that Poland will co-host Euro 2012, you would, frankly, have little reason to pay any attention at all. But they are, you do, and since the games scheduled to see out 2010 have been postponed until February, it’s time for a mid-season roundup.” In Bed With Maradona

“The Baur au Lac hotel, a five-star palace on the banks of Lake Zurich, was the epicenter of The Game here this week: the final lobbying of the nine bids vying to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. As the official hotel of the FIFA Executive Committee, the 22 men who choose the World Cup hosts, the opulent Baur au Lac welcomed all manner of dignitaries this week, from former President Bill Clinton and David Beckham to Prince William and British Prime Minister David Cameron.” SI

World Cup 2018: The men who betrayed England and why they did it
“The morning after the night before, the shell‑shocked England 2018 chief executive, Andy Anson, shakes his head as he attempts to unpick why their core vote collapsed. “I still find it hard to understand what happened,” he said. ‘I’m not going to beat around the bush – individual members promised to vote for us and didn’t, clearly.'” Guardian

“Today, the talk of the soccer world is Barcelona’s sublime 5-0 destruction of Real Madrid. Come Thursday, though, for a brief moment at least, international soccer will grab the spotlight once again, as FIFA announces the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Political leaders and celebrities—from David Cameron to Elle MacPherson—from eleven prospective host countries have descended on FIFA’s Geneva headquarters for last-minute lobbying of the 22 executive committee voters.” The New Republic

Sepp Blatter
“As the World Cup (excuse me, the 2010 FIFA World Cup) was officially declared open last week amid great colour and emotion, one man in particular beamed with pride. That man was Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter, the long-standing President of FIFA, whose bold decision to award the most prestigious competition in world football to South Africa had paid off – in every sense of the term.” (The Swiss Ramble)

Panorama: The Righi Programme at the Right Time
“Have we completely missed the point? I watched investigative journalist Andrew Jennings’ Panorama programme on extensive bribe-taking among high-ranking FIFA executive committee members (unlike England 2018 bid chief Andy Anson, it would seem). So I find it hard to imagine that any of those named would vote for England to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and I doubt whether England will ‘get’ any World Cup in the lifetime of Sepp Blatter or his fellow-travellers in the FIFA hierarchy – present and future.” (twohundredpercent)

“Good evening and welcome to the 2010 AFR Website Award ceremony. Granted, it’s not an actual ceremony – we don’t have the financial finesse of an injured striker picking up £150,000-a-week for holidaying in the United States, and so the idea of renting a hall, hiring a DJ, and providing drinks and food sends shivers through our pockets.” (A Football Report)

“The broadcaster Mark Chapman once said that homophobia is football’s last taboo. The truth in his words has been evidenced by two recent controversial incidents in the European game. The president of the Croatian Football Federation, Vlatko Markovi, said that homosexuals are not permitted to play for the national side, mirroring comments made by former Croatia manager Otto Baric in 2004. Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi was also criticised for using the word ‘homo’ on Twitter and, like Markovi, he apologised for his comments. The biggest concern, though, is that such an apology in other European countries would be seen as a major breakthrough in tackling homophobia.” (In Bed With Maradona)

“Diving. Or simulation to use its FIFA approved name. Ask any player, manager or fan in the country and no doubt they’d tell you that they hate it, that conning a referee is never acceptable and that they don’t want to see their club benefit from flagrant cheating. Yet watch any match, from grassroots pub football to the World Cup, Premier League, La Liga, and you will see players accuse each other of feigning contact, referees booking players who they feel have dived and supporters getting angry that the opposition are cheating scumbags who should be in a swimming pool rather than on a football pitch.”(mindgames)

“‘Please accept my resignation. I wouldn’t belong to a club that would accept me as a member’, said the telegram that Groucho Marx in his famous telegram to the Friar’s Club of Beverly Hills, and the Football Association must be inwardly feeling the same as Marx with their admission that recent press revelations into the behaviour of various senior FIFA delegates has had an extremely damaging effect on their bid to host the 2018 World Cup. The FA had apparently at first thought that they had managed to escape the ire of those at the top of the world’s governing body over the revelations made by The Sunday Times, but with an edition of the BBCs Panorama on the subject also due to be shown before the vote next month it is now widely anticipated that the award will go to Russia.” (twohundredpercent)

“I read a statistic the other day which gave me pause for thought: Russia, the world’s largest country by area, takes up approximately 11.5% of the Earth’s entire land mass. Actually as a journalist covering Russia I’ve have to learn by rote a good number of shorthand statistics to express the country’s size. 7,500 kilometres from East to West; a ten hour flight from its Baltic to Pacific coasts; nine time zones (thought it used to be eleven until earlier this year).” (The Football Ramble)

“So today and tomorrow, in Zurich, FIFA are discussing what – if anything – to do to rescue the reputation of its World Cup bidding process, a process which has descended very publically into the pettiest of playground squabbling in the couple of weeks since The Sunday Times first called its integrity into question with its allegations of cash-for-votes. I expect they’ll do the absolute minimum they think they can get away with – which might be as little as nothing, but will probably involve some token gestures, possibly including the delay of the 2022 vote until sometime next year.” (twohundredpercent)