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V-League and police crack-down on match-fixing

According to Hanoi police and media, a top V-League manager has been arrested on charges of attempting to bribe a referee. The arrest is part of Vietnam's campaign to cleanse the game of corruption, the Asian Football Confederation commented.

East Asia-Povina Steel manager Vu Tien Thanh stands accused of bribing referee Luong Trung Viet and his three assistants to the tune of 20 million dong (nearly US$1,300) to rig a crucial promotion game in April against Huda Hue which was won by East-Asia.

The referee was arrested last week while the role of the three assistant referees is being investigated. The local media is already speculating that the club might be dumped from the V-League.

Thanh took over the club this year and before this was the language assistant to national team coach Austrian Alfred Riedl. The V-League has been hit hard by allegations of corruption and match-fixing since 2000-01.

See also Singapore tackling match-fixing allegations (27 Aug 05)

Microsoft and partners join "sold out" Soccerex

Microsoft, together with a range of best of breed partners, will be showcasing the next generation of technology services within a major exhibition pavilion at Soccerex. Additionally, Microsoft will be running an interactive sport and technology workshop at the Global Conference (full details announced shortly), to ensure the entire football world understands the full range of technological opportunities in sport. The Microsoft technology platform is already extensively used throughout sport but by coordinating efforts with their partners they aim to become an even bigger player in the sports and technology marketplace.

The Soccerex exhibition is now sold out! Book now to attend the world's largest football convention: Soccerex in Dubai: 13-15 November 2005.

For quick information on the exhibition waiting list or attending Soccerex 2005, contact Geoffrey Gold, Gold Group Asia/Pacific Ltd, accredited representative for Asia and Australia: Email: soccerex@goldglobal.com. Singapore Fax: +65 6491-5020; Jakarta Fax: +62 (0)21 719-4025; Melbourne Fax: +61 (0)3 9923-6003.

Thai Moslems want more pitches - 'not cable TV'

In the 'wilds' of southern Thailand, where people believe Islam first took root in Southeast Asia, central government plans to dish out cable TV with free English soccer to quell Moslem unrest continue to be rejected by locals.

"Everybody at the tea shop confesses to supporting either Liverpool or Manchester United and can reel off a list of top-flight players -- suggesting a slightly greater love of European soccer than they would like to admit," Reuters' Ed Cropley reports.

"Others in the south, where Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has inaugurated a youth football league, say sport can be a force for good, but argue that piping in cable TV is just a cheap, quick-fix solution.

"'It's a good idea in principle because the kids round here love football,' said Adun Abdullah, a food company executive who coaches youth soccer in his spare time. 'But the government just doesn't understand the situation. We already have lots of cable TV football. What we need are more and better pitches.'"

Disagreement over future of China Super League

The Chinese Football Association is in disagreement with the National Sports Bureau over a proposal to bring in a World Cup style tournament to replace the China Super League, Sinosoc reported. The idea was to cancel the CSL and Division 1 championships from 2006-2008 and replace them with a group stage and knock-out competition lasting no longer than two months. The remaining 'league' time would be used for national team training toward the 2008 Olympics football tournament.

But at a recent meeting with the CFA at Team China's training base in Xianghe, all fourteen CSL clubs voted against the proposal amid fears that replacing the league format would put off sponsors from investing in Chinese football.

The National Sports Bureau has since abandoned its idea, with the CSL to continue as normal, Sinosoc advised. Relegation will be introduced from next season in an attempt to attract investment from sponsors.

Two parties interested in China's Inter Shanghai

Shanghai 9th City owner Zhu Jun and his Dalian Shide counterpart Xu Ming are interested in buying China Super League club Inter Shanghai, Sinosoc reported. Chinese online gaming giants 9th City, whose business also includes real estate, invested in China League side Shanghai 9th City last year, but with no promotion this season and the team in the bottom half of the table after disappointing performances Zhu Jun wants to get his hands on a CSL club.

According to Sinosoc, Zhu has already been approached by Shenzhen Jianlibao, Sichuan Guancheng and Inter Shanghai, with the latter the preferred option as 9th City want to invest in a Shanghai top-flight club with a good reputation to promote their brand. "He has already contacted Inter Shanghai but has had his initial offer of RMB15m turned down."

"Dalian Shide owner Xu Ming also has his eyes on Inter Shanghai, but would be forced to pursue any interest through another company, like he did in the past with Sichuan Guancheng, as according to CFA regulations two sides in the same league cannot be owned by the same company. Xu Ming sees Shanghai as the ideal place to continue promoting the Shide brand after Chengdu in China's western Sichuan province.

"Inter Shanghai are currently fronted by Shanghai Yungtay Engineering, though any formal bids to buy the club would go through former chairman Xu Zexian, who is still recognised as the real boss. Xu Zexian, who failed in his bid to move the club to Xi'an last December to promote his real estate business in the Shaanxi province capital, would probably only be willing to sell Inter Shanghai for around RMB 30 million, double Zhu Jun's asking price," Sinosoc commented.

Historic crowds launch quality A-League summer

On the weekend the indigenous Australian Football League's 109th season set a home-and-away attendance record, the new elite national soccer competition, the A-League, also made its mark on Australia's sporting profile. The AFL attracted 6,283,788 fans over 22 rounds (averaging 35,700 per game) confirming it as the No 1 spectator sport in Australia, a remarkable achievement for a code in a country of only 20 million and sharing winter with an international Rugby Union competition (Super 12), the National Rugby League and state-based soccer fixtures.

However summer may belong to the A-League. Stunning opening round crowds in Sydney (25,000-plus) and Brisbane (20,725) as well as solid gates at Newcastle (13,160) and Perth (11,160) astonished even the league's founders.

"The crowds have been above our expectation and the football has been of the highest standard. In terms of our ambitions we should be able to produce a competitive league, but although it's been a great start we have to remember that one swallow doesn't make a summer," Football Federation of Australia chief executive, John O'Neill said.

The Australian media also praised the success of the new competition despite most of the sports pages still being devoted to the Ashes cricket series in England and the AFL and NRL competitions. "Everyone's a winner," proclaimed the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper while the Daily Telegraph ran a gushing double page spread under the headline: Thumbs up for new era.

"It was as if all the big Australia stars were back in town when Sydney FC players walked onto Aussie Stadium last night to be part of A-League history against Melbourne Victory," the Telegraph's chief soccer writer, John Taylor wrote. "The fans rose from their seats to give their new team a standing ovation as they came on to the field. A bit different to the old days when the cries were O-lym-pic, Mar-con-i, Cro-at-zia. The new era in Australian football is here and so is the new follower."

Franchise owners were equally ecstatic. "I can confirm that at 2.30 pm today we had pre-sold 12,000 tickets," Sydney FC chairman, Walter Bugno said. "And I have been told by the Sydney Cricket Ground trust that this is the biggest walk-up crowd (10,100) at this stadium and the second biggest in its history - second only to World Series Cricket ... "This is a fantastic day for Australian soccer," Bugno added. "We love the people of Sydney. We dared to dream and put in a huge investment. We feel humbled by the support."

Queensland Roar's coach, Miron Bleiberg, also revelled in the start. "What a day," he exclaimed. "Exactly as we wanted and dreamed about. I've had a day to remember and I've been around for a long time. Sometimes I feel like a politician. I promise but I can't always deliver. But the boys, they did the job for me and they produced."

Round-One details: Adelaide United 1 (Veart 19) d Newcastle Jets 0 at EnergyAustralia Stadium (crowd 13,160); Central Coast Mariners 1 (Spencer 65) d PERTH GLORY 0 at Members Equity Stadium (crowd 11,113); Queensland Roar 2 (Brosque 80, Baird 86) d New Zealand Knights 0 at Suncorp Stadium (crowd 20,725); Sydney FC 1 (Yorke 44 ) drew with Melbourne Victory 1 (Thompson 73) at Aussie Stadium (crowd 25,208).

Hong Kong mobiles get La Liga, EPL and UEFA CL

3 Hong Kong has partnered with Audiovisual Sports SL to provide 3HK customers with exclusive La Liga football video highlights during the 2005/06 season. 3HK reports it is the only mobile operator in the territory to provide football video highlights from La Liga, Barclays English Premier League and UEFA Champions League.

With the latest video streaming technology, 3HK customers can enter the “Football” channel via their 3G video mobile phones. In addition to this, they can also enjoy quick access to live scores, match results, news, fixtures and League table of major football leagues. “Football Season Package” bundles all these with free mobile betting service at only HK$30

Malaysia's tourism deal with Chelsea

Following Malaysian Airlines' sponsoring of the English Premier League on ESPN-Star Sport Asia, Malaysia's Ministry of Tourism has signed a deal with Premier League champions Chelsea to be its official "travel destination".

Tourism Minister Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad said Chelsea Football Club’s endorsement came into effect from 21 August at the Chelsea vs Arsenal match and is applicable throughout the 2005/06 Premier League season.

By paying Chelsea £1 million for a one-year sponsorship, the ministry is permitted to display exclusive digital signboards of "Visit Malaysia Year" as well as the "Colours of Malaysia" promotion around Stamford Bridge, the team’s stadium in London, England for all the 19 home games played there.

Dr Toyad said the "Malaysia Truly Asia" logo will also be displayed at the Press conference backdrop at the venue before and after each home match.

"Undeniably, the Chelsea brand is seen as a dynamic, cosmopolitan and successful investment opportunity and an attractive platform for the strategic positioning of the ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ brand. As such, we should recognise the vast potential of being visible at the World’s No 1 sport," he said, as quoted by the New Straits Times.

Chelsea’s home matches are reportedly viewed by some 350 million viewers in 168 countries.

Europeans listed for South Korea national coach

Former Sunderland star Ian Porterfield is one of the favourites to succeed Jo Bonfrere as coach of South Korea. Catching the eye of the Korean Football Association since arriving in the country in December 2002, Porterfield has led K-League team Busan I’cons to the championship in the 2004 KFA Cup and the first stage of the 2005 K-League.

"Since he has thorough knowledge of European soccer and has experienced Korean soccer for three years, he may be the best card, and will also end the controversy over whether to appoint a foreigner or a domestic coach," Donga news service commented.

Porterfield has previously coached English football clubs Chelsea and Bolton and the national teams of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Oman, and Trinidad and Tobago.

According to goal.com, however, Sir Bobby Robson has expressed interest in leading South Korea to the next World Cup. "If they thought that I was a good candidate, then I would obviously be interested in discussing that possibility, " the ex-coach of England, Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Newcastle was quoted as saying on South Korean television.

The list of prospective candidates is said to include Rudi Voeller, Berti Vogts, Bruno Metsu, Kevin Keegan, Mick McCarthy and Cha Bum-keun.

Bangladeshi fans return to fill Dhaka stadium

Dhaka stadium was "jam-packed" on Saturday because crowds are returning to enjoy football, the New Nation newspaper reported. "Surely, it gave immense bliss and pleasure to the Bangladesh Football Federation officials in whose faces there were signs of anxiety in view of almost empty stadium for most of the days. The AFC and the FIFA officials too will be exultant to know the story. In the days of Pakistan, newspapers used to write often the words ‘jam-packed stadium’. The trend continued until the football ground was shifted to Mirpur late eighties. Crowds are the life and cell of game and sports. Let it what was observed on Saturday blow in the soccer horizon in the greater interest of soccer," the newspaper commented.

River Plate's Mandarin website targets China

Argentina's River Plate football club has launched an official website in Mandarin to try and build a fan following among China's 1.2 billion people. "The launch of this page is a step forward on the long road to deepening our club ties with the Chinese culture," club president Jose Maria Aguilar said, as reported by Associated Press. He said the Mandarin-language and English-language website is the first by an Argentine club.

More Indian students paying for foreign coaching

Indians are seeking out foreign sports academies in search of quality training. This year, there has been a sudden spurt in this trend among Mumbai’s aspiring sportstars, with South Kickers Soccer Club’s Jeffery Campus offering year-long training stints for four city soccer players at Elians School in Valencia, Spain and Anjali Shah of the Indian Youth Soccer Academy, known for taking scores of youngsters to Bobby Charlton’s academy every year, planning another trip to Manchester.

According to Express India, European soccer academies are also seeing more young Indians. ‘‘We have a severe lack of facilities here,’’ says Campus. ‘‘If football is to touch a different level, these boys have to step out.’’ The four students he’s sending to Spain are hoping to latch on to a two-year all-paid extension if they manage to impress the coaches there.

One youngster taking the Europe-route is Delhi’s Karan Diwan (18), hoping to attend the selection trials for Scottish giants Rangers. Shah, who arranged for the camp, explains: ‘‘Our training methods are redundant and selection trials are biased. Also, fielding of overaged players is rampant, so talented kids miss out.’’

Singapore tackling match-fixing allegations

The Football Association of Singapore will press on with the effort to stamp out the match-fixing menace in the sport. "The situation is well under control," said FAS general secretary John Koh, amid reports of match-fixing attempts, including one involving a Singapore-Malaysia friendly match last year. "Indeed over the few years, we have intensified our efforts, for example, by introducing random poligraph tests for S-League players in 2001 to deter match-fixing," he said in a letter published in the forum section of the Straits Times.

A local tabloid, Today, had been reporting alleged match-fixing attempts in the local league including one involving the Singapore-Malaysia match last year which Singapore lost 0-2. National goalkeeper Shahril Jantan had reportedly alleged that a former S-League coach had approached him to fix the friendly match which was played at the Cheras Stadium.

There was also a report about a goalkeeper from a local S-League team Paya Lebar, Zulkifli Zainolabidin, being approached by a former club official to fix an S-League match in the ongoing season.

Koh said the two cases were under investigation. "We believe that they are isolated incidents. As in any investigation, expecially when corruption may be involved, we should let our law enforcement agencies do their work," he said. FAS, he said, shared the concerns on the peril of match-fixing and the damage it could inflict on the development the football league in Singapore.

"The spectre of match-fixing is not exclusive to Singapore football. It haunts every major league but in Singapore we tackle this scourge seriously," he added. Football betting has been legal in Singapore since 1999.

No guarantees ends Dubai four club tournament

The UAE football chief Yousuf Al Serkal admitted to The Khaleej Times that the international tournament scheduled to be held in Dubai in January featuring Barcelona and other leading European and Latin American clubs has been cancelled due to the lack of credibility of the organising company, Asia Sports Marketing.

Speaking to newsmen at the UAE Football Association offices in Dubai yesterday, Al Serkal said the FA had requested some bank guarantees and FIFA approvals, but the company failed to meet the deadlines. “Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea are big names in the game and we did not want to spoil our relationship with them,” he said.

Praise for new AFC 'emerging' nations Cup

Pakistan Football Federation president, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, has praised the Asian Football Confederation's plans for a new competition for the continent's 'emerging' football nations. "These 17 countries need time to catch up and close the gap on the more advanced nations in Asia. It is hoped that the new competition will enlarge awareness about football in these countries and accelerate the game's development there," he said.

Although the AFC already holds the President's Cup for clubs from smaller footballing nations (won by Tajikistan’s Regar TadAZ at Kathmandu last May), the AFC Challenge Cup is a competition for national teams.

Debuting in 2006, the competition will be held on a biennial basis in a single country, with all expenses to be borne by AFC. The first event will feature Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Guam, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan and Timor Leste.

Football and Sumo attract Japanese sports viewers

Sumo and football are the most covered sports on Japanese television. Data from Sports Marketing Surveys shows that in 2004/2005 these two sports took 30 percent share of sports broadcast on TV. The Summer Olympics in Athens third in popularity.

European football and other international matches feature heavily, in some instances at the expense of the domestic J-League; Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid are sometimes better known than Jubilo Iwata and Yokohama F Marinos.

Sumo on the other hand is a purely domestic sport with an audience profile of male, middle class, business men.

In volume terms, Japan TV shows 386,000 minutes of sport in a year. In comparison, UK TV shows 2,000,000 minutes of sport in a year – nearly six times as much.

A-League coaches start search for Asian talent

Footballers from Asian countries are already making an impact in Australia's new elite A-League, AAP reports. Queensland Roar, Adelaide United and the New Zealand Knights have eached signed Asian players ahead of Australia's entry into the Asian Football Confederation from 1 January 2006.

The Roar was the first and most active A-League club in thinking outside the square and seeking Asian players - signing Korean international midfielders Tae-Yong Shin and Hyuk-Su Seo. Adelaide has former Chinese international striker Shengqing Qu as its marquee player, while the vibe is strong that the Knights may have signed a potential star in Chinese under-23 midfielder Xiaobin Zhang.

Roar coach Miron Bleiberg became interested in recruiting Asian players three years ago on a visit to Brisbane's John Paul College to watch the school's team - which contained several South Koreans. "I was very impressed - they were very systematic, very organised and played very attacking football," said Bleiberg, who was coaching the Queensland Lions side in the state league at the time.

"I thought if the kids can play like this we should look at signing some players. Not long after this, Korea made the semi-finals of the (2002) World Cup and it made up my mind that Koreans had something to offer us."

Bleiberg made contact with player agents representing South Koreans, and once the Roar was confirmed as part of the A-League, set about giving his team a decidedly Asian feel. Attacking midfielder Shin and holding midfielder Seo look set to be regular first-teamers under Bleiberg, with the Roar's decision to "go Asian" looking a masterstroke now.

Since Queensland's decision to recruit from Korea, the nation's biggest car company Hyundai has become the A-League's major sponsor - giving the Roar a commercial leg-up no other club in the competition has. "Now it looks that from a commercial point of view, this is not a bad idea," Bleiberg said.

"If we happen to qualify for the Asian Champions League, it will help us in having some local knowledge and popularity-wise."

Australia football CEO bluntly answers critics

On the eve of the launch of Football Federation Australia's new elite national compeititon, the A-league, CEO John O'Neill boldly declared his faith in Australian football over the next decade. The former banking and rugby union chief 'returned fire' on critics of the radical changes brought in by Chairman Frank Lowy over the past two years and claimed the new model would "unite the tribes".

"Go back to the whole context, which people often don't. The National Soccer League collapsed in 2004 and in its last four years the clubs and the old Soccer Australia lost A$60 million. We believe our model is viable but cautious - we have a broadcaster in place, we have a range of sponsors, we're playing in by and large excellent stadiums. The old NSL had none of that."

"When we launched the league, we didn't claim it was anything but what it is. You're not coming along to watch the Premier League, you're seeing the best Australia has to offer. But it will only get better. It's not a one-year wonder. We're taking a three to five to 10-year view. As the football and finances improve and more of the best players remain or return, the quality of the football will improve.

"There's a leap of faith in this. The idea of the one-team-per-city model is to unite the tribes. We've had a fragmented and fractured sport and we're looking to make it far more inclusive.

"Ours was a herculean task. We had to raise A$40 million in capital, plus A$5 million per club each year in running costs. But the audience has to wake up to the fact that running a national competition in Australia is phenomenally expensive. The audience has enormous expectations we can do everything at once. We can't. We inherited a bankrupt business and rebuilt it from the ground floor up."

He isn't shy of trading fire with people he believes are not giving the new regime a go.

"Craig Foster at the players' association and others just pick off single issues, saying the FFA hasn't done this or that. Well how could we? Foster says there's not enough football knowledge in the FFA, that O'Neill has brought all his rugby mates with him. With all due respect to Craig Foster, he wouldn't have a clue who works here. We've got seven national teams with national coaches, plus the AIS and state teams.

"The FFA needs to tell that story better than it has done. In sport you're only as good as your last game. You've got people supporting you for as long as it's in their interests to do so. Some of the old brigade are probably waiting for us to stumble, want us to fail."

And shrugged off poor pre-season crowds.

"I've been following rugby league for years and I've never heard anyone mention pre-season crowds. Yet there's been an incredible focus on our pre-season. We hope to get an average crowd across all clubs of 10,000 which isn't overly ambitious, but pretty good compared to the NSL. We need to get people to back us for the long haul.

"We're in the world's most competitive market. No other country of 20 million people has four football codes."

The A-League kicks off on Friday, 26 August and concludes with a Grand Final on 4 March next year, with the top four teams in the league qualifying for the finals series. The league will also feature a three-week break in December to allow for Sydney FC's participation in the Club World Championship in Japan and the summer Christmas holiday.

Arsenal school welcomed by Malaysian football

English club Arsenal has opened a soccer school in Malaysia, perhaps the first of many Premier League and other European clubs to do so. According to Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia, the training program offered by the school is in line with FAM's aspirations to develop local talent.

"We have also been informed that Manchester City will also have a similar program. I hope more established clubs will do the same," Tengku Abdullah said. "The clubs should also not think of profits only. As the Asian Football Confederation said, it should be seen as their social responsibility for helping develop football in countries," he said.

"It is an opportunity for young Malaysians. They will now have the chance to receive proper training to harness their interest and skills. All training programmes will be carried out by highly qualified and experienced coaches," said Robert Alberts, the Arsenal school's head coach who was head coach for the Malaysian state of Kedah in 1993.

Present with Tengku Abdullah at at the official launch of the Celcom-Arsenal Soccer School in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan La Salle were Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad chairman Tan Sri Muhammad Radzi Mansor, FAM vice-president Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar, FAM secretary, Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad and Arsenal's representative, Alan Sefton.

Japanese fans soak in Scottish atmosphere

The fortunes of Shunsuke Nakamura added to an electric atmosphere in Paddy Foley's Irish Pub in Roppongi, Tokyo, home to the Tokyo Celtic Supporters Club, reported Anthony Fensom, for The Herald of Glasgow. He noted that traditional Celtic songs mixed with Japanese cries of "ganbare" (try hard) as fans urged on the first Japanese Hoops player and his team.

"Despite the mingling of Celtic and Rangers fans of all nationalities along with locals in a packed basement pub, the only casualties of the night were a few knocked-over beer glasses. The pub crowd of around 60 people was just a fraction of an audience of up to four million for the live broadcast. Satellite channel Skyperfectv is now showing all of Celtic's Scottish Premier League games live, something Paddy's manager Neil Day was smiling about as the cash register rang up more sales," he wrote.

A shop assistant at Soccer Shop Kamo in fashionable Shibuya told Fensom that "Celtic shirts are already very popular with Japanese, so I'm sure those with Nakamura's name on the back will sell by the truckload." But Tokyo football shops said they had problems getting Nakamura shirts from Nike, Celtic's new kit supplier, and may not get stock for another four months.

"While Nakamura is arguably second only to Bolton Wanderers' new signing Hidetoshi Nakata in the hearts of Japanese fans, Celtic have a lot of work to do to establish lasting interest," Fensom commented. "Despite recent glowing Japanese media reports from Scotland about the new bhoy's time in Glasgow, the SPL is virtually unknown in Japan."

A-League calls on fan support for weekend debut

Australia's new domestic national soccer league kicks off this weekend with sound corporate sponsorship, a chief executive who successfully ran the 2003 Rugby World Cup, 30 overseas players and a pay television contract. All the competition needs now, reports Associated Press, is some fans

The eight-team A-League - including a New Zealand side - hopes to take soccer where it's never been before in this country. The National Soccer League - with many ethnic-based teams, was disbanded about 18 months ago, and the name of the national federation was changed from Soccer Australia to Football Federation Australia last year.

South Korean car company Hyundai has become the A-League's major sponsor and Fox Sports will broadcast most games live in Australia.

FFA president Frank Lowy and CEO John O'Neill say they'll need between 10,000 and 15,000 spectators for matches - about three times the average of the old NSL. A new television commercial is part of a 10-million Australian dollar marketing campaign aimed at youth and family markets as the league tries to distance itself from ethnic-related crowd violence that harmed the old NSL's image.

The ethnic-based violence remains, however, in state leagues in both New South Wales and Victoria this year. In Melbourne, two teams with rioting spectators were ordered to play their matches in empty stadiums; in Sydney a team thrown out of the league because of its unruly fans went to the state Supreme Court to successfully have itself reinstated. On Sunday, police were forced to use pepper spray in a 20-minute battle to bring 200 spectators under control after a brawl between supporters of two Melbourne-area teams.

"The ingredients for riots that were in the past are not there," Lowy has said of the new league. "There's no nationality, there's no ethnic division."

Mickey faces an [almost] Chelsea takeover

According to Times newspaper columnist Danny Baker, the soccer strips worn on the streets of Disney World in Orlando, Florida, in August are always "an excellent barometer for just how fickle the floating UK football fan can be". He said he expected a groundswell of defection from Arsenal and United consumers. "However, this was an absolute avalanche of blue and what’s more it appeared to be closing in on me, like a zombie revenge film, only satisfied when I had, too, become One of Them."

Lurching and spinning crazily in the forecourt of Cinderella’s Castle, I tried actually to count the examples of Chelsea merchandising on view and it damn near unhinged me. Wild-eyed and with tongue lolling from mouth, I could be heard babbling: “Thirty-eight . . . thirty-nine . . . FORTY! FORTY ONE!” Fortunately, my son stepped in before security did and, slapping my face a few times more than I thought was required, brought me to my senses. "Dad," he said, firmly, his hands pinning my shoulders against the plastic foliage around Tink’s Enchanted Grove, "you have got to get a grip. This thing is ruining the holiday. Look — they’re not all Chelsea shirts, OK? You’re starting to imagine things."

Baker admitted that he’d blindly included totally innocent shirts from Leicester, Ipswich, Rangers — even a defiant Peterborough top. "Now come on," his son continued, "it’s not the colour blue that is evil, all right? Just Chelsea, got it?"

Australia's football 'revolution' ready to launch

When Australian soccer's all new A-League kicks off next Friday night in Perth and Newcastle it will mark the end of a two-year period of revolution in which every aspect of the sport has been revamped. Many have said that the total reworking of the game at the elite level is the last chance for soccer in Australia.

However, that may be too dramatic a prophecy, as Michael Lynch of The Age, opined: "The grass-roots explosion in the popularity of the game, the number of youngsters playing the sport and the high levels of interest in the national team are all factors which underline its inherent strength in the Australian sports market place."

"Support from the Australian Sports Commission, federal funding and the goodwill of politicians and the public keen to see Australia do as well in this, the biggest sport in the world, as it does in other pursuits has provided the impetus for the revolution to continue," he believes.

High profile, competent and experienced administrators, headed by former Rugby Union chief John O'Neill and colleague Matt Carroll have been hired. The administrators made a small but symbolically important gesture when they changed the game's official name from "soccer" to football, winding up the debtladen Soccer Australia and replacing it with the new Football Federation of Australia.

Anxious to build an economically sustainable new competition, and ensure that the quality of the play is higher than that in the old NSL, the management team opted for a "one city, one team" model.

Now both of Australia's biggest cities have only one team - Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory - in the new competition, playing alongside clubs from Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Auckland in New Zealand. Two of the country's largest provincial centres, Gosford on the fast-growing NSW Central Coast and Newcastle in the Hunter Valley, are also among the eight founding members.

Each club has been given a five-year guarantee that they will be the only team in their part of the country. The window is designed to give them sufficient time to shore up investment, build the team's identity and attract a core audience of 10,000 to 15,000 fans, a total which should be enough to ensure their financial viability.

Team rosters have been set at 20, to maintain the player quality standards, and a salary cap of A$1.5 million mandated as a wages ceiling in year one to prevent salary inflation. Each club is, however, allowed to hire one so-called "marquee player" who's salary is not included in the cap. To force teams to unearth the best young talent and provide a path to professionalism for the leading young players in the country, clubs also have to include three players aged 20 or under in their squads.

A three-year broadcast deal with Fox Sports has been agreed, with up to four live matches a weekend being shown, while many metropolitan and provincial newspapers and broadcasters have committed to cover their local teams home and away.

The clubs will be one of the earliest beneficiaries of Australia's move into the Asian Football Confederation. The top two teams in the inaugural A-League will, from next year on, get the chance to play in the Asian Champions League. Entry to the AFC is also expected to make a position in the World Cup more accessable to the Australian national team, which last made the finals in 1974.

According to Ray Gatt of The Australian, however, it is possible that no franchise will turn a profit this year. His sources predict that clubs like Sydney FC will need an average home gate of between 20,000 and 25,000 just to break square. The source also believes there will be "massive variances" in terms of financial losses for the clubs.

"Look, with any start up business, you have to expect losses," he said. "It is unusual to turn a profit from day one. I can see some clubs being at the extreme end with A$1 million to A$2 million losses while others will do well to contain the red ink to A$500,000. It remains to be seen just how long they can maintain those sort of losses."

Melbourne Victory is so concerned about the 'crowd effect' that is slashing entry charges for its opening A-League home game against Perth Glory on 4 September. Walk-up supporters will now be asked to pay $16 for a general admission ticket instead of the $22 that had been the rate during the club's three home matches in the A-League's pre-season competition.

Victory is anxious to maximise attendance for the first home game at Olympic Park to set the tone for the rest of the season, in which it will play a further nine home matches. One of its core first-year business strategies is to build the club's "brand", and officials acknowledged yesterday that there is no better way to do that then build a buzz about the team in front of big crowds.

"We are trying to encourage everyone who supports the club to become a season ticket-holder, because that's where the value lies, but we will continue to monitor the admission charges," Victory spokesman Tony Ising said.

Flexibility suggested for Asian Champions League

The Champions League of the Asian Football Confederation is the ultimate club prize in Asia but is out of reach for most clubs, Ian Griffiths reports at Football Asia. Because of the lack of depth in elite club football in many Asian countries, the AFC enforces a three-tier ranking system which divides its 45 national associations into 'mature', 'developing' and 'emerging'. The clubs from these countries are then shoehorned into three respective competitions – the top 14 into the AFC Champions League; the next 14 into the AFC Cup; the rest into the AFC President’s Cup. However Griffiths argues that "a degree of fluidity" needs to be injected into the system.

Clubs from the likes of Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan all compete in the AFC Champions League. Few would argue that these countries make up the elite of Asian football, whether at national team or at club level. The argument only comes when you consider the other countries who are also rated ‘mature’ and therefore participate in the AFC Champions League: Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Iraq and Syria.

Among the ‘developing’ countries are the likes of Malaysia, Singapore, India, Jordan, Lebanon and a host of others. Then there are clubs from ‘emerging’ associations - Pakistan, Nepal, Tajikistan and a handful of other aspirants.

There is no denying that a semblance of order is required from an administrative point of view. Equally, few would disagree that the champions of Bhutan have very little in common with, say, their counterparts in J-League or K.League. In fact, it is only right and proper that national associations (and the clubs who represent them) should be rewarded according to the success of their clubs in competitions over a given period.

According to the AFC, for nations to be considered worthy of mature status, they must tick three boxes. Firstly, standards must be to a suitably high level. Not only must sides be able to play competently, but they must also have adequate stadiums, training facilities and a recognised coaching structure firmly in place. Would-be AFC Champions League outfits must also compete in a recognisable domestic league. Finally, there must be a high degree of infrastructure within the club’s country. Transport links must be good and factors such as the proximity of an international airport and the frequency of flights to the country are also examined.

A glance at the various clubs competing at continental level would, using the AFC’s criteria, give us a good idea of which countries have three ticks alongside their names and those with work still to do. A closer inspection, however, reveals real flaws in the system, flaws which could easily be ironed out by allowing movement between the mature, developing and emerging nations.

Griffiths notes that because the next review of the ranking system is not due until 2008, "clubs must wait nearly three years for a chance to measure their progress against some of the region’s best operators". He provides examples here.

Plan to lure insurgents through Premier League

Residents of Thailand's restive southern provinces are stunned by a central government plan to install free cable televisions in local tea shops and use English Premier League football matches to lure potential insurgents from taking up arms against the state.

Interior Minister ACM Kongsak Wantana - the fourth person in the post in less than two years - reportedly this week tried to push through a plan to give away 500-1,000 cable televisions in the three Muslim-majority provinces.

Kongsak said he believed that showing English Premiership football would help attract young men away from insurgency and put them in front of the television screen. "Most children love watching sports on TV, but they can't afford them at home. So we are giving them what they love, hoping it can solve the problem."

Rawseedee Lertariyapongkul, an adviser to the Young Muslim Association of Thailand, said the initiative did not address the root cause of the problem. Instead, it could end up creating more problems, such as gambling and other forms of vice. He said officials had more important tasks at hand, such as resolving the ongoing problem of missing persons and preventing more killings and bomb attacks.

Democrat Party spokesman Sathit Pithuthecha, said a survey of the region showed that almost every household already had a TV set. He also suspected whether the aim of this initiative was for the well-being of the local residents or the benefit for a "certain private cable company".

English football for South Korean phones

PA Sport has secured its first customer in South Korea with the signing of a soccer data content deal with mobile and broadband company, Eclat Entertainment. PA Sport, a sports news and information provider, will be providing Actim-branded, real-time player and team statistics during all English Premier League games.

With the recent transfer of Korean player Ji-Sung Park to Manchester United, interest in Premier League football is said to have risen to unprecendented levels in the country.

Eclat Entertainment, which provides SMS and WAP services as well as live streaming of football, basketball and baseball footage, will market its football service via two of Korea’s largest mobile carriers, SK Telecom and KT FreeTel.

Real Madrid scored $26M for 10-day tour

Real Madrid took in some 21 million euros (roughly $26 million) during its recent "world tour", more or less that what they paid for new Brazilian signing, Julio Baptista. It could be said then that this tour bought Real Madrid a star, Alberto Bravo reported.

"It is not only what the clubs take at the gate, one has to look further afield. It is a case of creating and exploiting a new market, generating illusions, attracting thousands of fans, making lasting impressions, achieving long-term income by making the brand name known," he quoted Emil Butragueno, a former player and currently vice-president of Real Madrid.

S.League program assists underprivileged children

Five promising young footballers from Woodlands Wellington FC have become the first recipients of Singapore's Children Financial Assistance Scheme. The CFA Awards - US$800 cash each – were presented by S.League CEO, How Seen Yong, along with Woodlands team jerseys in a ceremony at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The scheme provides bursaries to talented young players from lower-income families to assist them in their payment of school fees, purchase of academic necessities and tuition expenses. It is part of the S.League's CARE United Program launched last year and consists of ongoing efforts to reach out to the community.

"We recognize the importance of reaching out to the community," Mr How said. "Our players and officials volunteer their time in between training sessions and matches to visit schools and their adopted charities to help in fund raising activities."

English shirt sponsorship round-up

For £10 million, Chelsea have signed up with the Korea's Samsung Mobile electronics giant for five years, making it the UK's biggest ever football shirt sponsorship. In Europe, only Juventus (£15 million) and Bayern Munich (£13.5 million) make more per year.

Following Malcolm Glazer's takeover of Manchester United, Vodafone remains 'committed to the club' and its £9 million shirt sponsiorship.

This is the last season that the O2 logo will appear on the Arsenal shirt, having been outbid by Emirates. The airline moves across London from Chelsea to become shirt and stadium naming-rights sponsor in a £90m deal. The shirt is valued at £5 million a year as part of the deal.

Newcastle United retain a loyal following, driving up television audience figures and with it the £5 million sponsorship value of its shirts to Northern Rock.

Last season was set to mark the end of Carlsberg's 13-year commitment to the Merseyside club, the longest commercial relationship in British football. But Champions' League success changed all that. A new £5 million deal was signed shortly before Liverpool's incredible comeback and victory in the European Cup final in Istanbul in May.

Thomas Cook is spending is £1 million on shirt sponsorship to test the theory that Manchester City fans are four times more likely to go on holiday with the sponsor than followers of other clubs.

The challenge for Japanese printer manufacturer Oki Printer's £350,000 spend with Portsmouth is to surpass the impact made by their predecessors on the shirt, toy manufacturer Ty. In prompted recall research last season, Portsmouth's sponsor came bottom. Just 3 per cent of sports fans could recall Ty, compared to 51 percent who knew of Vodafone's tie-up with Manchester United.

FlyBe is on Birmingham City's shirt for the second year and the £800,000 contract is due to expire at the end of 2006 season. The club's charismatic chief executive, Karren Brady has put together an enviable group of secondary sponsors including T-Mobile, Carlsberg and Primetime, a recruitment service, who value the club's large local following.

The Reebok logo on Bolton's shirt comes as part of the stadia naming rights agreement which sees the club play at the Reebok Stadium. At £500,000, one of the more successful naming rights agreements (three points for remembering the name of Bolton's old ground). It is a blueprint copied by Arsenal's move to new Emirates "branded" premises next year.

Sports-related tourism is one of the sector's biggest growth areas. The Lions tour, the Athens Olympics and Euro 2004 in Portugal are all recent examples of sport driving sales in the holiday business. However, given the Tottenham's recent abysmal record in Europe, quite where the value of Thomson Holiday's £3 million comes in is less clear.

Thai beer company, Chang Brewing, recently renewed its relationship with the club for a further three years despite a limited UK presence. The £1 million deal is testament to the Premiership's international audience across 195 countries. Everton recently played in the Asia Trophy in Thailand and funds have also gone towards the construction of Everton-Chang village near Phuket, in the aftermath of last year's tsunami. - The Independent

Singaporian coach's thoughts on Korean star

Singapore Sports School's new head coach, Robert Verbeek, assisted Guus Hiddink with the first team at perennial Dutch champions PSV Eindhoveu, from 1988 to 1996.

According to the New Paper, Verbeek wonders how Manchester United will treat South Korean star, Park, in the new English Premier League season. Verbeek's elder brother, Pim, assisted Hiddink during South Korea's run to the 2002 World Cup semi-finals, where Park first grabbed attention.

Said Verbeek: "If you work in South Korea for 1 1/2 years like Guus and my brother did, you have to learn the culture, the way they think, the way they like to communicate, and the way they react to you and your instructions, and also, to the way you react. If you coach them and you lose your mind and shout at them, they become very quiet because they really think they are being attacked. This is what my brother said they learnt from their Korean experience.

"That's why Guus was always very careful when it came to Park and Lee Young Pyo, the two players he brought over to PSV. Lee struggled at the start more than Park because he's a defender, so mistakes are easier to pick on. But Guus always made sure he boosted their confidence by defending their performances. He kept them motivated to try harder, even though the Dutch players they played against were tougher on them because they wanted to prove they were better than the Koreans.

"So they learnt a lot from the Dutch league to prepare them for the big time in the English Premier League. They spoke little English, so Guus flew their families over to stay with them in Holland."

Uproar as India goes down to Fiji

Fiji Islands beat India 1-0 in a friendly at Churchill Park, Laukota, on Friday. The shock loss to a small Pacific state stunned Indian veterens such as Santo Mitra, former coach and technical director. “Yes, losing is part of sport. But going down to teams like Pakistan and Fiji calls for some serious introspection," he said.

Mitra is particularly pushing for a foreign national coach. "The AIFF can have someone from Iran, Iraq or even South Korea or Japan ... These coaches are much advanced now and they have handled teams and players who have done well in tougher environs ... First we must aim at doing well in Asia and then think of the next phase," he said as quoted by New India Press.

On Thursday, AIFF president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi announced targets for "Vision Indian". Based on the Asian Football Confederation program, seven to 10 schools will be identified as training grounds for future footballers while coaching development for 15-19 year-olds will take place at Kolkata and seniors at Bangalore. Development programs for women will be conducted at Patiala and AIFF will stage the first Mother Teresa women’s tournament. Football festivals will also be organised in all states to attract Under-13 and Under-16 footballers.

Asian Cup 2007 to kick off next November

The Asian Football Confederation announced that qualifiers for the 2007 Asian Cup will begin next November with Bangladesh and Pakistan, the last two in the continental rankings, playing home and away to eliminate one of them. The 24 teams left in the draw - including Australia for the first time - will be divided into six groups to play a home-away round robin format, starting 28 February 2006, and the two leading teams from each group will advance to the finals to be played in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The four host countries get direct entries to the finals.

The tournament is held every four years, the last won by Japan in 2004 in Beijing. The AFC decided to change the timing of the competition to avoid it clashing with the Olympic Games and European Football Championships.

The 2007 participating countries are Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China PR, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, IR Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

New A-League franchise struggles for funds

Major media personalities are assisting Football Federation Australia to raise equity for Central Coast (NSW), one of the eight-only franchises in the inaugural A-League. The Mariners are A$2.5 million short of their $5 million capital start-up target for the new national competition which starts on 26 August.

Competing radio men, John Singleton and Alan Jones, were united to encourage local businessmen to purchase at least one of forty shareholding packages valued at A$50,000 each. Singleton reportedly has pledged A$1 million of his own money over four years, with Westfield (a shopping mall developer associated with FFA chairman Frank Lowy), chipping in the same figure and Future Schools – which sells education packages through the internet – a further A$1.3 million.

"Failure is not an option. All the ingredients are here. It's a well-coached team that has a great stadium – and there are 13,000 junior players in the area. We put our faith in the Coast and we want the people here to put their faith in us," FFA CEO, John O'Neill, said.

FIFA discusses artificial turf at Soccerex 2005

FIFA's Project Management and Licensing Team for Artificial Turf has announced that Lars Bretscher and Nigel Fletcher will be delivering an exclusive keynote address at the Global Conference during Soccerex 2005. This will involve an overview of FIFA's licensing properties with an in depth case study on the FIFA quality concept for artificial turf to the full B2B audience.

For quick information on exhibiting or attending Soccerex 2005, contact Geoffrey Gold, Gold Group Asia/Pacific Ltd, accredited representative for Asia and Australia: Email: soccerex@goldglobal.com. Singapore Fax: +65 6491-5020; Jakarta Fax: +62 (0)21 719-4025; Melbourne Fax: +61 (0)3 9923-6003.

Philippine national league in 2007

The Philippine Football Federation has announced it will establish a national league in the next two years. The move is also in line with the Asian Football Confederation’s thrust to help the Philippines and other struggling football nations.

Cebu Football Association president, Jonathan Maximo, attended the PFF board of governor’s meeting last Saturday in Manila, where the PFF announced the plan to establish the elite, national league in 2007.

The PFF plan starts with the provincial football associations which will play as leagues rather than knock-out cups. The champions of the provincial competitions will then face each other in the national league.

“The AFC wants to support the clubs here. They want to give them as many matches as possible, so the FA leagues might be double- or triple-round robin,” Maximo said.

Transfer negotiations will now be done club to club instead of player to coach and negotiations will be limited in the off-season in a semi-professional football environment. “At the start of the competition, each club will only have 25 players and they can not change the line-up until the season ends,” Maximo said. The line-ups will also be forwarded to the AFC.

Bangladesh invites Asian club sides to tournement

The Bangladesh Football Federation is inviting 12 Asian nations to play in its Prime Minister Cup in Dacca from 21 January next year. Leading Asian club teams from Iran, Syria, Qatar, Singapore Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam and India will compete alongside four local teams in the fortnight long tournament approved by the Asian Football Confederation.

Korean fans object to political meddling in football

The Red Devils, the South Korean national football team’s official supporters’ group, is refusing to accept free tickets allocated to them to attend the 14 August match between the South Korean and North Korean football teams at the 65,000-seat, Seoul World Cup Stadium because the organising committee has banned the waving of the South Korean flag and the chanting Taehanminguk! (“Republic of Korea”).

"We are a supporters’ group for the South Korean national team. No more, no less. The group doesn’t want to engage in a political event. And we cannot cheer for the South Korean team as much as we’d like because of the ban," a group spokesperson said. But that will not stop the members of Red Devil from cheering for the South and North Korean teams as individuals, she told The Korea Times.

The football match is part of a series of north-south joint celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japan’s 35-year-long colonial rule on 15 August 1945. The Republic of Korea in the south and the Communist-controlled Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north have been separate ever since.

Everton: we are 6th or 7th 'most popular' in Asia

When Manchester United face Everton in the opening match of the 2005/06 English Premiership, television viewers in East Asia will be no doubt be following the debut of ManU's four-million-pound South Korean recruit Park Ji-Sung and hoping to see Chinese international Li Tie in the Everton team.

Like ManU, Everton are also building a profile in the Far East and three years ago signed the 27-year-old Li from Liaoning, AFP reports.

"Of all the sides in Europe we are probably the sixth or seventh most popular behind clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich," said the club's marketing chief Andy Hosie.

Real Madrid TV launched by satellite into Asia

Real Madrid TV has been launched on Asiasat 2 by satellite operator Asiasat and its partner, Satlink Communications, which handles content transmissions. This digital platform brings television and radio services from Europe to Asia through Asiasat 2's huge C-band coverage beam and Satlink's turnaround and transmission facilities in Israel.

The launch of the new channel to Asia makes Real Madrid TV "the first soccer channel to be available globally" and enables Real Madrid to reach an avid soccer viewer market which is developing very rapidly in the region, Indian Television in Mumbai reported.

AFC makes funding for ‘Vision Vietnam’ conditional

The Asian Football Confederation has made funding of the Vietnamese game contingent on the country fulfilling three key tasks, a conference in Hanoi on the ‘Vision Asia’ football development program was told today.

AFC General Secretary, Peter Velappan, said the Vietnam Football Federation must establish a special working group to run the local ‘Vision Vietnam’ program, assign a project coordinator and establish a development fund for the project.

VFF chairman, Nguyen Trong Hy, said the federation will pilot the program in the central Nghe An province and Long An province in the south. He also praised the AFC for both its anti-corruption and football lottery proposals which would be "sent soon" to the government for approval.

Showing the urgency for change in football management in Vietnam, it was also reported that by the Communist youth newspaper, Thanh Nien, that a Singaporian sports company, Strata Sports Marketing Company Ltd, has parted ways with First League football club Strata Dong Nai due to internal conflict among the team and coaching staff, and a challenging relationship with its domestic partner.

Strata’s annual expenses for the club since 2003 ran at about US$ 315,000, most of which came in the form of investment from business partners. No doubt the V-League, Vietnam’s premier division, was Strata’s initial target when it signed on, but Strata Dong Nai FC finished the First Division 2005 in a disappointing tenth position among only twelve teams, the newspaper reported.

Bayern Munich launches club website in Chinese

Bayern Munich FC launched the Chinese language version of the club's homepage today, as the Bundesliga champions look to increase their exposure in the growing Asian market. "There is no other country with a greater number of Bayern fans than China," club manager Uli Hoeness said as he, Coach Felix Magath and players Michael Ballack, Oliver Kahn and Bastian Schweinsteiger, presented the new site, www.fcbayern.com.cn, to Chinese journalists by video conferencing.

"Our approach is not a short-term one," Mr Hoeness said. "We aim to proceed carefully in this market and do things the right way. We are aware of the adverse publicity that can follow clubs in the Chinese market that are perceived to be too money-focused."

The site will be hosted and developed by Chinese sports internet company SportsCN after a deal brokered by Asia specialist football consultancy FMMInternational.

The club hopes for a million hits a day from the Chinese-language site to add to the audience of its existing German, English and Japanese websites. However it is not meant to be simply a direct mirror translation of the German version of the official website.

"It was important for us to have an offering that was tailored precisely to the needs of our Chinese fan-base and through the expertise and experience offered by SportsCN we have been able to achieve that," said Stefan Mennerich, head of department for media rights and new media at FC Bayern.

South Koreans to receive EPL by mobile phone

Sportev has reached agreement with South Korean media company, Media 2.0, to provide video coverage of English Premier League matches on mobile phones in South Korea for the next two seasons. The wireless sports agency and official FA Premier League mobile partner, has completed Premier League mobile rights deals in Hong Kong, Brazil, South Korea and New Zealand.

"With Park Ji-Sung’s high-profile signing for Manchester United there is growing interest in the Barclays English Premier League from Korean fans and the Premier League is keen to ensure that those fans can access coverage in the manner of their choice,” Will Muirhead, chief executive of Sportev, said.

Transport United wins Bhutan premiership

Transport United retained the title as the top ‘A’ division club in the Bhutan Football Federation, beating arch-rival Yedzin FC 2-1 in a rain drenched final played at the Changlimithang national football stadium in Thimphu on 6 August.

Transport’s win means it gets another chance to participate in the Asian Football Confederation’s President’s Cup. It also won a cash prize of Nu 60,000 from the BFF. The second and third position clubs won Nu 40,000 and Nu 20,000.

Inaugeral A-League calls for more public support

The new face of Australian ‘round-ball’ football was revealed yesterday at the official launch of the inaugural A-League season. The message from Frank Lowy, the Football Federation of Australia's chairman and FFA CEO, John O'Neill, to media and VIP guests was, “support this league or it will die”.

"What we need now is support, Australia's support. We need bumper crowds. We need that support otherwise no matter what we do and what we did, it's just not going to work. The players are ready. The management is ready. The boards are ready. You are ready. So what we need now is the support, Lowry said.

Just over 10 months since the structure of the new competition was formalised, the lack of television exposure has been rectified by a deal with Fox Sports that will see almost every game broadcast live on cable and Hyundai, Telstra and Coke are on board as sponsors. Then there is the A-League ad campaign, on its way to TV and cinema screens to target the 16-24 age group.

However, with the A-League curtain-raiser just 18 days away, Lowy acknowledged the hiccups that have cast some doubt on the potential success of the multi-million-dollar rebirth of soccer as "football".

Two of the eight clubs, Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners, have already been forced to approach FFA with cap in hand as they struggle to shore up backers.

Questions have also risen over the FFA's aggressive grab at the youth market at the expense of the older, diehard purists, while others ponder Australia's ability to support a fourth pro-football code.

The National Rugby League, for instance, which dominates the Sydney market, is on track for record-breaking crowds in 2005. With 15 teams covering three Australian states and one territory plus New Zealand, the NRL’s average crowd for the season so far is 16,186 compared with the record of 14,671 set last year.

The Australian Football League’s 2005 results are even more challenging. Attendances for its 16 clubs playing in all seven Australian states and territories are expected to top over 6.1 million for the season with crowds in some rounds averaging more than 41,000 per game.

English referee for Kolkata Premier League

For the first time in the history of the Calcutta Football League, an English referee will officiate in the Kolkata Premier League. This will occur at the 18 August match between defending champion, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium. Mr Dave Roberts is currently refereeing in Singapore's S-League, has Football Association of England coaching qualifcations and was among the panel of officials for the FA Premier Reserve League, The Football Conference and FA Cup. UNI reports the All India Football Federation has cleared his appointment.

South Korean national coach feels heat

Finishing last in the East Asian Football Federation championship, Jo Bonfrere, head coach of the South Korean men's national football team, finds himself facing dwindling support from fans, while some analysts are openly calling for his dismissal, the Joonggang Daily reports. With 10 months to go before the 2006 World Cup, officials are under heavy pressure from the public. The Korea Football Association said yesterday that it would monitor the situation closely. "Right now we don't have any plans to change the coach. But if a certain situation occurs we will hold a technical committee meeting to discuss the matter," said Lee Hui-taek, head of the association's technical committee.

Arsenal is England PL's "fastest growing brand"

Arsenal has been named the fastest-growing football brand in the English Premier League. The club is reported to have an estimated global fan base of 27 million, of which two million are in the UK, 11 million in Europe, 12 million in Asia and Australia, two million in Africa and two million in North America.

With sales of overall branded merchandise soaring by 82%, sales of branded products through Arsenal is set to increase by 20%, according to Granada Ventures (which itself owns 10% of the club).

Research by Ipsos disclosed last season's huge increase in revenue for the club with video and DVD sales growing by 196%, official annual sales increasing by 80% and calendar sales increasing by 300% in 2004.

The club is preparing to move to its new 60,000-capacity home, Emirates Stadium in Ashburton Grove, for the 2006/2007 season.

"Arsenal is a massive brand, probably one of the biggest in worldwide sport. The fan base is young and affluent which is good news for the future of the brand and its licensing potential. Fifty three per cent are in the ABC1 demographic category and half of Arsenal’s fans are in the 16-34 age bracket," Charlie Donaldson, head of licensing at Granada Ventures, said.

Just over three months to go until Soccerex 2005

With just over 3 months to go until the biggest football convention ever at Soccerex 2005 (13-15 November 2005, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai), the marketing team is now targeting more than 2,500 delegates. Only five exhibition stands remain to be booked.

More features: With Soccerex taking place over a three day period reserved for international friendly fixtures and World Cup play offs, this year every Commercial Director/Club President will receive a free, honorary guest pass to the event; All GCC (Gulf Co-operation Countries) sport authorities have announced their intention to participate at Soccerex 2005; Germany 2006, FIFA Marketing, South Africa 2010, UK Trade and Invest, GCC Countries, Microsoft and some of the biggest Clubs in the world of football all presenting at the leading edge football conference; Former European PGA Tour guru Ken Schofield, who took the marketing and administration of European Golf to a global platform, will be a guest speaker; and Esteve Calzada, Commercial & Marketing Director, FC Barcelona, will analyse the Clubs' commercial programme.

For quick information on exhibiting or attending Soccerex 2005, contact Geoffrey Gold, Gold Group Asia/Pacific Ltd, accredited representative for Asia and Australia: Email: soccerex@goldglobal.com. Singapore Fax: +65 6491-5020; Jakarta Fax: +62 (0)21 719-4025; Melbourne Fax: +61 (0)3 9923-6003.

Malaysia Airlines parties with Charity Cup

Malaysia Airlines has commenced its promotion of the English Premier League in Asia with support for a pre-season party in Kuala Lumpur, capital city of Malaysia. Fans of Arsenal and Chelsea attending the Community Shield party at Hartamas Square were offered Malaysia Airlines flight tickets to London and tickets to watch EPL matches. The fans were also treated to a soccer skills demonstration by students from the Brazilian Football Academy.

MAS managing director, Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan, said the EPL season is a celebration which brings people together in the spirit of sporting excellence. "This is an opportunity to increase our added services and improve the quality of our business offering," he said, as quoted by the Malay Mail.

Malaysia Airlines is the sponsor of the ESPN STAR Sport Asia broadcast of the Barclaycard English Premier League for the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 seasons.

Asian ‘Eldorado’ lures Spain's clubs

Jordi Quixano of the Barcelonan newspaper El Paris noticed that seven of Spain’s major league football clubs spent their short summer break touring Asia; a far cry from Espanyol's lonely promotion in 1973. "They didn't have a clue who we were. I don't think one person asked me for an autograph," said former Spanish international, Solsona, reminiscing of that pioneering effort.

"Thirty two years later, thanks largely to what could be called the Manchester United effect, things have changed," Quixano opined:

A club is a brand, and a brand needs three things: a growing audience, publicity, and fan loyalty. Asia is the world's most populated continent; it has large multinationals, and is prepared to idolize footballers.

"In June 50,000 people were in tears because they were unable to see Ronaldinho," says Shigeo Hidaritomo, the general director of Yokohama Marinos. The Japanese are more interested in individual players rather than teams. "There is no cultural or geographic link to football, so they go for the media stars. But in the long run, they will become fans of the club," says a Real Madrid official.

In the short term, economic interests prevail. "There is no doubt that in terms of planning for the coming season, the last thing we need is to be setting off on long journeys, but that's where the money is," argues Miguel Ángel Lotina, Espanyol's coach. And the money is not the same for clubs like Lotina's, compared to the likes of Real Madrid or Barcelona.

While Madrid is able to charge €3 million per game, and Barcelona commands the same fee for two games, other clubs must do some hard bargaining. Espanyol were paid €1 million for three games, while Villareal, Seville, and Zaragoza, who played in a recent tournament in China, or Real Sociedad in South Korea, had to be content with half a million euros.

Quixano believes players and training staff understand the reason for the tours; they are after all, employees of a big business. But that doesn't prevent complaints: "The objective of the exercise is to promote ourselves; to let them get to know us. But it plays havoc with our training schedules," says Sevilla coach Juan de Ramos.

No word, either, about win-win benefits for Asian domestic competitions.

Withe on Indonesian and Thai prospects

There is nothing more Peter Withe would like than to see than Thailand and Indonesia meet in the football final at the SEA Games in Manila in December. Withe, who spent five successful years coaching Thailand and who is now in charge of the Indonesian squad, was in Bangkok last week to see the Thai team in action for the Premier League Asia Trophy and against Real Madrid.

You could call it a "spying mission" by the former England and Aston Villa striker, but for Withe it was much more than that as he still has a great affinity with Thailand, Tor Chittinand of the Bangkok Post observed.

Withe said he was quite impressed by the Thai team after watching them last week. "I saw them in the Tiger Cup and they had a terrible result, being knocked out in the first round. I didn't think they played that badly, then but they were in a tough group with Burma and Malaysia ... [however] they have improved a lot since," he said.

The former Thailand coach said the Thai players have benefited from playing high profile teams from Europe. "It has to be good for them to play teams like Real Madrid, Everton and Bolton. Premiership teams come to Thailand on a regular basis." He said Thailand was lucky in this respect as his Indonesian team rarely gets the chance to play against top flight international teams.

He admitted one of the problems in Indonesia was getting the team together. "The Indonesian league doesn't end until October which means I will only have about six weeks to prepare the squad for the SEA Games," he said.

Withe also does a lot of travel within Indonesia to watch promising players, a lot of whom are very inexperienced. "In the Indonesian League clubs are allowed five foreign players. That limits the opportunities for promising Indonesian players," he said.

Despite these problems Withe is still optimistic about Indonesia's chances in the SEA Games. "We have some good players and if we get enough time together they can do well."

Titles decided in East Asian championships

China clinched the men's East Asian Football Championship by defeating North Korea 2-0 in the South Korean city of Daegu. With Japan's victory over South Korea, Zhu Guanghu’s side is in first place on five points from three games.

South Korea's women's team won the East Asian Football Federation Women's Cup after beating North Korea 1-0 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. With the victory, the South Korea team increased their winning points to six to seal their top spot in the Cup in which the Chinese and Japanese teams are also participating.

Pakistan’s first football academy in Peshawar

Pakistan’s first ever football academy will start functioning in the last week of August in Peshawar, said a spokesman for the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on Friday. "With the establishment of country’s first ever football academy the game will be organised on modern lines," he added, as quoted by Daily Times.

He said the decision to set up the academy was taken during a meeting held at the Pakistan Sports Board: "The meeting observed that football, a popular and a common man’s sport across the world, was a source of pride for Pakistan once. And the present state of soccer in Pakistan is very dismal."

The spokesman said the proposal of establishing a football academy in Peshawar was floated by NWFP Chief Minister Muhammad Akram Durani.

PTCL wins Pakistan National Challenge Cup

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited defeated Water and Power Development Authority 2-1 to win the National Football Challenge Cup at Army Stadium on Friday. The Director General of Pakistan Sports Board, Brig Arif Mehmud Siddiqui, was the chief guest and presented the prizes. PTCL received cash award of Rs 300,000 while WAPDA earned Rs 200,000. Third and fourth position holders Army and KRL pocketed Rs 150,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively.

ManU bar-disco-restaurant opens in Jakarta

Targeting "millions of Red Devils fans" in Indonesia, Manchester United Food and Beverage (Asia) Pte Ltd opened on Friday a branded "MU" restaurant, bar and merchandise outlet on the main boulevard of central Jakarta, replacing the Hard Rock franchise which had occupied the site for 10 years. The 930-square-metre venue's layout has been changed to incorporate two large screens on the upper right wall of the bar and and the right wing of the place designed to resemble a football bench.

The outlet outside the bar sells about 150 kinds of ManU merchandise, from paper clips, pins and wristwatches, to ladies T-shirts, polo shirt and red MU jerseys from Nike. A red MU jersey of 2004/2005 vintage, with "Nistelrooy" imprinted on the back, commands the highest price, at Rp 720,000 (approx US$80).

"Indonesia is a very important market, offering us many growth opportunities. The restaurant and bar we are unveiling today is just the latest step in the development of our activities in Asia," ManU Football Club chief executive David Gill said in a press release.

"Manchester United is a well-known name in Indonesia, with millions of fans. With the opening of this outlet we are brought closer to them," he added.

Real Madrid theme parks for Miami and Beijing

Real Madrid plans to construct branded theme parks in Miami and Beijing as part of a strategy to expand and develop marketing opportunities across the globe. "We are in negotiations with the mayors of Miami and Beijing to create two theme parks," Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was quoted as saying in Spanish sports daily AS.

"They will become the focus for the legions of Real Madrid fans in the powerful and heavily populated countries of the United States and China."

Real are also planning to include a theme park in Madrid at their new training base which is under construction in Valdebebas near the city's Barajas airport. AS reported that the club is aiming to have all three parks in place by 2008.

Real recently returned from an 18-day tour of the United States and Asia which was reported to have earned the club about $25-million.

Crucianii appointed Bangladesh national coach

Argentinean Diego Andres Crucianii is the tenth coach of the Bangladesh national team and first from Latin America. The Bangladesh Football Federation announced his one-year apppointment at a press conference held Thursday by BFF president SA Sultan, vice-presidents Sirajul Islam Bachchu Abdur Rahim, Monir Ahmed and Kazi Salauddin, general secretary Anwarul Haq Helal, deputy secretary Manzoor Hossain Malu and joint secretary Ashrafuddin Chunchu.

Cruciani, an associate of legendary Argentine World Cup-winning coach Cesar Luis Menotti, told reporters he wanted to work in Bangladesh his way. "I saw a league match on Wednesday and detected some bad things like lack of coordination, technique and tactics," he said, as quoted by the Financial Express.

Pyongyang to enter side in K-League?

Kwak Jung-hwan, president of the Korean Professional Football League, reportedly told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday that an agreement had been reached with North Korea to allow a football team from the North to compete in South Korea's professional K-League. Mr. Kwak said the agreement was reached after months of negotiations between Pyongyang and owners of the 13 professional teams in South Korea.

The Pyongyang-based team will be made up of players drawn from current teams active in North Korea and will be able to play both home and away matches. Some games may be played in other cities in North Korea beside Pyongyang.

If the Pyongyang team participates, the K-League will increase to 15 teams from the current 13, counting the new team from South Gyeongsang province that plans on joining next year.

World football's never-ending seasons

Summer used to mean a three-month break in European soccer; it is now down to mere weeks. Deportivo La Coruna had the shortest summer of all. The Spanish club ended the league season on 29 May and was playing again 33 days later -on 2 July - in the Intertoto Cup. There's been little time off, too for Liverpool who won the Champions League title on 25 May and resumed 47 days later chasing a qualifying spot in the same tournament.

Football seasons already have resumed in France and Scotland, the German season starts tomorrow and the English Premier League begins 13 August. However, even during the "closed-season", television broadcasters carried (and often financed) a host of tour games and friendlies.

The saturation, argues Stephen Wade is South Africa's Mail & Guardian, has been blamed for a decline in television ratings and led to concerns about player fatigue, burnout and injuries. In Asia, fans complained about lacklustre matches, high ticket prices and crass commercialism:

"There's a bit more football than there used to be," said Stefan Szymanski, a professor of sports economics at Tanaka Business School in London."But there is a lot more meaningless football being played ... It's not that's it's so terribly difficult to play two football games a week, the problem is that it's very difficult to be at the top of your game every single time you play."

"Clubs used to prepare for the season in the twilight. You didn't know it was going on," said John Williams, director for the Centre for the Sociology of Sport at the University of Leicester. "Now with the proliferation of TV coverage - even pre-season coverage - there is a sense that football never stops."

"It's pretty clear that over the past four or five years there have been more and more matches for the top players, for the top clubs," UEFA spokesman Rob Faulkner said. ``There's no doubt they are reaching a limit now, and we're sensitive to that. "It's a double-edged sword," he added. "The popularity of the sport means more economic interests, more people investing in the game, and more pressure on the players with their larger salaries."

"Nobody really knows what is the optimum or maximum games per year," said professor Jiri Dvorak, FIFA's chief medical officer. "I'd say about 50 to 60 games per year was OK, reasonable," he said. "But 70 to 80 is really the upper limit. I think it would be very difficult to increase the number of games much more."

Last season, Chelsea played 38 league games, 12 in the Champions League, three more in the FA Cup, and six in the League Cup. In addition, top players were involved in 11 England national team games. Throw in six warm-up matches, including Sunday's Charity Shield game against Arsenal, and the total is 76. Next year's World Cup in Germany, which runs from 9 June to 9 July will add to the squeeze.

Bundesliga looks to increase TV revenue

The Bundesliga wants to bring in more television revenue so the German league remains competitive on and off the field with top-flight soccer in England, Spain and Italy. A Bundesliga official said Friday that the league's TV rights are worth €1 billion a year to its official broadcaster. The German league reportedly earns less than its major European rivals despite high ratings.

The Bundesliga earned €300 million this season in television income, however Bundesliga manager Christian Seifert said experts believe Premiere Pay TV - the league's main broadcast partner - signs up half of its 3.3 million subscribers because they want to watch soccer. "That means the TV rights, from their view, must be worth €1 billion," Seifert said.

Bayern manager Uli Hoeness suggested the league play a noon match in Germany so it will be shown in prime time in Japan to build support in Asia.

But Franz Beckenbauer, the country's most influential soccer figure, is not in favor. "Flexible times is something we have to talk about, but please, no games at 11 a.m. on a Sunday," he said.

MAS sponsors English football on ESPN Star

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) expects to further strengthen its brand and international presence via a two-year broadcast sponsorship pact with ESPN Star Sports. The agreement will give the national carrier increased visibility during the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 seasons of the English Premier League (EPL).

Among the benefits is reaching out to 190 million households through ESPN Star Sports, MAS chairman Datuk Munir Majid told reporters after the signing ceremony with ESPN Star Sports here Thursday.

"MAS will also get exposure via various advertisement slots. The MAS logo will also be displayed as a backdrop of ESPN Star Sports," he added.

The integrated campaign will include on-air and online entitlements around all "live" matches and repeats on ESPN Star Sports.It will also cover other must-see football events such as the FA Cup, FA Community Shields and all senior and Under-21 England team home matches.

One of the ESPN Star Sports popular magazine programmes dedicated to the EPL called "Malaysia Airlines Football Extra", will feature highlights from the previous day's

EPL action as well as phone-ins and e-mail reactions from Asian supporters. The programme will be aired on Sunday mornings.

MAS will also launch the Malaysia Airlines EPL Campaign, themed "Taking You There", which aimed to bring the world-class English Premier League and football closer to society.

This year, MAS was chosen for the second time as the official airline for the Manchester United FC Asia Tour.

Barcelona crush Shenzhen Jianlibao in friendly

Spanish first division champions FC Barcelona crushed the Chinese premier league champions Shenzhen Jianlibao 9-0 in a friendly soccer match played in Macao on Wednesday, Xinhua newasgency reported. Shenzhen won the first Chinese Premier League in 2004.

Is Asia contributing to European football health?

Professor Tom Cannon, the former head of Manchester Business School, believes all Premiership clubs are starting to feel the pinch because the Asian market has peaked and that overseas revenues streams are declining.

"Asia is bad. It has been a late summer shock for everyone who thought the Asian market was about to take off. I expect the Asian market may have peaked for European and English football," he said. "The gates for the big teams like Real Madrid and Manchester United were poor. The clubs may have got the money, but if they can only half fill stadia, what hope is there for other clubs that don't have that global brand.

"All the revenue streams in this country are on the decline, television money is down, attendances are flat. There are serious questions about where revenue is coming from."

Professor Stefan Szymanski, an industrial economist and specialist in the business of sport, takes the opposite view and compares the football markets in Asia with the dot com boom. The financial markets collapsed when it became apparent the internet was not a bottomless money pit but dot com business has continued to increase steadily after that initial spurt.

"I have never seen football healthier. It has never been more popular and will continue to grow at a healthy rate," he said. "Football has still got some way to go to catch up with American Football. It is an incredible powerful brand."

But football's growth will not be painless and Professor Szymanski feels a European Super League is inevitable.

"Within football itself, there will be huge numbers of losers out of the restructuring that will take place to extract new sources of income," he said. "The little clubs will become more and more isolated as the hard core of big teams dominate everything. The European Super League is inevitable." - from PA Sport

Adidas Reebok to challenge Nike in global market

German sports products group addidas-Salomon AG and the US Reebok International Ltd today announced a definitive agreement under which adidas-Salomon AG will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Reebok for US$59.00 per share in cash. The transaction value is approximately US$3.8 billion including the assumption of net cash of US$84 million.

The combination of adidas and Reebok accelerates the adidas group’s strategic intent in the global athletic footwear, apparel and hardware markets. The new group will benefit from a more competitive platform worldwide, well-defined and complementary brand identities, a wider range of products, and an even stronger presence across teams, athletes, events and leagues.

adidas expects that the combined group’s strong presence across teams, athletes, events and leagues will enable it to substantially increase the worldwide visibility of its brands. The group’s endorsement contracts will include many of the world’s elite teams, such as Real Madrid, Milan AC, Bayern Munich and Liverpool FC, as well as high-profile global events, such as the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The group will also have licensing relationships with the UEFA Champions League and with Major League Soccer.

Melbourne Victory wins on field but not in stands

Melbourne Victory, the sole franchise representing Australia's second largest city of 4 million in the new Australian national A-League, has received negative publicity for the cost of attending its games in the pre-season competition. Fans paid A$22 for entry to last Saturday night's game against Perth Glory, with children charged A$5 if they were not members and a crowd of only 4500-plus watched the game.

Tony Ising, the club's media manager, said the pricing structure was designed to reward supporters for becoming members. It also reflected the fact that unlike the Australian Football League and National Rugby League — which have television-rights deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars and whose clubs receive multimillion-dollar dividends from their governing bodies — Football Federation Australia is not yet in a position to help clubs subsidise entry prices.

When the regular season gets under way and Victory entertains Perth in its first home A-League game early next month, an adult wanting a one-off reserved-area seat will have to pay a minimum of A$35. The cheapest season tickets for the club will be A$160 (general admission).

Melbourne Storm, the Rugby League team playing at the same ground, charges A$16 for general admission, A$26 for a reserved seat and $A32 for a premium seat. Its cheapest general-admission season ticket is A$130.

Victory officials are hoping the club's impressive start in the pre-season competition will help convince potential investors to provide A$2 million towards the A$5 million it is seeking as a first-season capital base.

According to The Age, Club president Geoff Lord said potential corporate backers — many of them in attendance at Victory's win over Perth Glory — had indicated collectively they could tip as much as A$1.5 million into the business.

Pundits suggest spending more on local game

Real Madrid ended its whirlwind tour of Asia and restored credibility on the field with a 3-0 win over Thailand's SEA Games side at Rajamangala National Stadium last Friday. In a sense, the Bangkok Post recorded, the match "was their most successful stop because the 65,000-capacity Rajamangala was almost full while three earlier games in China and Japan had a large number of empty seats".

However the Spanish club remained heavily criticised in the region for their "money-spinning" attitude and were accused of not trying hard enough to give value for money in certain matches.

"It seemed that they came to Bangkok to grab a reported appearance fee of 70 million baht before leaving. They arrived in Bangkok on Thursday evening and rushed home right after the match. Apart from the clash against Thailand, meeting Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and taking part in sponsors' activities, they did nothing to help promote the sport or please their loyal fans," the Bangkok Post remarked.

The man who gained most from Friday's match was Phayap Shinawatra. He was the chairman of the organising committee and paid to bring Real Madrid here.

Despite being Prime Minister Thaksin's brother and an MP for Chiang Mai, Phayap was relatively unknown at national level until his name was linked to Real Madrid. Thanks to the success, Phayap is considering bringing England to play a friendly.

As England are more popular than Real Madrid, Phayap could become more well-known if his plan is successful. It is reported that he may have to invest something in the region of 100m baht to lure England to Thailand.

If Phayap really loves football - and this is not only an attempt to seek political gain - then he should also help fund a new expanded Thailand League. That needs an annual budget of 20 million baht.

The Thai squad's performance against Real Madrid was widely hailed and Prime Minister Thaksin praised the players and coach Charnwit Pholcheewin on a national radio network. Speaking in his weekly programme on Radio Thailand on Saturday, the prime minister said the national team had improved and he praised the players' determination and hard work on the pitch.

Bayern Munich in Asia "for long-term"

Responding to recent criticism of rich European clubs exploiting developing football markets in Asia, Bayern Munich chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, argues that his club is not just looking to make a fast profit.

"I understand people who criticise big clubs who come just for financial reasons," Rummenigge told Reuters.

"That's not good for football ... coming here just to make cash and then going away. Things have burned out a bit."

Rummenigge added: "We're here for the long term. We have a partnership with [Japan's] Gamba Osaka and are talking with Urawa Reds about a future deal. It's positive for Bayern Munich and Japanese football."

Teething problems for A-League finances

The new A-League football competition competition covering Australia and New Zealand has developed some teething problems, News Talk Auckland reports. Just over three weeks out from the start of the inaugural season, only three of the eight clubs have paid the second instalment of their participation levy to Football Federation Australia.

Sydney FC, Queensland Roar and Adelaide have all fronted with the $500,000. Newcastle and Perth Glory are "refusing to pay", due to disputes over some aspects of the competition. Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory are yet to get the funds and have entered special agreements with the FFA. However, it is unclear what the Auckland-based Football Knights are yet to pay the, New Zealand report said.

Tsunami-hit nations could lose World Cup TV

The head of sport at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, John Barton, claims Sri Lanka and the Maldives could miss out on seeing all of next year’s FIFA World Cup because of the sums being demanded in broadcast rights fees. “If Euro 2004 is any guide the rights holder, ESPN/Star, will be asking hundreds of thousands of dollars for access to all matches,” he said.

“Both countries were hit by the tsunami and in particular Sri Lanka where ... thousands lost their lives, and many more their homes and livelihood. I am told that all available funds were used by broadcasters to maintain radio and television operations to support the victims and the homeless, and they continue to do so. They are in no position to be handing over what would amount to a ‘King’s ransom’ for the rights fees, when the prime responsibility of the Government is to re-build homes, hospitals, schools and other essential services, and neither should they,” Barton said, as quoted by Sports Business.

He urged soccer's world governing body, FIFA, to use its influence to help the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The domestic free-to-air broadcast rights for a large number of territories in Asia had been sold to ESPN/Star, which included the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

“It would be unconscionable for them to be exploited in such distressing circumstances. They are special cases which require some sensible and compassionate reasoning,” Barton added.

TV Maldives, the national free-to-air broadcaster, had been forced to pay more than 2,000 per cent more for Euro 2004 than they did two years earlier for the World Cup, and were now struggling to pay off the debt.

“By anyone’s calculation this is over the top. The idea that national broadcasters should go cap in hand to their governments to help top up the enormous sums being demanded by marketing agents is coming to an end. They would ultimately force a legislative response,” Barton said.

He added that he would be advising both countries on putting in place ‘Listed Events’ legislation to ensure the right of the ordinary citizen to see high demand sports.

Sheffield United builds multiple links with China

Eight days after returning from their three-match tour of the Peoples Republic of China, English League Championship club, Sheffield United, are still reaping the benefits of their Far East promotion. Shefield Today reports that Chinese state television is scheduled to broadcast the second part of a documentary profiling Neil Warnock and his squad later this week, and officials from Bramall Lane report the goodwill generated during their stay has gone a long way towards securing "lucrative Far East investment".

Today's edition of Soccer Investor Daily Bulletin, reveals that Blades Plc chairman Kevin McCabe met influential businessmen after United's touring victory over Zhejiang Green Town:

One of those men was Danny Wong, who is described as real estate magnate Xiu Lin Liu's 'man on the ground'. "Sheffield United are forward thinking, like ourselves," said Mr Wong. "We want to become involved in that. Together, with a little more help and work, we can make United very, very big in China. People here are already very interested." Wong represented the tycoon at the opening match of United's tour and confirmed his boss is considering an involvement with the club. McCabe has been negotiating with Xiu in recent months after another potential target decided to concentrate on sponsoring United's new youth project at Crookes. But Wong now insists that Xiu wants to establish a 'long term partnership' rather than provide a one-off sponsorship agreement and will discuss the matter further when he meets members of United's Board next week.

Outside of the Premier League, the Blades appear to be leading the way in terms of attracting sponsorship from Chinese industry, a trend which began three years ago courtesy of a shirts sponsorship deal involving soft drinks company Desun.

Not only does the club now boast their own Chinese Academy on the island of Hai'nan, but a number of Chinese clubs are reportedly willing to pay for their younger players to be educated at the Blades' academy in Sheffield.

The Yorkshire Post previously revealed that Chinese "millionaire Liu Xue Lin" was expected to buy a six percent stake in the club for £2 million "in the next few months", while Deqing Zhang, the owner of Chinese profesional club Gansu Pegasus, had reportedly agreed to sponsor the club's new junior academy at Crookes.

"We are not Manchester United, but we are doing groundwork which is gradually raising the profile of Sheffield United in China," football executive Terry Robinson said.

"We have one eye on the fact that 'when' promotion to the Premiership comes, we will find it far easier to generate interest," he said.

Historic win for Professional Footballers Association

The Australian Professional Footballers’ Association scored an historic first win at the world’s peak sporting court after successfully defending the right of Australian and Scottish Premier League striker Daniel McBreen to damages.

After initially securing a significant victory at FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber against his former Romanian club Craiova, McBreen endured an appeal from the club. This week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland dismissed the appeal, upholding FIFA’s original decision.

In 2004, McBreen walked out on the club after its refusal to honour contractual obligations to him. Vindicating the player’s steps, FIFA and the CAS agreed with McBreen’s actions and awarded him full payment of outstanding wages, an amount of compensation and the free transfer he initially sought.

“The win underlines two key things about the relationship our members have with the PFA. Firstly, all Australian footballers can rely on the PFA’s support regardless of where they are in the world,” said PFA Chief Executive Craig Foster.

“Secondly, the PFA is a global organisation with reach throughout the world. A large part of the success of Daniel’s case was the seemless cooperation between the PFA and the Swiss Association of Professional Footballers, who attended the CAS on Daniel’s behalf.”

“From a collective perspective, the win at the CAS is also pleasing because it gives the players a complete set of legal silverware. Players have now enjoyed success at FIFA, at the Supreme Court, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and now at the CAS. It continues to give our members every confidence in the PFA’s capacity to protect and deliver,” PFA lawyer, John Didulica, said.