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Afghans keen on third clash with Pakistan

The third Pakistan-Afghanistan football clash will take place at Karachi’s Peoples Sports Complex on 9 December 2005 when both teams play their second match in Group-A of the South Asia Football Federation Championship being played in Pakistan from 7-17 December. Pakistan has won both its previous two matches against Afghanistan; the last taking place at Dhaka, Bangladesh, when the latter made its debut in the biennial SAFF Championship in January 2003.

“The people of Afghanistan are crazy about football, whether it’s playing, watching or refereeing, but unfortunately, our football had been overshadowed by its political turmoil,” said Afghanistan Football Federation president, Akramudin Karim, quoted by Football Pakistan. "Having been away from soccer fields for 18 years, it was a difficult stage to make a comeback ... [however] ... since the ‘re-birth’ our national team has already registered first victory on 16 March 2003 when we beat Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in Asian Cup qualifier at Kathmandu.”

See also: Afghanistan joins South Asian Championship (30 Sept)

Sports press: The world's best advertising agency?

An international newspaper survey has concluded that sports editors of daily newspapers allow the sports industry to set the agenda and the priorities for coverage of events. The biggest survey of sports journalism ever was undertaken by the Danish news research group, the House of Monday Morning, on commission from Play the Game and the Danish Institute for Sports Studies.

The survey, based on 10,000 sports articles in 37 newspapers from 10 different countries in Europe, Noth America and Australia, claims that sports pages are dominated by those sports, personalities and events that have the biggest effect in terms of advertising, sponsorship, numbers of television viewers and spectators in the stadium.

"The commercial game of sports is exerting such pressure on journalism that it has become impossible to work according to classic ideals of journalism," said Knut Helland, professor at University of Bergen in Norway and an expert on sports journalism.

Academic experts and sports editors point to other factors that hamper the ability to do critical and problem-oriented sports journalism. Many clubs and sport stars attempt to exclude critical journalists from getting interviews and try to convince editors to remove critical journalists from their beat. At the other end of the spectrum, newspaper readers are incredibly conservative and resist attempts to change the way sport is covered.

"The survey documents that the newspapers are failing one of their key responsibilities in a democracy: To carefully monitor sports organisations and the sports industry which has amassed enormous economic and political power in the last 30 years," said Jens Sejer Andersen, director of Play the Game.

"The editors and publishers - not the sports journalists - carry the main responsibility for newspapers electing to play the tune of the entertainment industry and not challenging the sports industry. So it is also their responsibility to ensure a revival of the journalistic ideals which should apply equally to sport as to all other powerful sectors in society," he said.

Key findings from the survey

When sports with a specific national interest are excluded (for instance baseball, basketball and American football in the USA, see table) the survey shows few differences in the way that newspapers in different countries cover sport. Instead the survey documents that sports journalism is a global culture - just like sport itself. The priorities in sports journalism are more or less the same and it does not matter whether the newspaper is based in Washington, Bergen, Vienna or Bukarest.

Match reports, results and previews dominate: 58 percent of the articles on the sports pages deal with current events.

Stories about money and politics are few and far between: Approximately one article in 30 includes political aspects of sport and only one article in 20 deals with the commercial aspects of sport.

The focus on doping is waning: On average 1.5 percent of the sports articles deal with doping which is less than in a previous survey.

Marginal exposure of social aspects of sport: Only 2.5 percent of all sports coverage deal with the social impact of sport.

Women are invisible: Men are the focus of 86 percent of all sports coverage and only one in 20 sports articles is written by a female journalist.

Journalism without sources: 40 percent of all sports articles refer to only one source in the text. 20 percent of the articles do not refer to any sources at all.

The sources come from within the sports world: Athletes, coaches and representatives of clubs dominate completely as sources for sports journalists.

Increasing globalisation of sport: Compared to previous studies, this survey indicates that sports coverage is becoming less focused on national interests and in Europeann countries stories with an international focus make up more than half the coverage.

Read or download Monday Morning's summary and analysis of the survey results here (pdf-file)

Asian Cup tie postponed because of earthquake

Next month's 2007 Asian Cup qualifier between Pakistan and Bangladesh has been postponed following the recent earthquake in the region, the Asian Football Confederation said today. The two lowest-ranked teams among the 25 countries who entered were set to meet in a two-legged playoff on 11 and 18 November to decide the 24th qualifying side.

More than 54,000 people have died and three million left homeless by the massive 8 October earthquake which devastated northern areas of Pakistan and Kashmir.

The AFC will announce new dates for the playoff next month. The top two teams from the six groups of four will qualify for the 2007 Asian Cup, joining the four co-hosts Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Tampines Rovers are S-League's 2005 champion

Tampines Rovers clinched Singapore's S-League 2005 title with a 2-1 win over Woodlands Wellington. The win, Tampines’s 18th, gave them 57 points from 27 matches while Singapore Armed Forces FC finished second, five points behind.

2005 Final Standings: 1. Tampines Rovers 57, 2. SAFFC 52, 3. Woodlands Wellington 50, 4. Home United 46, 5. Albirex Niigata 44, 6. Young Lions 42, 7. Balestier Khalsa 36, 8. Geylang United 26, 9. Sinchi FC 24, 10. Paya Lebar 4.

Europe's G14 clubs to meet at EXPOGOAL in Milan

The G14 Group, a pressure group representing the interests of 18 of Europe’s largest clubs, will hold its next General Assembly, at EXPOGOAL, on 14 November 2006. EXPOGOAL, running from 12 to 14 November in Milan, is a football exhibition organised by Gea World for fans and for those interested in the business to business activities of football.

"G14 is delighted to be holding its next General Assembly at EXPOGOAL which promises to be an important and prestigious football event," said Thomas Kurth, general manager of the G14, as quoted by Soccer Investor (28 Oct).

EXPOGOAL, now in its fourth edition, with the sponsorship support of Coni, Figc and the Lega calcio, has established itself as a key date for decision-makers in football. Last year the exhibition achieved record figures: 20,000 square meters of exhibition space, attendance of 45,000 persons, 250 journalists, 66 enterprises and 38 clubs.

Malaysia to upgrade admin and player skills

The Football Association of Malaysia is introducing programs to increase skills - both on and off the field.

With the cooperation of the Federation of International Football Associations, FAM is organising a Communication in Unity course from 9-11 November at the Petaling Jaya Hilton. FAM general secretary Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad reportedly said the three day COM-Unity program will help member associations achieve better communications with the government, media and marketing partners.

He said on the opening days, the relationship between FAM and the government machinery will be discussed in detail while the second day will concentrate on the views from state FAs', clubs and the media. On the final day a FIFA instructor will present a paper on marketing tactics in a bid to help the member association and clubs better arm themselves in their search for commercial sponsorship.

Other presenters include the Asian Football Confederation president, Mohamed Hammam, Malaysian Super League chairman Datuk Abd Aziz Rahman, National Sports Council Director General Dr Ramlan Abd Aziz and former Utusan Malaysia Sports Editor Joe Marcose.

Fit and Proper

To prevent players cutting corners, literally and figuratively, FAM will monitor all fitness tests conducted by teams ahead of the 2006 season. The Cooper Test, which requires an individual to run as far as possible on a 400 metre track in 12 minutes, is mandatory requirement by the FAM before the players are issued their playing licences. To earn the licence, the players must complete a distance of at least 3,000m (7½ laps) in 12 minutes.

FAM vice-president Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar said the move was unprecedented because no one monitored the fitness tests before.

"The tests are carried out to ensure only players who are fit are signed by the teams. Those who fail the test or are still nursing injuries will have to wait for a second test which will be done when the window for registration of players is opened in April," he said in the Malay Mail, adding that random dope tests will be conducted through out the season, dispensing with the traditional method of testing players after a major Cup final.

Details of Thailand's new Premier League released

The Football Association of Thailand has released the official regulations for the inaugeral season of the Thailand Premier League. Each club will play two league matches home and away against each other club each season.

The starting 12 clubs are Thai-Honda, Osotspa, Provincial Electricity Authority, Bangkok University, Bangkok Bank, BEC-Tero Sasana, Port Authority of Thailand, Krungthai Bank, Royal Thai Army, Chon Buri, Suphan Buri and defending champions the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly.

The champions will receive Bt10 million in prize money with the runners-up, the third place and the fourth placed teams receiving Bt3 million, Bt2 million and Bt1 million respectively. There will also be awards for best player of the year, manager of the year, young player of the year, fair play awards, golden boot and highest scoring team of the year. Each prize is worth Bt100,000.

The competition will be divided into two legs: the first from 16 December to 12 March and the second leg from 24 March until 10 or 11 June 2006, just before the FIFA World Cup begins.

At the end of the 2005-2006 season, the bottom two clubs will be relegated to Division One and replaced by the champions and runners-up from both Division One and the Provincial League for the next two seasons. This process will increase teams participationg in the Premier League to 14 in 2006-2007 and to 16 in 2007-2008.

See also: King's Cup delays Thailand Premier League launch (18 Oct)

ManU backs UNICEF AIDS drive in Asia/Africa

English Premier League club, Manchester United, is participating in a new UN campaign to focus global attention on children hit by HIV-AIDS. UNICEF's campaign aims to raise awareness of the plight of millions of youngsters who, the agency says, are going forgotten amid a focus on adults affected by AIDS. More than 85 percent of children under 15 living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa, with South and East Asia the other hardest-hit regions.

"We today announce our firm commitment to focus efforts on the issue of AIDS affecting children," ManU manager Sir Alex Ferguson, a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, told media. "We recognise that AIDS is one of the biggest challenges facing mankind today. At Manchester United we know about reaching out to young people. We have many players who, we believe, are responsible as role models for the younger generation. These players can reach out and communicate vital messages on HIV/AIDS," he added.

Kudos for adidas-Real campaign in Hong Kong

The Hyperfactory's Hong Kong based initiative supporting the adidas Real Madrid Tour has been short-listed for the US based AdTech Awards 2005 which recognise the world's best interactive media and marketing campaigns. The July-August tour by Spain's Real Madrid football club to Hong Kong provided sponsor adidas with the opportunity to reach the local football public through their mobile phones - a challenge met with the creation of a dedicated 3G channel offering highlights of the tour and exclusive interviews with the Tour's stars, Raul and Beckham - and resulted in a massive uptake which surpassed any previous campaigns over the 3G network by 200 percent.

"We are especially pleased that the 3G campaign we developed for the adidas Real Madrid Tour of Hong Kong has been recognised. The advanced telecommunications technology in the Asia Pacific region makes it the ideal environment for us to develop innovative campaigns," said Geoffrey Handley, director of sales and marketing for The Hyperfactory.

According to the company's website, "examples such as this will continue to drive consumers to brands via 3G and whilst the age old adage 'content is king' still rings true; alone, it is not enough - it is the interactivity that consumers crave. The winners will be those brands that offer relevant, real-time, personalized interactive mobile experiences that truly connect and stimulate the consumer."


UPDATE

Real Madrid coach, Vander-lei Luxemburgo, has criticised the club for the organization of last July's tour of the USA and Asia. "Real Madrid is a football business and the tour was necessary and important, but the key is to know how it should be organized," he said as quoted by Reuters.

"I didn't like what we did. You can't leave one country and head off to another and spend more time on the plane than training or playing. A tour should act as pre-season preparation and not only be used as a way of making money. We are going to change it next season."

The club reportedly netted US $25 million from its 18-day promotional tour of the US, Japan, China, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Football video clips a target for Korean Net portals

South Korea's internet portal sites are looking to use sport and games clips to grow into web-based television stations. "We are currently talking with terrestrial and cable television broadcasters to air their programs on the Net," Lee Sang-hoon, spokesperson of NHN which operates South Korea's largest portal site naver.com, told The Korea Times. "We can't name the broadcasters at this moment, but we are seeking ways to broadcast programs that can draw the attention of the young generation, such as StarCraft video games, for example."

Whe launched in December, NHN's projected Web television service will offer a 'scene searching service'. "You may not want to watch a full 90-minute football game if you just want to see how Park Ji-sung scores for Manchester United. Our site will provide only the highlight scenes in such games, making it more comfortable and time-saving for watchers," Lee said. The two portal giants NHN and Daum Communications are reportedly trailing the other three top ROK portals, Yahoo Korea, Dreamwiz and Empas in implementing their services.

See also: Asia leading the market for premium internet video (20 Oct)

Abramovich elected for second term in Asian state

Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has been elected for a second 5-year term as governor of the Russian Federation's Autonomous Okrug of Chukotka. Local parliamentarians voted unanimously to re-elect the 38-year-old to head the region which lies 7,000 kilometres east of Moscow on the easternmost coast of the Asian continent. Russian television showed Abramovich swearing the oath of office and then visiting a local power station to check homes would be heated for the Arctic winter.

According to Soccer Investor (24 Oct) there had been speculation that Abramovich would leave Russia, especially after he sold his interest in Sibneft oil firm to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom. Abramovich, Russia's wealthiest man according to US magazine Forbes, has injected large sums of his own money into Chukotka, building new homes and infrastructure that have transformed the previously impoverished region.

Dalian Shide champions of China Super League

With still two more rounds to go in the Chinese Super League 2005 season, Dalian Shide has already reserved its eighth Chinese league title after beating Wuhan Huanghelou 2-0 in Jinzhou on Sunday. According to AFCMedia, Dalian, needing just one point, pocketed all three on offer with goals from Zoran Jankovic and Zhao Xuri in the second half. The CSL title assured Dalian a place in next season’s AFC Champions League.

Dalian have been overwhelmingly dominant in the Chinese Professional Soccer League since its inception, having won the Jia A titles in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002, and becoming the second CSL winners after Shenzhen Jianlibao. Now, under Serb coach Vladimir Petrovic Pizon, they are on track for a double if they beat Shandong Luneng in the China FA Cup final next month.

Win tickets to the FIFA Club World Championship

Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia and UAE's Al Ain are battling for the ultimate Asian club championship glory this month and the Asian Football Confederation is offering the opportunity to win three free tickets (all expenses paid) for December's FIFA World Club Championship in Japan by correctly picking the winner.

A draw will be held after the grand final and the names of the three winners will be announced on www.the-afc.com. There is no restriction on the number of votes an individual fan can cast.

Click HERE to enter the competition.

Al Ittihad thrashed South Korea's Pusan I-Park 7-0 on aggregate while Emirates side Al Ain overpowered China's Shenzhen Jianlibao 6-0 over two legs in the semi-finals. Al Ain won the inaugural Asian Champions League in 2003 with Al Ittihad victorious last year.

While the first leg of this year's final will be played as scheduled on 26 October at Al Ain, the AFC has announced that the second leg on 31 October will be moved from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to a neutral ground in Amman, Jordan. Saudi officials were concerned that playing a major tournament in their country during the final days of the Moslem fasting month of Ramadan - a time when millions of visitors make their way to the country's religious sites - would cause a number of logistical problems.


UPDATE

The AFC has reversed its decision to move the second leg game to Amman following emergency discussions with both clubs and other relevant parties, including FIFA President Sepp Blatter, head of the game’s world governing body. The game will now take place on 5 November at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium in Jeddah. Kick off is at 19.45hrs.

Latest football match-fixing "must be eliminated"

Edward Thangarajah reminises in the Bangkok Post about previous football match-fixing scandals in Asia and how the the game was rescued from criminals:

If soccer or any sport is to thrive it must be rid of all scandals, especially match-fixing. In the past, unscrupulous people used to go from ground to ground, sit in the comfort of hotels, drink beer and fix matches. They used to do it with the connivance of players. Top strikers were bribed not to score while defenders were made to shoot into their own goal or make costly mistakes which enabled the opposition to score.

I still remember the 1981 SEA Games in Manila. A young Thai team, trained by the late Pravitr Chaiyasarm and comprising many Rajpracha players was spearheaded by young centre-forward Piyapong Pue-oun of the Royal Thai Air Force. He was only 16 years-old and helpled to win the SEA Games gold medal with a shock victory over hot favourites Malaysia in the final.

The team was managed by Udomsak Ujjin, who sensibly removed all telephones from the teams rooms and kept a close watch over the players. No one was allowed to telephone the team. Thank goodness, there were no mobile phones then so it was easy to keep watch.The people who fixed matches did go to the Philippine capital but, thanks to the vigilance of the Thai team officials, they could not reach the players.

Not only did Thailand stun Malaysia, many Thai players won fame and glory. Piyapong was known as Pele-piya by top Malaysian players. That was the beginning of Thailand's surge in Southeast Asian and Asian soccer.

Unfortunately, Thailand hasn't maintained that momentum. But [the Asian Football Confederations' Peter] Velappan and his magnificent campaign against match-fixing did win and the fixers went underground. Match-fixing wasn't heard of until recently when referees have been charged with allegations of accepting bribes.

If those who have been entrusted with the task of officiating in matches and controlling games resort to match-fixing, then it is going to be very sad for soccer. It is not only in Asia the scandal has been unearthed to place the sport into disgrace. Unless this very dangerous situation changes, soccer on the whole could suffer and no tournament will be safe.

Football products a highlight of Frankfurt Book Fair

Six months ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, football fever spread to the world-renowned Frankfurt Book Fair (19-23 October), the biggest single gathering of the international publishing industry. In a one-off, 2,000 square metres were given over to the "World of Football" which included football literature, a table football game, an exhibition of photography and a sporting program. The spectrum covered children's books, player biographies, stadium photography, histories and novels and business aspects such as specific tax law and transfer regulations.

Three photography exhibitions featured the work of renowned lensmen on the subjects of "Football, language of the world", "Street soccer around the globe", and panorama images taken at stadiums. A Football Forum hosted readings and round-table discussions explored the links between literature, culture and the game, including a gathering of publishers and the retail trade on specific FIFA World Cup publications, podium discussions on sports journalism and refereeing scandals, and readings on the history of the FIFA World Cup.

AFC tips more tournaments for South Asia nations

South Asian countries are likely to have a busier international schedule in the near future according to the vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation, Mani Lal Fernando. Visiting Nepal, the Media Committee chairman said the AFC is thinking of engaging national sides in more friendly matches. Currently the SAF Football Championship is the only official encounter for the member countries. "We are always struggling in the international level and we need much more exposure," he said, as quoted by the Katmandu Post.

Earlier, Mr Fernando said Nepal has a good chance of co-hosting the 16-nation AFC 'C' Challenge Cup in 2006. ""Bangladesh and India were considered for the championship but now as Nepal has made the bid, we will have to seriously consider it ... The AFC meeting on November 28 will decide the host and the date but I'm optimistic that Nepal is the frontrunner," he said. He also indicated that Nepal's success in youth development will be rewarded by a second FIFA Goal Project, a larger and more decentralised program.

All Nepal Football Association president, Ganesh Thapa, reiterated that a strong domestic league structure and professionalism is a must to enhance the standard of football in the country. "We have to first ensure a competitive status before participating in international tournaments not to mention the financial burden ... [and] ... create some heroes so that they are saleable in the neighboring countries' league," he said.

At a glittering function at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace, Nepal’s King Gyanendra bestowed the Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu award upon AFC president, Mohamed Bin Hammam and Mr Fernando, while Mr Thapa received the Pradiptta Prajatantra Bhaskar award. Mr Bin Hammam, however, couldn’t receive the medal in person as his Kathmandu flight was cancelled due to inclement weather. The awards are in recognition of the trio’s "sterling contribution towards the development of football".

Mr Fernando has since invited Crown Prince Paras to present the gold medal in football in the SA Games, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in April 2006.

See also: Nepal proud of its disadvantaged, student players (14 Oct) and Afghanistan joins South Asian Championship (30 Sept)

AFC rooting for Australian win against Uruguay

The Asian Football Confederation is supporting Australia against Uruguay in next month's World Cup play-offs in order to strengthen Asia's claims for more World Cup places in future. Australia is currently representing the Oceania Confederation but officially become the 46th member of the AFC on 1 January. Asia has 4½ spots in the 32-team World Cup but the AFC wants at least one and possibly two more in time for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"We are hoping for this very much," AFC general secretary Peter Velappan said in Sydney, Australia, where he was attending a conference on Australia's entry into the AFC. "This is one issue which has been going on a long time. When Australia joins us, they will be a very strong member. FIFA knows when we sit down next year to talk about 2010, we will be asking for an extra seat. Hopefully Australia will make it to Germany, and Bahrain also has a good chance. Once these two play-offs are finished, we could have six teams in the World Cup. Asia will then have a very strong argument to take to FIFA."

Speaking at the conference, Football Federation Australia chief executive John O’Neill said the move to Asia offered Australia high quality opposition and the chance of automatic qualification. But he said Australia would also contribute to Asian football through its experience in organising major sporting events, its top class coaches and its ability to help provide sporting facilities in developing nations.

He also said it also gave Australia the chance to develop fierce football rivalries in Asia which could eventually compare to the Ashes cricket contest with England and the Bledisloe Cup rugby union clash with New Zealand. He said an annual three-way tournament featuring Australia, Japan and South Korea would generate huge interest. “In my experience of sport, it would not take long for that to get a lot of traction as a major tribal clash,” he said.

Tim Harcourt, chief economist at the federal government’s Australian Trade Commission, said the FFA's move into Asia could result in contracts worth billions of dollars for Australian businesses. He said Austrade had successfully secured dozens of contracts during the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2003 Rugby World Cup by introducing business executives in the relaxed atmosphere of sporting events. “With Japan, China and Korea, there’s a very good story in terms of dollars and investment in the move to Asia,” he said. “Football is going to be the real test of how well this ‘schmoozing’ concept goes.”

Michael Cockerill reported that Seamus O'Brien, president of World Sport Group, who helped construct the Asian Champions League now predicts a drift of talent away from Europe and into the major domestic competitions of the region, including the A-League. "I strongly believe we'll get a reverse migration of talent," he said.

"That comes from economic strength but also the desire of some players to be closer to home … Certainly Japan is on the verge of having the strength to buy in the big talent. And I don't mean a guy over the hill … I mean a guy who's almost at his peak. China has that capacity, and so do other leagues in Asia. Money is coming into the game, and this will allow clubs to pay the sort of salaries that will encourage players to play in Asia instead of Europe. Believe me, it's not too far away."

With two A-League teams qualifying for the ACL each season and with the ACL about to be expanded from a 28- to 32-team format, there are structural issues to addressed. "We've got to create space for Australia … and we've got to slightly tweak it to focus on bigger footballing markets, just like the Champions League does in Europe … and by 2007 we'll have that new structure in place," he said. "Within five years, I would say the winners will be earning multi-millions, while those who don't get past the group stages will still be earning decent hundreds of thousands."

Mr Bong Lee, chief executive officer of the A-League's principal sponsor, Hyundai, believes Australia needs to get behind soccer now or end up lost in an sports dead-end. "I think the Australian people have to support this world game. It's that simple," he said. "We are living on the planet and which sport is most popular? That is football. Why would Australian people ignore that kind of importance when they love sport so much? It doesn't make sense. If you want to be forever on an island, that's fine. You enjoy your island. But as a member of the global people, I need to join in their joy, to join their sports passion."

UPDATE

Australia’s first competitive participation as an AFC member will be at the youth level as the Confederation’s Competitions Committee agreed to postpone its U17 and U20 qualification rounds to January 2006. According to AFCMedia (22 Oct), the postponement was necessary so as to provide Australia with a chance to compete in the final rounds of the Asian U17 and U20 competitions due to be held at the end of 2006 in Singapore and India respectively. Australia will now compete in the qualification matches in place of host Singapore and India. In the U17 qualification matches, Australia is grouped with Laos and Indonesia while the Aussies have Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka as company in the U20 qualification.

See also: Australia's 'new' football growing with confidence (17 Oct)

Philippines delay South East Asian Games draw

The Philippines has postponed the draw for the SEA Games football tournament to 3 November. The draw was originally to be held on 27 October in Manila. Secretary-general of the Football Association of Thailand, Worawi Makudi, told the Bangkok Post he had been informed that the draw for all team sports had been moved back. However, he said as far as he knew, the opening football match would take place as originally planned on 20 November, a week before the rest of the SEA Games start. Mr Worawai said he had been told that the stadium in Baccolod City, where Thailand will be playing their opening matches, had been renovated and the pitch was in good condition. Asian Football Confederation representatives will inspect the stadium early in November.

Army wins Pakistan Premier League Grand Final

The Pakistan Army club has won the 2005 Pakistan Premier League title with a 3-1 win over last year's premiers, WAPDA, at the Army Sports Complex in Rawalpindi under floodlights. The club previously won the title in 1993 and 1995. According to AFCMedia, International winger Imran Hussain fired two of the three goals for Army.

The winner takes part in the 2nd AFC President’s Cup 2006 and received a prize of Rs 300,000. The runners-up received Rs 200,000. The final decided the 51st national champions of Pakistan and the clash was the 132nd match of the current season. Final regular season standings were: 1. Army 51, 2. WAPDA 45, 3. KRL 41, 4. PTCL 36, 5. NBP 35, 6. Afghan FC 34, 7. HBL 26, 8. KPT 24, 9. Navy 21, 10. Panther FC 20, 11. Wohaib FC 20, 12. PWD 12

Indonesian FA reduces 2-year ban on Surabaya

Arya Abhiseka of FootballAsia reports that the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has reduced the two-year ban handed out to the 2004 Liga Indonesia champions, Persebaya Surabaya, for withdrawing from September's 2005 Djarum League championship playoff, to 16 months. Persebaya was charged with bringing the game into the disrepute for refusing to play its final playoff group game against Persija Jakarta last month after they had been eliminated from contention. The game was awarded to Persija, who booked their place in the Grand Final against Persipura Jayapura after receiving the three points.

PSSI's disciplinary committee banned the East Java-based team from competing in the domestic professional league for a period of two years, fined the club Rp 25 million and, in addition, Abhiseka earlier reported, said the club would have to recommence in Division II after the two years penalty was served. "Togar Manahan Nero, Chairman of the PSSI's disciplinary committee, told the press that the decision to ban Persebaya - a team with one of the largest fan-base in Indonesia - was final and that Persebaya would not be able to appeal", he wrote.

The latest report states that while the banning period was reduced to one season, the fine has been increased to Rp 150 million and the club has been "asked" to return its "subsidy of Rp 300 million". However, confusingly, the PSSI "have yet to decide in which division Persebaya will play after serving their ban".

Persebaya’s chairman, Bambang Dwi Haryono, had caused the problem by ordering the team to return from Jakarta, in western Java, to Surabaya citing that several members of their notoriously unruly supporters group, Bonek (meaning "we have nothing but our spirit") had been kidnapped and tortured, allegations which were vehemently denied by the Jakarta city police. Mr Bambang is the Mayor of Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, having been elected for a 5-year term in June this year. Most Indonesian clubs are owned by local or provincial governments.

PSSI duly banned him from participating in the sport for 10 years. Mr Nero said that Bambang must take most of the blame for Persebaya's decision to abandon their campaign while the competition was still underway. "Bambang is liable to maximum punishment as stated in article 27," he said. Bambang was not present during the proceedings of the disciplinary commission. He sent a sealed letter in which he reportedly said the pullout was his decision and no other team officials were involved. Team manager Saleh Mukadar and executive chairman H. Susanto were spared punishment.

Persebaya is the only professional team in Surabaya and won the league title in 1997 and 2004. In 2002 they were penalized for pulling out of a game against Pupuk Kaltim Bontang, and in 1988 they were involved in an infamous12-0 “defeat” to Persipura Jayapura, which eliminated PSIS from the play-offs.

See also: Riot disrupts conclusion to Indonesian final (26 Sept)

Zee kicks off India's Alchemist Federation Cup

After acquiring the broadcasting and media rights for football matches from the All India Football Federation for 10 years beginning this month, Zee Sports, the first Indian private sports channel, is now gearing up to glamorise the game of football. Under the AIFF, five football series – three domestic and two international – are played. The three domestic tournaments are the Federation Cup, the Santosh Trophy and the National Football League and the two international events are the Nehru Cup and the Rajiv Gandhi Cup. Zee Sports has already signed up Alchemist, one of India's fastest growing conglomerates, as the title sponsor for this year's Alchemist Federation Cup.

Himanshu Mody, Zee's executive vice-president, told The Business Standard that the network will first promote the best players. “Football heroes today are unknown and, hence, our efforts would be to first popularise the faces and then make them icons.” A two-pronged promotional strategy is being adopted, with the first being profiling and introducing the football players to the nation and the second hyping the game itself during the matches and the lead time. Since West Bengal, Kerala, Goa, Punjab and north-east have traditionally been big football markets, the channel’s focus is on Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.

Mody also said the channel is looking to make heavy investments in football, with the first step in that direction being the 12-camera set-up that the channel will be using. The Zee Sports website will provide soccer fans with the latest team news, match scores, statistics and player profiles as well as exclusive player interviews and photo galleries.

The channel has also launched a show, titled ‘Football Cafe’, and a cheer squad. “The ZeeBras have been introduced to sensationalise the game and give it an edge. These girls are currently undergoing training and would be performing a number of off-screen and on-screen acts,” Gaurav Seth, head of marketing, Zee Sports, said.

AIFF general secretary, Mr Alberto Colaco, disclosed that for the first time in the history of the Federation Cup, a man-of-the match award has been instituted with a prize money of Rs 5000 for pre-quarters, Rs 7,500 for quarters and Rs 10,000 for semi-finals and a sum of Rs 15,000 for the man-of-the finals. A prize of Rs 25,000 will be given to the most valuable player of the tournament. Tickets will be priced at Rs 40 and Rs 30.

See also: Zee adds English glamour to promote Fed Cup TV (14 Oct)

Asia leading the market for premium internet video

Video content services will become a leading-edge portion of all premium subscription services offered via the Internet, despite some tough competition from other sources, a recent report by In-Stat found. By 2009, the retail value of combined subscription and pay-per-view services will grow to US$2.6 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 45.1 percent for non-adult video content delivered through the Internet, the market research firm predicts.

The In-Stat report presents forecasts for subscribers and revenues for stand-alone web portals that directly sell subscriptions, as well as Pay-per-View items such as Premium ISP services (MSN Premium), sports video services (MLB advanced media), movie and TV services (MovieLink and CinemaNow) and other video services that are just beginning to emerge.

Asia is the world's leading area for deployment of high-speed, and very-high-speed broadband Internet connections. By 2009, In-Stat forecasts that more than 85 million households in Asia will have a broadband Internet connection. Competition among Internet service providers is fierce in some areas and bit rates range from six megabits per second at the low end, up to some homes that are connected with fiber optics with speeds in excess of 100 megabits per second.

A lot of video content is being pushed around the Internet in Asia. However, a great deal of it is either free, underwritten by advertising support or being illegally moved using Peer-to-Peer networks. In spite of all that, the research firm still expect Asia will be the leading market for video subscription services and that it will experience positive growth "spikes" during 2006, when the FIFA World Cup football matches will be held in Germany and during 2008, when China hosts the Olympics.

Asia will have about 15 percent more premium video subscribers than North America by this year, In-Stat estimates, adding that the region will have 40 percent more than North America in 2008, when the Olympics is held in China. However, the number may be conservative, if China expands their broadband deployments in anticipation of the Olympics, according to the research firm. In 2009, In-Stat anticipates nearly 20 million Asian households will be subscribing to video subscription services delivered via the Internet.

FIFA tenders for Asian media rights management

The world football body, FIFA, has launched a public tender to select and appoint an agent to exploit its high profile media rights in Asia. The media rights include the television and radio rights to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2014 FIFA World Cup and other FIFA events to be staged between 2007 and 2014. The tender is open to all interested parties with the expertise to handle the rights.

Each interested party will be requested to submit a bid to be appointed as FIFA’s exclusive agent for the entire region defined in the tender document. If the successful bidder is a broadcaster, FIFA is prepared to grant, in addition to the agency appointment, the right to exercise the media rights in those countries where the successful bidder itself undertakes full broadcast operations.

The tender process, which will be overseen by FIFA’s Marketing & TV Division, is a reflection of FIFA’s policy of transparency and its desire to give all interested parties the opportunity to submit bids in respect of the FIFA World Cup. In 2002, a cumulative audience of 28.8 billion people watched the FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan. For the next event in 2006, 30 billion people are expected to tune in over the four weeks of the biggest single sports event on earth, making the media rights some of the most attractive in sports.

The deadline for the submission of bids is 17.00h CET, 21 November 2005. Following consideration of all bids, FIFA intends to draw up a confidential shortlist of bidders and expects to announce the appointment of its exclusive agent in March 2006. Those parties interested in making a bid may obtain a copy of the Invitation to Tender document by sending a request to mediatenderFIFA2010@fifa.org stating name of contact person, entity and purpose of the request. The document will then be sent by return email.

Why GAC uses EPL to deliver its global message

The name and logo of Dubai-headquartered GAC is now a familiar sight at English Premier League matches following its current pitch-side A-boards and dugout advertising support of Middlesborough, Manchester City and Portsmouth. The GAC logo is also on the team jerseys and shorts and at the entrance to the team's dugout of English Championship team Crystal Palace.

"English Premiership matches enjoy a high viewer ship amongst western expatriate and Arab audiences in the region,' said Bill Hill, GAC Group Vice President, Logistics. "With over half a million people across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia Pacific tuning in each week to catch live broadcasts of English Premiership games, GAC Logistics' involvement in their sponsorships offers the ideal opportunity to reach out to millions of viewers in our target markets ... It's all about building brand recognition and capturing the attention of our target audience while they are relaxing and watching their favourite sport. The pitch-side initiative is not only widening our global visibility and relevance to our customers, partners, suppliers and employees, but it also gives us the opportunity to leverage the ability of football to build a powerful emotional connection with its ardent following."

GAC Logistics specialises in a full range of supply chain and logistics solutions. These include air and seafreight, warehousing and distribution, road transportation, project logistics, ship spares logistics, and international moving and courier services.

King's Cup delays Thailand Premier League launch

Participants in Thailand's 36th King's Cup football tournament in Phuket, Krabi and Phang-Ngar (24-30 December) will be limited to the national sides of Thailand, Qatar, Malaysia and North Korea. Football Association of Thailand secretary-general, Mr Worawai, reportedly said eight teams were originally scheduled to take part but this was reduced to four because of the imminent launch of the new Thailand Premier League. The new league was set to start on 27 December but the date has been delayed to early 2006.

See also: Thailand Premier League set for December launch (9 Sept)

Vietnamese football tiger 'is about to wake up'

Vietnam police sources have confirmed that 23 referees and 13 football clubs have altered the outcomes of football games in the V-League and First Division. However Asian Football Confederation general secretary, Peter Velappan, has advised the Vietnam Football Federation not to delay or cancel V-League 2006 because of the scandal. VFF leaders unanimously agreed.

Wrapping up a week in Vietnam, the AFC leader urged Vietnam to continue its anti-corruption campaign in football so the sport could grow. "We are very serious about it because Vietnamese football cannot develop if corruption remains. AFC is concerned with such corrupt practises," he said in Hanoi. He suggested the use of lie-detectors to clean up the sport and said that “all of the guilty should be imprisoned.”

The AFC is willing to provide Vietnam with referees if the country does not have enough for the next professional league championship. AFC deputy general secretary Paul Mony said four foreign referees and two supervisors will first work with their Vietnamese colleagues at the four-team Agribank Cup 2005 which is scheduled for 26-30 October. The Thailand, Malaysian, and Vietnamese U23 teams and the Japanese U20 team, will play a single round-robin. The winner will receive a cash prize of US$ 40,000, the runner-up $20,000, and third place winner $10,000. Vietnam Television will broadcast live all games involving Vietnam.

It is not expected that foreign referees will be involved in the first National Student Football Championships - Samsung Cup - at HCM City's Military Zone 7 Stadium on 21-28 October. Eight teams from southern provinces will play a round-robin there followed by eight northern teams competing in Ha Tay the week of 2-10 November. The top two from each group will face off in the semi-finals in Hanoi's Hang Day Stadium on 11 and 12 November with the final showdown scheduled for 13 November. The winning team will receive VND 50 million (US $3,000). The runner-up will earn VND 30 million and the other two semi-finalists will get VND 15 million each.

The AFC believes that correct youth development is important for the health of football and its Vision Asia strategy is based on the tactical formation, 1-5-3-2: The goalkeeper is the national football federation; Fullbacks are football marketing, young footballer training, coach and referee training, and sports health; Halfbacks are women’s football, men’s football and footsal; and the pair of strikers is fans and the media.

“Vietnamese football is like a tiger that is about to wake up”, Velappan said when discussing the implementation of Vision Vietnam. However he did express suprise by the level of professionalism he found at Dong Tam Long An, one of the two Vietnamese clubs chosen by the AFC for the project. He noted good trainining and competing facilities, support from foreign experts, good care from local authorities and well-developed plans for training junior footballers.

AFC officials, including the director in charge of national football associations, Brendan Menton, underlined the necessity for Long An to set up a local football federation as well as conducting an annual tournament to discover young players in the province. Another AFC expert, Shamil Mahammed, suggested that Long An organise U-11s, U-13s and U-15s school competitions. The AFC is expected to complete its report on Long An’s five-year football development strategy in early December and approve the project for next year. US$ 250,000 will be provided to build up infrastructure and promote football in the province.

According to Liberated Saigon, Long An is the first province in Vietnam "to socialise sport activities" by handling its football club to the Dong Tam Brick Company to manage and develop as a professional club. Known as Gach Dong Tam Long An (GDT-LA), the club won promotion to the V-League three years ago, finished second in its first season in the top-flight and then took the title.

Portuguese premier club Boavista has reportedly agreed to allow GDT-LA footballers to train with the club and will provide advice on sports management and act as a consultant for building a sports complex in Vietnam. GDT-LA chairman Vo Quoc Thang said Boavista managers also agreed to send their team on an Asian tour and play two friendlies in Vietnam next summer.

See also: Vietnamese football acts to clean up corruption (2 Oct)

US$2M sponsorship still sought for ASEAN Cup

Pro-football Vietnamese newspaper, Thanh Nien, reports excellent support for its recently submited bid to sponsor the ASEAN Football Championship - formerly the Tiger Cup - which is held every second year for 11 national football teams of South East Asia. Singapore's Tiger Beer company concludes its 10-year relationship with the much-loved competition this coming March and ASEAN Football Association and Asian Football Confederation officials have been seeking a new US$2 million sponsor for the past six months. A decision may come as early as November.

Ho Duc Viet, a member of the Vietnam's ruling Communist Party’s standing committee and chairman of the National Assembly’s Science and Environment Committee, praised the proposal and said he strongly believed Thanh Nien can successfully undertake the venture because of its experience and organisational skill in hosting major events, and ability to procure sponsorship.

Leaders of the Vietnam Football Federation reportedly "strongly support and have confidence in Thanh Nien newspaper" because of its "experience, economic potential and prestige" in sponsoring Vietnam's own U21 national football championships for nine consecutive years. Vietnam Football Development Company’s director Le Thuy Hanh confirmed her company will be able to draw about half of the necessary sponsorship funds in cooperation with Thanh Nien.

Thanh Nien chief Nguyen Cong Khe said his newspapercan call for investment, sponsorship, and other cooperation with companies and agencies in Vietnam to join hands in successfully pulling off the event. "Vietnam Airlines, tourist companies, hotels, restaurants, and sports agencies will certainly come to our aide," he said.

In the event of the Vietnamese proposal being accepted, he said, the VFF will be responsible for taking care of transportation, food, accommodation, security, and healthcare services for officials, footballers and the organization board and Thanh Nien responsible for communications, advertising and procurement of sponsorship for the event.

However, Asian Football Confederation general secretary, Peter Velappan, has ruled that the event cannot be permanently based in Vietnam, insisting that countries in the region take turns to host it. He asked Thanh Nien and the VFF to submit a detailed plan after which the AFC will discuss issues such as the official name of the championship, competition schedule, marketing, procurement of sponsorship from advertisements, television and in-stadium rights.

Tiger Cup winners: 1996 Thailand; 1998 Singapore; 2000 Thailand; 2002 Thailand; 2004 Singapore.

See also: Vietnam concerned about Tiger Cup sponsorship (11 Oct)

Australia's 'new' football growing with confidence

After eight rounds of Australian football's A-League completed and with average crowds in excess of 11,500, the new competition has already been crowned a success. It started from scratch this year with Perth and Adelaide the only established clubs out of the eight in Australia and New Zealand invited to take part. The concept was for a professional competition without relegation or promotion from the state-based leagues, a regular season concluded with a four-team play-off, no national cup and with clubs bound to financial guarantees and new rules including limits on squad sizes and a salary cap.

"I think the crowds are beyond expectations. I was optimistic, but at the same time I was quite anxious," Football Federation Australia chairman, Frank Lowry, said. "The events have proved that we are playing a good game and I believe Australia is behind the game. The whole country is behind us, wants us to succeed, wants to come and watch us," he said. "The time has arrived for soccer - football."

He told ABC Sport's Stuart Watt that the standard of football was also good. "They play an attractive game," he said. "There is room for improvement but we are doing very well. And I think that's what brings the crowds because there is competition between the teams. No one team is so far ahead that there is no interest, like in some other countries as you know. I could not have imagined doing better than what we are doing."

In Melbourne, the long-awaited clash between the home side and big-city rivals, Sydney FC, brought a record crowd to the Victory's 18,000-capacity Olympic Park stadium. Melburnians were delighted to see Sydney thrashed 5 to 0 with Socceroo Archie Thompson overshadowing A-League drawcard Dwight Yorke with a superb game that included two goals and a hand in two others.

The Herald Sun, Australia's largest selling newspaper declared soccer "the new king of Melbourne summer sport" and the Sydney Morning Herald commented that Melbourne Victory "might need to find a ground with double the capacity".

On the Australian national team, Frank Lowy described the Socceroos' 5-0 win over Jamaica in London as Australia's best performance on the world stage and said the appointment of new national coach Guus Hiddink appeared to be paying dividends. He added he was looking forward to next month's World Cup qualifying series between Australia and Uruguay with renewed confidence. A sell-out crowd of 80,000 is expected to fill Sydney's former Olympic Stadium for the second leg of the clash.

UPDATE

Gary Cole, the Victory's football director, acknowledged to The Age newspaper (23 Oct) that success didn't seem that straight forward a year or more ago when the club was looking for investors and struggling to reach the FFA's mandated capital levels. "It's a tough town here, Melbourne loves its sport, but there's an awful lot of competition and it's tough to gain credibility and integrity, especially as our sport had a great capacity for shooting itself in the foot. But investing means taking a risk. I am not sure it was a leap of faith. I think the people that got on board early understood the message from Frank Lowy and John O'Neill," he said.

"The move to Asia is absolutely massive for players, coaches, fans and clubs. We have all wanted the game to go to the next level, and it couldn't do that without having a strong, viable economically sound domestic competition. The hairs on the back of my neck stick up with the thought of playing here, and then zooming off midweek to play in China or Korea in a Champions League match, getting exposure to billions of people. From a commercial perspective, for sponsors and backers, the potential there is quite massive, and the credibility of the players will grow alongside that,” he said.

“Maybe we will eventually get to a point where Australian kids grow up and the last thing they will want to think about is growing up and wanting to leave and play in Europe."

See also: Historic crowds launch quality A-League summer (29 Aug)

Malaysian League may be broadened after bans

Former Malaysian National Sports Council director-general and Football Association of Malaysia council member, Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad, told Rizall Hashim of the Malay Mail that the FAM must decide to focus on the M-League at the expense of a strong national team or seek to establish a good Malaysian team by giving less attention to the league. “This may not be the ideal solution to our ills but we have failed so far in trying to strike a balance between the need to form a strong national team and an attractive league. So perhaps we ought to consider other options,” he said.

Mazlan, who was a member of FAM’s Semi-Pro committee that came up with the blue-print in 1988 which led to the launch of the Semi-Pro League a year later, offered two possible scenarios: “Option 1 is to for FAM to continue promoting the league as an industry and tap its potential to become the top league in the ASEAN region. Option 2 is to abolish the professional structure and channel our energy instead on establishing a strong national squad.”

According to the Borneo Bulletin, the FAM may have already decided on something broader than Mazlan's Option 1. The Eastern Malaysian newspaper reported that the FAM has invited the Brunei Football Association to take part in the M-League 2006. According to an official statement, FAM has approved BAFA's selection of the DPMM football club, rather than the Brunai national side. In the M-league the club will known as DPMM FC Brunei. The invitation seemingly follows the FAM's five-year playing ban on five clubs for withdrawing from 2006 national schedules.

The FAM has further criticised the two senior M-League clubs involved in the walk-out, Public Bank and MK Land, which had claimed their decisions had been prompted by financial problems. FAM secretary Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad told S Sivabalan of The Star the clubs had failed to use their annual grants effectively.

“Public Bank received a total sum of RM 1.4 million since they started competing in 2002. In 2002, they received RM 200,000, another RM 200,000 in 2003 and RM 550,000 in 2004. This season, Public Bank were allocated RM 450,000 and so far we have paid out RM 325,000 to them. As for MK Land, they were only competing in the Premier Club competition in 2003 so they received RM 35,000. In 2004, MK Land had a huge jump to RM 200,000 because they qualified for the Premier League. MK Land received RM 180,000 for the just-ended season and FAM have paid out RM 140,000 of it."

However, both teams received smaller annual grants this season. "We had to reduce the annual grants for all teams because FAM suffered a huge reduction in terms of sponsorship this season," Saad said. "We can’t be giving all the money they need to run their teams. We simply cannot afford it. These teams are supposed to be professional outfits. It will be up to the sponsorship departments of the respective teams to look for the rest of the money.”

According to reports, an M-League team requires "an annual sum of about RM 2 million" to compete in the competition and must adhere to a monthly salary ceiling of RM 8,000 per player (RM 20,000 inclusive of tax for each foreign player). Some clubs are rumoured to be paying well over the limit to key players while others are failing to pay the required proportion of their player salaries to the Employees Provident Fund.

In June this year, eight state-based clubs, Pahang, Selangor, Kedah, Perlis, Malacca, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak, had failed to remit EPF contributions for their players and staff to a tune of RM 4.3 million, forcing the EPF to enlist the FAM’s help.


UPDATE

The five clubs slapped with a five-year suspension by the Football Association of Malaysia for withdrawing from the Malaysia League next season, have yet to provide their feedback to a report on the actions by the Sports Commissioner Tan Sri Elyas Omar, Bernama newsagency reported (2 Nov 2005). Mr Elyas said the FAM and the five clubs were silent and had not contacted him after nearly a fortnight since the report was sent to them.

See also: Malaysia slaps 5-year bans on five M-League clubs (8 Oct)

FA asks Japanese national players to grow up

Japan Football Association chairman Saburo Kawabuchi reportedly launched an "astonishing" attack on the national team after its defeat at a friendly in Ukraine. Japan were beaten 1-0 in Kiev on Wednesday and Mr Kawabuchi told Reuters he was embarrassed by the constant carping at the referee by the players.

“There were too many stupid yellow cards and too much complaining to the referee,” he said, singling out Brazilian-born defender Alex as a repeat offender. “He needs to take a pill for his blood pressure. As a Japan player I want him to grow out of that. He has learnt nothing.”

Ten-man Japan were beaten by a late penalty. Earlier, Koji Nakata had been sent off for a lunge from behind. “It was criminal,” Japan coach Zico was quoted as saying by Nikkan Sports daily. “He (the referee) couldn't complain if he was arrested.” Kawabuchi has called for the team to show more restraint and blamed defender Yoshinobu Minowa for giving away the decisive penalty.

Khemera downs Hello in Cambodian Grand Final

Khemera FC clinched this year's Cambodia League title after demolishing nine-man Hello United 3-0 in the competition's Grand Final. Military Police beat Nagacorp by the same scoreline to finish third. The Cambodian League featured a final four play-off after the regular season which saw Hello United qualify for the Grand Final with a 4-2 defeat of Nagacorp while Khemera edged Military Police 2-1, AFCMedia reported.

Shanghai Zobon taken over by lower league club

China League club, Shanghai 9th City, owned by online gaming giants 9th City Group, has taken a 90 percent stake in China Super League club Shanghai Zobon, Sinosoc reported. Zobon retains 10 percent for next season, with 9th City owning the club outright from 2007 onwards. The 9th City Group is the leading online games company in China and recently signed a deal with Coca Cola to promote its hugely successful World of Warcraft online game.

According to Sinosoc, CEO Zhu Jun "said the reason he has decided to take over the club before the end of the current season is to give him time to put together a marketing plan and attract sponsors ahead of the 2006 season."

The club was purchased from Zhuhai Anping by Shanghai Zhongbang Real Estate Co in January 2004. After gaining promotion to the Super League in November 2004, the club was relocated from the southern coast of Guangdong province to Shanghai.

See also: Shanghai 9th City interested in China's Inter Shanghai (30 Aug) and Charlton launch Chinese youth academy with Zobon (28 July)

Football fans' human rights "fly out of the window"

Despite no prior record of engaging in terrorist activities, football fans attending the FIFA World Cup in Germany next year will be tracked by military spy planes and challenged by regulations and ordinances that target specific national groups. "This is the latest in an extraordinary battery of measures that governments have deployed against the minor problem of fat men misbehaving at football matches. When it comes to football hooliganism, fashionable concerns about human rights fly out of the window," commented Mick Hume in The Times (London).

"Judges and opposition politicians object loudly to the Government's draconian proposal to detain terrorism suspects for weeks without charge. Nobody seems to mind when police ask the courts to issue a football banning order taking away a British citizen's passport without charge or trial. There are more than 3,000 FBOs in force, and will be many more before next summer as a joint Home Office/police chiefs body enforces a new 'zero tolerance' policy on minor offences. When two men objected that their six-year football banning orders infringed human rights laws, the courts ruled that such 'very firm measures were justified to confront the various sickening ills of football violence'. It seems strange that these 'very firm measures' are deemed more legitimate than draconian anti-terror laws.After all, the 'various sickening ills of football violence' do not include suicide bombings," he complained.

Another English newspaper, Daily Star, also claims that German authorities will specifically ban English fans from drinking alcohol at World Cup stadiums: "Officially, the decision on which matches will be prevented from having alcohol sales will be decided when fixtures are released in December, with 'high-risk' matches to be declared booze-free. However the ... decision had already been made on England games," AAP reported. Only about 8,000 English fans travelled to the last World Cup in Japan and Korea in 2002, but early estimates put the number of English supporters expected in Germany at about 100,000.

UPDATE(S)

Reader Haydn K reminds us that some "civil liberties campaigners" were recorded as criticising the British government's "emergency measures to combat football hooliganism" that were "successfully rushed through" parliament, in just two weeks, in 2000.

*****

Earlier this year, Germany's federal Minister of the Interior, Otto Schily, warned of even tougher measures against football militants: "Security comes before freedom of movement. If there are serious indications that hooligans or other violent trouble-makers are making their way to Germany, depending on the situation, we may even temporarily reimpose border controls."

*****

Walter Gagg, FIFA's director of stadia and security for the World Cup, now assures that "the security focus now is as much about preventing terrorism than hooliganism" ... [and] ... while we don't want to consider that every spectator is a potential terrorist - at the same time we are aware it could be a wonderful platform for terrorists."

Korea responds to new coach with win over Iran

The Korean national team led by head coach Dick Advocaat is off to a new start after a decisive victory over powerful rival Iran. In the A match against Iran held Wednesday at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Korea came out on top, 2-0. The win was the team’s first in four years and six months. Prior to the game, players told a press conference of their confidence in Advocaat:

“Our coach is soft, but authoritative. While we are in a training camp, he makes us lead an easy life, but sticks to principles. He gets furious when we appear too relaxed during training,” Kim Jin-kyu (Jubilo Iwata) said. “He makes us feel mentally strong and tense,” Park Ju-young (Seoul) said. And Park Ji-sung (Manchester United) said, “Advocaat emphasizes pressure. In particular, he stresses forward players’ movements around the goal posts and defense.”

Nepal proud of its disadvantaged, student players

The Kathmandu Post records that two teams that participated in a student football tournament in New Delhi "have made the country proud and deserve every accolade that football lovers across this country can bestow". The Nepali Under-17) team won the Subrato Mukerjee Cup and became the first non-Indian team to win the cup in its history of almost half a century. The under-14 team's performance in the final the previous day was stated to be even better and appreciated by all who watched it live on the television. "The team no doubt lost in another penalty kick but they did leave an indelible mark on all those who watched them play."

The newspaper commented that the two performances "was all the more unexpected as more and more playing fields [in Nepal] are being encroached upon by the government, semi-government organizations, and individuals to erect buildings, leaving little open spaces for the youth to engage in sports [however] the win by the U-17 and the near-win by the U-14 teams show that Nepal has the potential to become a force to be reckoned with in football in South Asia."

Zee adds English glamour to promote Fed Cup TV

India's Zee Sports broadcasting has signed one of England's top football voices John Helm and former England international football player Russell Osman as commentator and co-commentator respectively for the 27th edition of the Federation Cup, to be played at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Margao in Goa starting 19 October. Zee Sports COO Gary Lovejoy said the commentators bring with them vast experience of covering and playing in the best of international football from around the world and complement the network's "cameras, more replays, a new graphic look and interactive."

Zee Sports is also undertaking a multi-media marketing and promotional campaign across the country to "popularise football among the masses", India Television reported. "As part of the campaign several below the line activities including road shows, pub screening, football kiosks etc are being undertaken in several cities to popularise the football [and], to promote the Federation Cup, a special section on Indian football has been created on the Zee Sports website.

See also: Indian cup gains TV broadcast and prize increase (7 Oct)

World Cup products to boost Addidas sales

The world's second-biggest sporting goods supplier after Nike, Germany's Adidas, expects its net income to grow by 20 percent this year. The brand, known for its three-striped sports shoes, is shortly to roll out the first World Cup 2006 products propelling football sales, which make up almost 20 percent of the group's turnover, to more than £680 million in 2006 from £617 million in 2004.

"Our momentum is clearly building as World Cup products start to hit stores. Interest is already building," Chief executive Herbert Hainer told the Edinburgh Evening News. Earlier this year, the company extended its 35-year long sponsorship partnership with football's governing body FIFA for the World Cup tournaments in 2010 and 2014 in a deal worth some £190 million.

The importance of brand names in the sporting market was also shown yesterday when Britain's biggest sportswear chain JJB Sports, unveiling its latest first-half numbers, confirmed that the Adidas, together with Nike, accounted for almost 50 percent of the chain's turnover.

See also: Adidas Reebok to challenge Nike in global market (3 Aug)

FIFA chief sets-up task force to protect 'the game'

Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, football's world body, has vowed to stop "greed ruling the world of football". In an outspoken article for the London-based Financial Times (subscription reuired), Blatter observed that football is now a hugely lucrative global business but "the haphazard way in which money has flowed into the game — reminiscent of a misguided, wild west style of capitalism — is having some seriously harmful effects."

"A fortunate few clubs are richer than ever before. What makes this a matter of concern is that, all too often, the source of this wealth is individuals with little or no history of interest in the game, who have happened upon football as a means of serving some hidden agenda," he said. "Having set foot in the sport seemingly out of nowhere, they proceed to throw pornographic amounts of money at it. What they do not understand is that football is more about grass-roots than idols; more about giving entertainment and hope to the many than bogus popularity to a predictable few; more about respecting others than sating individual greed, whether for adulation or money."

Commenting on the practice, in Latin America especially, of speculators buying the commercial rights to promising child players, he described the trend as a "new form of slavery".

"Equally unacceptable," he added, "are the sort of wage negotiations that can produce the spectacle of semi-educated, sometimes foul-mouthed, players on £100,000 a week holding clubs to ransom until they get, say, £120,000. More often than not, these players are guided in these endeavours by unsavoury agents.

"It is simply insane for any player to 'earn' £6 million-£8 million a year when the annual budget of even a club competing in the Uefa Champions League may be less than half that. What logic, right or economic necessity would qualify a man in his mid-20s to demand to earn in a month a sum that his own father - and the majority of fans - could not hope to earn in a decade?"

Blatter also blamed the influx of hugely-wealthy owners for causing football to become predictable.

"Unlimited cash has given a handful of club owners the wherewithal to control the global club game by splashing unimaginable sums on a tiny group of elite players. More than ever before, the majority are fighting with spears, while the greedy few have the financial equivalent of nuclear warheads.

"No wonder empty seats in stadiums and saturation live television coverage of matches have become issues. What is interesting about a league whose champions can be predicted with confidence after about five games?

"Why is it good for football to take the excitement away from fans by overcharging them for tickets to see 'their' team? And is it really still 'their' team when one club in England has a squad with 19 nationalities? What we are faced with today is a football society of haves and have nots."

Blatter insists a new FIFA task force set up to deal with corruption and multiple ownership issues will curb the sport's excesses.

"FIFA cannot sit by and see greed rule the football world. Nor shall we. The time has come to take action to curb the excesses and ensure that the sport protects its roots.

"If nothing is done, this new money could suffocate a sport that has no fewer than 1.3 billion active followers around the world. The professional game is now shot through with practices that, at best, expose the ugly side of club football and, at worst, threaten its very existence."

The full text of the article is now available online at FIFA.

See also: FIFA's chief Sepp Blatter's thoughts on Asia (16 Sept)

Barcelona may demand too much from Dubai comp

The opener of Dubai's US$1 million international football tournament on 30 December will feature Juventus lining up against either Barcelona or AC Milan at the Dubai Exiles Stadium. According to event organiser, Pedro Martinz, CEO of 2R, the Spannish club has confirmed availability but there are "differences about the financial budget". Speaking to Khaleej Times, he said Barcelona had "requested too much money and under the circumstances we may organise an Italian Derby in Dubai between Juventus and AC Milan, which is of course more cheaper.”

Clubs from Asia and Latin America will also be participating. “Corinthians Paulista, one of the most known teams in Brazil, and Tokyo Verdy, the greatest Japanese club, have also confirmed coming to Dubai,” Martinz, said. No final word has been received from Bayern Munich although the German club is scheduled to be camping in Dubai during the tournament days.

See also: Dubai targets football and global sports business (25 Sept)

Malaysian teams warm to more Indonesian players

Since Selenagor used them with stunning effect, Indonesia's best players are in growing demand in Malaysia. With the scoring power of Bambang Pamungkas and Elie Aiboy, both regulars with the Indonesian national team, Selenagor won a hat-trick of titles, the Premier League the FA Cup and the Malaysia Cup. Now Malacca Telekom, who with Selangor MPPJ are the only club sides in the Malaysian Super League next season, appears to be on the verge of signing Indonesian national team skipper, Ponaryo Astaman.

According to Vijesh Rai in the New Straits Times, "Telekom’s decision to sign him must surely be linked to the almost fanatical support Indonesian footballers have from their compatriots residing in Malaysia. That was for all to see in Selangor’s treble winning campaign this year as [Bambang and Elie] attracted fellow Indonesians working here by the thousands. The FA of Selangor admitted that, prior to the team winning honours, if the Shah Alam Stadium had 15,000 fans for a match, some 10,000 were Indonesians ... In fact, Selangor reportedly collected almost RM 4 million from ticket sales and this has obviously attracted the attention of other teams."

UPDATE:

Rizal Abdullaha reports in The Star that Indonesian internationals seeking to land contracts with teams in the M-League "are said to be a demanding lot" and publishes claims from "a source" that they are asking to be given contracts without attending trials. “They also want to be placed in houses or condos of their choices. And they prefer to stay in the city,” the source said. “If I have my way, I will never hire such players. They are holding us to ransom. Why should we bow to their demands. It’s ridiculous. We hire them to win titles for us but not to the extent of them controlling us,” the source told Abdullaha (14 Oct).

Indonesians Ponaryo Astaman, Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto and Budi Sudarsono were noticed in Kuching watching Premier League side Sarawak in training.

See also: Huge crowds fill stadium for Malaysian cup finals (2 Oct)

Vietnam concerned about Tiger Cup sponsorship

Is Tiger Beer planning to abandon the Tiger Cup, South East Asia's much-loved football competition? Vietnam's pro-football newspaper, Thanh Nien, believes that is a strong possibility. Its chief executive, Nguyen Cong Khe (pictured right), has told the Vietnam Football Federation that his company would step in to maintain the event for national football teams in the region and officially proposed to the VVF that it "bring" the Cup to Vietnam.

"If Tiger Beer abandons the event and the Asian Football Confederation and ASEAN Football Federation do not find another sponsor, Thanh Nien newspaper will assume the procurement of sponsorship to keep the event successful, Mr Khe said. And his newspaper reported that VFF leaders "greatly appreciated the proposal and said they would bring the matter to discussion with AFF and AFC".

The VVF's V-League is currently co-sponsored by Number One beverages and local brewery, Laser Beer. The combined sponsorship fee for 2005, according to Nhan Dan delivers between "US$ 500,000 to US$ 600,00". This reportedly allowed for a doubling of the champion's prize from the VND 500 million awarded in 2004 although each V-League club is still to be obliged to contribute VND 200 million to the VFF’s organising board.

In other sponsorship news, the Vietnamese women’s football team won the 2005 International Vietnam Coal Football tournament, an annual event co-hosted this year by the Vietnam Sports Newspaper, the Cua Ong Coal Company and the Vietnam Football Federation. Cua Ong Coal Company finish in second place, Taiwan third and India took the "fair-play" prize.

State-owned Vietnam Television (VTV) is the country's official football television broadcaster covering the V-League (22 matches) and Division 1 (four matches). According to Ho Chi Minh City Sports newspaper, VTV is paying the VFF VND 25 million per game with 50 percent retained by the VFF, 35 percent going to the home team and 15 percent to the visiting team.

Ford Vietnam, the biggest auto joint venture in Vietnam, is the main sponsor for the live television broadcasts of the UEFA Champion League 2005 – 2006 season (21 matches from September 2005 to May 2006) on VTV3. Ford Motor Company is one of four Official Partners of UEFA Champion League (with Heineken, MasterCard and PlayStation2) and Ford Vietnam wants to "emphasis Ford brand with this sound champion league".

AFC discusses football development in Vietnam

The Asian Football Confederation delegation arrived in Vietnam Monday to commence the implementation of the "Vision Vietnam" program. In Ho Chi Minh City, AFC general secretary Peter Velappan (pictured right) made a detailed report to local football authorities on know-how in youth training, competition, administration, field of play, and sports science. He emphasised that a country's football development should include national associations, marketing, grassroots work, coach and referee training, sports medicine, men's competition, women's competitions, Futsal, and media and fan support. In Vietnam, the AFC chose Dong Tam Long An (DTLA) and Song Lam Nghe An as pilot clubs.

According to Than Nien, Mr Velappan also touched on the ongoing match-fixing scam in Vietnam stating that the "best solution for the difficult problem football Vietnam is clearly facing may be to bring in foreign referees to operate the V-League" and advised that "Japan found success with this solution many years ago". Vietnam could have ‘clean’ football in two years if it carries out the “Asia Vision” program and could finish in the top five in Asia after Japan, Republic of Korea, China and Saudi Arabia by 2010, he said.

See also: Vietnam FA and V-League tackle new regulations (6 Oct 2005)

Death prompts safety standards for goal posts

Australia's largest state, New South Wales, has launched a CD-ROM highlighting new safety standards for moveable soccer goalposts, developed after the tragic death of a three-year-old girl in a Sydney suburb. It is endorsed by Football Federation Australia, including the local associations, Soccer NSW and Northern Soccer and is being distributed to sporting clubs, schools and local councils throughout the state.

"There have been a number of deaths, both in Australia and overseas caused by moveable soccer goalposts including that of India Verity two years ago at Moss Vale," Diane Beamer, NSW Minister for Fair Trading, said at the launch of Play it Safe - Soccer Goalpost Safety CD-ROM.

"After an inquiry it was clear that we needed appropriate measures to minimise the risk of further death or injury among the estimated 500,000 people playing soccer each year in NSW. In March this year, a new product safety standard came into effect ensuring that all new moveable soccer goalposts are designed to reduce the risk of them tipping over," she said.

See also: Soccer goalposts - make safety your goal (PDF)

Celtic to tour Japan and China in Summer

Peter Lawwell, ceo of Scottish Premier League club Celtic, has a yen for doing business in Japan. "We have a number of commercial deals in Japan and we're on the point of confirming them," he said as quoted by Tom English in The Scotsman. The Shunsuke Nakamura Effect is move things along, including a television programme currently airing in Japan that pits six-a-side teams against each other. "It's a kind of a Pop Idol type thing and the winner comes here to play Celtic. That, indirectly, gives us a lot of exposure," Lawwell said. To exploit the exposure, English states, Celtic will play in Japan in the summer "as well as in China, to tap into the Du Wei market".

English Premier League may settle EU dispute

The English Premier League is reportedly ready to settle its television rights dispute with the European Commission in a move expected to curb British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC's hold over top-flight football. The UK Observer said both sides are prepared to make concessions to reach a deal that would end Sky's 13-year monopoly over screening live matches.

It said the EU Commission's Competition Directorate has dropped its insistence that Sky be restricted to showing no more than half the live matches under the league's new contract covering 2007-10. However, the deal is expected to allow a rival broadcaster such as ITV PLC, NTL Inc, Setanta, or another channel, to show enough games to attract fans' subscriptions.

Last week it was reported that Britain's new cable giant, formed out of the merger between NTL and Telewest, is planning a £200 million a year bid for Premier League rights -- subject to the European Commission ruling that no single broadcaster can bid for more than 50 percent of the games. According to Sports Business, Sky paid £1.02 billion in 2003 for an exclusive three-year deal to televise all live Premier League matches. Simon Duffy, the new cable company's chief executive-in-waiting, has been quoted as stating that Sky had underpaid for the rights.

See also: European Union interferes in EPL broadcast rights (14 Sept)

Malaysia slaps 5-year bans on five M-League clubs

The successful conclusion to Malaysia's end of season FA Cup and Malaysia Cup suggested that the "good times" were back for the domestic competitions of this football-mad, South East Asian country. "The fantastic fan support for the semi-finals and finals was beyond expectations,” said Football Association of Malaysia deputy president, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, as quoted by Pritam Singh. "The atmosphere was electrifying. I have not seen such support for some years now. I am sure this is the beginning of better things to come,” he said.

Unfortunately, the party was to be quickly spoiled: five clubs – Selangor Public Bank, Selangor MK Land, Johor Linkedua, Ipoh City Hall and Selayang – announced their withdrawal from next season’s M-League kicking off in December. According to AFC Media, MK Land quit after their failure to gain promotion to the Super League in the last two years while Public Bank pulled out after being relegated from the Super League at the end of the current season.

The FAM board's response was firm and measured. It unanimously agreed to ban the five clubs from participating in all levels of football in the country until 2010 and added a RM 50,000 to the corporate-owned Public Bank and MK Land and RM 30,000 each to Johor Linkedua, Ipoh City Hall and Selayang.

“This is a warning to clubs who treat FAM as something they can trample on,” said FAM vice-president Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Oma. “They cannot come in and go out as they please. They should have taken the trouble to inform us earlier, not when we are close to finalising next season’s fixtures. If the fixtures are messed up, FAM and not the clubs, will bear the brunt of criticisms,” he told a media conference.

He said FAM had tolerated more than 10 pullouts in the past, at the risk of jeopardising FAM’s calendar. “There have been those who had graced our competition but later pulled out owing to various reasons, such as Penang Port Corporation, Intel, NS Chempaka, Kelantan SKMK, Kedah Lada, Kelantan JKR, JPS, Kesura, Perak TKN and Perak Lintau. ”We opened the competition to clubs in good faith but we cannot be facing the risk of withdrawals all the time," he said.

According to observer Rizal Hashim, the pullout has "saddened FAM’s top brass, especially deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and general secretary Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad, who have been strong advocates of club football. Long before the Super League was launched, Tengku Abdullah mooted the idea of Super Clubs but the concept didn’t take off."

Mr Shah has announced that FAM will consider proposals to "make the league not only more marketable but ultimately as a platform to produce a strong national squad". Former FAM vice-president Datuk Paduka Ahmad Basri Akil has said the Super League should not be restricted to just eight teams while the second-tier competition, currently called the Premier League, should be confined to semi-professional outfits.

Mr Basri argues that the present format of the Premier League being divided into two groups and the champions determined by a final play-off between the respective group winners was not a fair reflection of the true strength of a team: “There is always the possibility of a group winner not being able to finish among the top five if drawn in the other group. The Super League should also not be restricted to eight teams. It should be a competition of the best among the best.”

However, in an editorial, the Malay Mail observed that powerful State FAs continue to oppose the idea of a national league, a position seemingly in contradiction to the Asian Football Confederations's vision of professional football leagues. It suggested that to avoid disruption at the national level, the states be given a priority role at the local base:

"In the wake of the withdrawals, it is clear clubs or employer-based outfits, however strong their financial footing are, may not survive under the present scenario," the newspaper opined. "As of now, State FAs, it is clear, hold the key to our future. There is no doubt they enjoy political patronage and an avid following. Selangor command an average crowd of 40,000 this season, while Perak, Kedah, Penang, Terengganu, Perlis and Pahang have their own of faithful fans ... Since we cannot run away from the fact the State FAs remain relevant after all these years, FA of Malaysia must have the political will to impose certain conditions to rejuvenate the game at grassroots level. In order to ensure the States are not too consumed with the elite league, FAM must insist they organise at least one domestic State league and a schools league. Failure to meet this requirement will mean a cut in their annual grant."

On 28 September, the New Straits Times' Lazarus Rokk went "back to the future' to envisage a regional solution: "Have you ever wondered what the English Premier League would be like without Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal, or the World Cup without Brazil, Argentina, Germany, or Italy?" he asked. "That to me, is like getting into the whole drama of sex without a point of climax ... With Selangor back in business and in the mainstream of Malaysian football, there is just one ingredient missing in this powerful concoction that made the Malaysian league excitable, and lucrative to everyone including the bookies — the Singapore factor."

Singapore's national side stopped competing in the Malaysia Cup after a purge of 'match-fixers' in 1994. The Singapore Football Association then developed its own domestic S.League (featuring, at various times, guest sides from China, Japan and Australia) and cup.

"As much as our egos may not permit us to admit it, humility and harsh reality would dictate that they need each other, even if it may be for different reasons," Rokk commented. "The S-League is not the box office hit the FA of Singapore had hoped it would be after they cut the proverbial umbilical cord from their Malaysian counterparts. Sadly, the M-League turned out to be no different. The statistics at the gates for most of the teams have been anything but flattering. Most States have suffered from poor attendance ... and don't seem to have recovered.

"These excruciating circumstances have forced the FA of Malaysia and their Singapore counterparts to be in conference over the losses on both sides of the divide. And in the absence of strong local leagues and local heroes, the 'invasion' of the English Premier League claimed its victims. While Singapore don’t play their S-League matches on EPL days, the 'defiant' Malaysian League plays to near empty stadiums.

"I believe the time has come for both Malaysia and Singapore to join forces to compete with the EPL for the attention of their spectators. The Malaysia Cup, the favourite playground for Singapore, Selangor, and Pahang, would be that stage where we could return the magic and the charm to both Malaysian and Singapore football."

See also: Huge crowds fill stadium for Malaysian cup finals (2 Oct)

Indian cup gains TV broadcast and prize increase

Defending champions Dempo Sports Club will take on Hindustan Aeronautics Sports Club in the opening tie of India's 27th Federation Cup in front of a live television audience. All India Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi today announced that the event, to be held in Goa from 19-30 October will carry an increased prize tag of Rs 2,600,000 ''The winner will get Rs 1,200,000 , runners Rs 700,000 and third placed team Rs 200,000,' he said. Alberto Colaco, AIFF Secretary, announced that the teams had been selected from the last National Football League. ''The top eight teams, plus the four relegated from the NFL last season and the top four teams of the second division NFL make up for the line-up,'' he said.

See also: Zee's challenge: football to rival cricket in India (26 Sept)

Asia's best players getting global recognition

The Asian Football Confederation's 2005 Asian Player of the Year award is being noticed world-wide. The final 10 nominees will be trimmed to three finalists on 14 November with the winner to be announced at the AFC player of the year awards ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on 30 November.

Full list of nominees: Sami Al Jaber (Saudi Arabia - Al Hilal, Saudi Arabia) Hamad Al Montashari (Saudi Arabia - Al Ittihad, Saudi Arabia) Ali Karimi (Iran - Bayern Munich, Germany) Lee Young-pyo (South Korea - Tottenham Hotspur, England) Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan - Celtic, Scotland) Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan - Bolton Wanderers, England) Javad Nekounam (Iran - Pas, Iran) Park Ji-sung (South Korea - Manchester United, England) Maksim Shatskikh (Uzbekistan - Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine) Mabrouk Zayed (Saudi Arabia - Al Ittihad, Saudi Arabia).

Barcelona turns down Asian sponsor for its shirt

Spanish Primera Liga club, FC Barcelona, has turned down a €15 million offer to carry the name 'Beijing' on their shirts to promote the 2008 Olympic City. According to AP quoting Spanish media, the club had been on the verge of a five-year agreement with Chinese authorities, but decided against the deal, preferring to retain their shirt-sponsorship free status. Reportedly, Barcelona, has not ruled out shirt sponsorship in the future but will only consider European and American multinationals as prospective partners. Meantime, the club may attempt to raise funds by renegotiating with suppliers, possibly shirt manufacturer Nike, with which it has a €12-million deal running until 2008. The club, looking for ways to boost its revenue since Joan Laporta took charge in 2003, intends to still license products in Asia and continue its tours in the region.

See also: Inter Milan to sport Mandarin sponsor on shirt

Vietnam FA and V-League tackle new regulations

The Vietnam Football Federation and the 28 V-League clubs are trying to resolve differences over draft regulations for the new season, reported the Thanh Nien newspaper, as quoted by AFC Media. The talks assume importance in light of the corruption scandal in which the V-League is embroiled. The new draft regulations define a professional football club participating in the V-League as an ‘enterprise’, which met with opposition as the clubs say the V-League and most of the first division clubs are run by provincial sports departments as social organisations and not enterprises. If the clubs are recognised as ‘enterprises’ then they could face a slash in government subsidy.

Another contentious issue was a player’s responsibility to play for the national team at international events. “Players are responsible to play for the national team, yet it is the club who pay salaries and for treatments due to injury, and club interest in the player is ignored,” Thanh Nien quoted Le Nguyen Hong, director of Da Nang city’s sports department, as saying.

The VFF, meanwhile, has postponed the announcement of the official 2006 league schedule for V-League and First Division clubs till December 20. V-League and First Division 2006 league play will start in January 2006 and 30 December respectively.

On the referee corruption scandal, new networks are being uncovered. Working with disgraced FIFA referee Vu Trong Chien, police have detected that referee Thai Thuong Triet, already involved in the Luong Trung Viet scandal, had connections with yet another bribe network. With its football amnesty at an end, the Social Order Crime Investigation Agency, under the Ministry of Public Security, has begun summoning suspects who have not voluntarily stepped forward. Thus far, reports Vietnam Net, around 20 referees have been prosecuted for involvement in the scandal. Among them 12 took bribes worth over VND 40 million, four of between VND 12-15 million, and the rest less than VND 5 million.

See also: Vietnamese football acts to clean up corruption (2 Oct 2005)

Tough actions by Japan Football Association

The Japan Football Association has suspended referee Yoshitsugu Katayama until the end of this month alongwith two other match officials for an error in the Vissel Kobe-Kashiwa Reysol match which was played on Saturday, AFC Media reported. JFA said Katayama will not be named to referee J-League matches along with referees Hiroyuki Ajiki and Hisaharu Kitamura. Katayama showed Kashiwa midfielder Ryo Kobayashi his second yellow card and sent him off for time-wasting after the player took too long leaving the pitch to make way for substitute Harutaka Ono in the 87th minute. But Katayama allowed Ono to replace Kobayashi and play the rest of the match even though he had just given Kobayashi the red card. Kashiwa won the match 1-0, drawing an official protest from Vissel which was rejected by the JFA.

Meanwhile, Toshimitsu Yoshida, who has been suspended from officiating in AFC and FIFA matches for a serious mistake in the Asian zone World Cup playoff between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on 3 September, officiated in the Nabisco Cup semi-final between Yokohama F Marinos and Gamba Osaka. He was refereeing in place of Kiyoshi Ota who however pulled out because of an injury.

The J-League has also slapped a 10 million yen (around $100,000) on FC Tokyo for crowd trouble during a July league match in which one of its supporters was arrested. FC Tokyo, the J-League said, failed to provide adequate security at the July 9 league match against Tokyo Verdy at the Ajinomoto Stadium, where three Tokyo Verdy staffers suffered injuries in a clash between rival supporters. The fine matches the highest ever handed to a J-League club for crowd trouble.

World Cup to rake in sales in Thailand

The 64 FIFA World Cup matches to be held in Germany from 9 June to 9 July 2006 are expected to draw a total of 30 billion viewers worldwide, an increase from 28 billion for the previous tournament. All matches will be televised live in Thailand in the evening and Promotional Partners Worldwide (Thailand) Ltd, the exclusive World Cup licensing agency, expects a massive audience. According to the company, the total local market value of the World Cup to increase by 20 per cent to Bt 1 billion, based on all 2006 World Cup activities, licensed merchandising and promotional campaigns in Thailand.

PPW will distribute official souvenirs including emblems and mascots for the 2006 World Cup in Germany featuring the 2006 official World Cup emblem, official mascots Goleo & Pille and the World Cup trophy under the FIFA-approved slogan “A time to make friends”. The company is currently negotiating licenses for sports and leisure apparel, headwear, bags, home and car decorative items, footwear, plush toys, stationery, fashion goods, keyrings, pins and badges, and other souvenirs, to manufacturers, trading firms or retailers.

According to PPW director Ronnapong Kamnuanthip, the merchandise will be made available by the first quarter of next year. Retail prices are expected to be 20-30 percent lower than that in the host country, given relatively lower production and distribution costs. Locally made licensed merchandise is expected to account for about 70 percent of the goods on offer, with the remaining 30 percent, such as CDs, to be imported.

European sports consultancy sets up Beijing

TSE Consulting is expanding its operations into Asia. Specialising in sport, offering consulting services to cities and countries and training services for sports organisations, the company will now have offices in Lausanne (Switzerland), London, Atlanta, Bahrain and Beijing. The Asian operation will be managed by the new director of TSE Asia, Young-Sook Lee, who spent the last two years working as a director of international relations for the NYC2012 Olympic bid. The company says the move reflects its expanding client-base in Asia and the Middle East, and adds to its global expertise for multinational clients. TSE is the sports rights consulting subsidiary of of LSE-listed SP Holdings plc.

Japanese veteran on short-term loan to Sydney

J-League second-division club Yokohama FC will loan its veteran striker Kazuyoshi Miura to the A-League's Sydney FC from 7 November to 31 January 2006. The club said, however, the short-term deal could be scrapped as a condition of the contract if the team, which is now languishing in 11th place in the 12-team second-division, earns a playoff berth in a bid for promotion to the first division. Sydney FC is coached by Pierre Littbarski, who served as Yokohama FC manager in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Miura, a 38-year-old former national team star, is expected to play for Sydney FC at the FIFA Club World Championship to be staged in December in the absence of any teams from host Japan. "I would like to learn many new things and use my experience in soccer to the fullest," Miura said, as quoted by The Japan Times. He will travel to Australia after a match against Avispa Fukuoka on Thursday.

Three nations miss AFC's Asian Cup deadline

The head of the Asian Football Confederation has reportedly criticised North Korea (DPRK) after the country failed to register in time for the qualifying competition for the 2007 Asian Cup. "Either they want to take part in the Asian Cup or they don't," Mohamed Bin Hammam told Reuters. "It was a difficult decision (to expell North Korea) but Asian countries must place greater importance on the big tournaments."

Former Soviet republics Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan were also left out after applying late for the Asian Cup qualifiers, which begin in February. Among the teams taking part in the qualifiers are Asian newcomers Australia.

The 2007 Asian Cup is being jointly hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The event was brought forward from 2008 to avoid time conflicts with Euro 2008 and the 2008 Olympic Games. The 2011 Asian Cup will be held in South Asia.

Allegations of over-age players in Myanmar win

The ASEAN Football Federation, a division of the Asian Football Confederation, is reportedly investigating several allegations of fraud against teams in this year’s AFF Under 17 Youth Championship after rival players and coaches accused each other of sneaking older players into the tournament. The competition was held from 26 August to 4 September 4 in Bangkok, Thailand and was won by the Myanmar (Burma) team after a penalty shoot-out against Thailand.

AFF executive secretary, Yap Nyim Keong, said the organisation was looking into 'serious' cheating charges against several teams but Mizzima News comments that AFF does not require team members to provide their birth certificate or educational records – only a passport is required as proof of age. "The Burmese government is reported to have a history of trying to pass older players off as young blood and according to some Burmese sources, this type of cheating is so common in Burma that people have come to expect it," the newsagency's Alison Hunter stated.

Myanmar has won several regional tournaments in the past few years including the 2002 Under 17 ASEAN Youth Championship, the BIMSTEC Under 18 Youth Championship 2004 and the ASEAN Under 20 Youth Championship 2005 and AFC Media reports that four international teams will take part in the Grand Royal 2005 Challenge Cup scheduled to be held in Mynamra's capital, Rangoon, from 22-31 October. The Chinese and Indian U-20 teams have confirmed their participation in the competition which also includes the Bangladesh national team and Myanmar’s U-23s.

South Korea must 'recognise and develop' its youth

The biggest problem facing the long-term health of soccer in South Koream writes John Duerden at OhMyNews, "is the lack of focus and attention that developing young people receives. This, not the financial and corrupt goings-on at the Korean Football Association, is the real scandal of soccer in South Korea." He argues that the KFA has to take control and help the K-League's clubs and the country's schools and universities in recognizing and improving young talent.

He also quotes Ian Porterfield, the coach of K-League team Busan I'Park, a former boss of English Premier League side Chelsea in the 1990s who has lead the national teams of Oman, Zimbabwe and Trinidad. "In Korean football people look at only the tip of the iceberg -- the national team -- and it's the wrong philosophy," Porterfield told OhMyNews in a recent interview. "There needs to be some long-term thinking. If you want to develop young players then you need a good structure and foundation."

Introducing a lengthy comparison of the career trajectories of two young stars, Park Chu Young and Wayne Rooney, Duerden observes that as South Korea "was thrilled by Park Ji Sung's great performance for Manchester United last weekend, it is worth remembering that he was almost lost to the game. After being rejected by his local team Suwon Samsung Bluewings, the young Park considered giving up soccer to become a physical education teacher. Such a situation is not uncommon."

See also: South Korean champion named assistant coach and Bonfrere's candid comments on South Korea

Football Law Board continues goal-line tests

The International Football Association Board has decided that goal-line technology – designed to assist referees in their decision-making - will be further tested at the FIFA Club World Championship, which is contested from 11 to 18 December in Japan, Soccer Investor reported. The IFAB met in Lima, Peru during the FIFA Under-17 World Championship, the first FIFA tournament to use goal-line technology.

"The general outcome of this meeting was that IFAB, FIFA, the referees and those responsible for this system are convinced that goal-line technology could have a positive future," FIFA said in a statement. "However, further improvements will be required to be made to this system following its first test in a competition environment."

The 120th Annual General Meeting of the IFAB in Zurich on 4 March 2006 will then decide whether goal-line technology is to be employed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Founded in 1882 to govern the Laws of the Game of soccer, the IFAB's permament members are the Football Association (England), the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and the Irish Football Association (Northern Ireland) each with one vote and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) with 4 votes.

Is Real Madrid now the world's 'biggest club'?

Spanish Primera Liga club Real Madrid claims to have overtaken Manchester United as the biggest money-makers in soccer. For the year ended 30 June 2005 the club's income increased 17 percent to £183.8 million, according to the UK's Daily Telegraph, quoted by Sport Business. ManU's financials will not be known until next April but Madrid's figures are well ahead of what the English Premier League club earned in the year to 31 July 2004, when income was £169 million.

In the five years since Florentino Perez was elected president of Real Madrid, revenue from sponsorship and merchandising has tripled following the signing of so-called 'galacticos' such as Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham. "We want Real Madrid to remain a club that belongs to everyone," Perez announced at a members' meeting. "But in order to compete with clubs that have owners who give them all the money they want we have to adopt an economic model that will give us enough income to cover all our outgoings. Our aim is to be a universal club and that means attracting more fans from around the world to make us stronger. Real Madrid is not obsessed with economic results alone, but our economic stability will guarantee our freedom in the future."

Umbro spends Chelsea funds in Asian markets

British football kit manufacturer Umbro is paying up to £7 million for a 25 percent stake in Team & Sports, which distributes its products under licence in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The terms are £2.6 million up front and £1.38 million next year, with the rest due if Team & Sports achieves sales targets to 2010. The funds are reportedly part of a £25 million compensation package the company received after English Premier League leaders, Chelsea FC, scrapped a sponsorship deal early.

In a stock market statement, Umbro chief executive Peter McGuigan said China was one of the group's fastest-growing markets. "We have worked with Team & Sports for over 15 years, they a have great team and an in-depth understanding of their market. We are confident that, over the next few years, our combined efforts will deliver sales growth propelling China into one of our largest distribution territories."

FIFA takes centre stage at SOCCEREX 2005

FIFA Marketing & TV will be hosting two sessions at Soccerex 2005 with a senior level delegation in attendance. The first session will focus on licensing. This will include an overview of FIFA licensing activities including the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a case study on FIFA Quality Concept for Artificial Turf and an introduction to FIFA’s plans for 2007 and beyond. The second will include an overview of FIFA's commercial activity, in particular the commercial opportunities and process regarding future rights in new media and television, including the tender process for the World Cup television rights in Asia later this year.

In attendance will be: Jerome Valcke, director FIFA TV and Marketing, Joelle Macoin, head of licensing, Charles-Henry Contamine, head of new media FIFA communications, Niclas Ericson, head of broadcast & media rights.

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.

FIFA warns about phoney World Cup tickets

FIFA has warned consumers to be careful of misleading promotions for next year's FIFA World Cup in Germany. In a statement it said "no tickets must be transferred or used for advertising, sales or promotional purposes, or as a premium, give-away, competition or sweepstake prize, except where they are used in legitimate, authorised commercial activities by FIFA’s commercial affiliates". Official Partners are Adidas, Avaya, Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Continental, Deutsche Telekom, Emirates, Fujifilm, Gillette, Hyundai, MasterCard, McDonald’s, Philips, Toshiba, Yahoo! as well as the Official Suppliers within Germany - Deutsche Bahn, EnBW, Hamburg-Mannheimer, OBI, ODDSET and Postbank.

FIFA warned that tickets obtained from illicit ticket promotions will be automatically subject to a possible cancellation and the ticket holder risks being refused entry to or expulsion from the stadium. FIFA is also taking steps to tackle forgeries. It says tickets will be equipped with new RFID chip technology, to make forgeries difficult to produce. In addition, match tickets will not be printed until a few weeks before the opening match in Munich on 9 June 2006.

Comprehensive and up-to-date information regarding match tickets, including the full version of the GTCs, can be found on the official event website, www.FIFAworldcup.com.

Huge crowds fill stadium for Malaysian cup finals

Two huge crowds in as many weeks is proof that Malaysian football is alive and rebounding. The FA Cup final between Selangor and Perak last Saturday week ago saw Shah Alam Stadium packed with 72,000 fans paying RM 1.2 million in gate collection and last night a capacity crowd of 95,000 saw Selangor win the Malaysia Cup final 3-0 over Perlis. Vendors of Cup final paraphernalia did a roaring trade at the venue with even T-shirts for the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany hot items at RM 28 apiece.

Unlike the Indonesian League Grand Final last week in Jakarta where nearly half the spectators got into their national stadium without paying then engaged in a one-hour riot after the home team was beaten, the crowd at Malaysia's two big games were well behaved. Suprisingly for some, Indonesian guest workers made up a big section of Selangor's fan base, having been lured by the stellar perfomances of the club's two Indonesian players, Bambang Pamungkas and Elie Aiboy. Bambang, in fact, took the 'Red Giants" to victory with a hat-trick of goals in the 17th, 51st and 86th minutes and winger Elie combined well for the first two goals.

Update: Last season, Selangor drew less than 50,000 fans. This season more than 500,000 attended -- about one third of the total spectators at all M-League matches -- and Indonesians make up more than 60% of the Red Giant fans. FA of Selangor treasurer S. Sivasundaram said “there is no doubt that the Indonesian fans made the big difference this year. We have had an average of 15,000 fans coming for our home matches and at least 10,000 are Indonesians, who reside in the Klang Valley.” Selangor began this season with an RM 5 million sponsorship and has earned an additional RM 3.2 million from gate receipts. (3 Oct, The Star).

The Malaysian 2005 Honour Role: Malaysia Cup (Selangor) FA Cup (Selangor), Super League (Perlis), Premier League (Selangor) Charity Shield (Perak), FAM Cup (Kelantan), Presidents Cup (Kelantan), Youth Cup (Terengganu), Fair Play (PKNS).

Super League 2006 contestants: Perlis, Pahang, Perak, Malacca Telekom, Petaling Jaya Municipal Council, Penang, Selangor (promoted), Negri Sembilan (promoted). Premier League 2006 contestants: Sabah, Public Bank, Kedah, Johor, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Brunei, Johor Fc, Perak Jenderata, Mk Land, Penang Ntfa, Kelantan Tnb, Selangor Pkns, Kelantan (promoted), Kuantan Port-Shahzan Muda (promoted).

See also: Perlis or Selangor to make Malaysian history (29 Sept)

Vietnamese football acts to clean up corruption

Football leaders in Vietnam have launched a campaign to clean up the game following embarrassing discloures of corruption and match-fixind. "Dark forces have manipulated several players and referees," Vietnam Football Federation vice president Vu Quang Vinh told AFP newsagency. "We must resolutely eliminate all corrupt people, even if we have to give up national and international competitions. That's a price worth paying in order to totally overhaul Vietnamese football and make it strong, clean and solid," he said.

Referee Luong Trung Viet and Vu Tien Thanh, the manager of leading club Dong A (pictured above with police), were detained in August pending inquiries into match-fixing allegations. Viet and his three assistants were accused of taking 20 million dong (neaarly 1,300 dollars) from the national V-League team to fix a match in April.

Last year, the VFF admitted it had drawn up a "blacklist" of 75 people including top players however the names have not been made public. Police said that up to 10 referees have turned themselves in over the past week and returned their bribe money.

"These people only want money. They have betrayed millions of fans here," fumed sports journalist Dang Tuan Hung at Ho Chi Minh City's The Thao daily. "Never before were players' and referees' reputations as tainted," said Hung.

The VFF "has no choice but to take legal action against some people," said Thanh Nien daily's Thanh Thao, one of the most influential commentators on Vietnam's football scene. "Can they really clean up Vietnamese football and rebuild from scratch? I doubt it," Thao told AFP.

See also: Scandals cause sponsor problems for V-League (1 Oct)

Nayeemuddin back as India's national coach

Dronacharya awardeee Syed Nayeemuddin has been appointed the coach for the Indian national football team until the Doha Asian Games in 2006. He replaced Sukhwinder Singh who has been under great pressure since the national team lost to Pakistan and Fiji. All Indian Football Federation president Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi reportedly said the new coach's performance would be reviewed after the SAF Games in Pakistan starting 6 December. "Indians do not lack talent. They only need to work hard along with better facilities and more money," he said. Nayeemuddin previously served as national coach in 1987-88 and 1997-98 and is a certified FIFA coach. The AIFF is also expected to announce the appointment of a "competent foreign technical director".

See also: Five shortlisted for Indian national coaching job (29 Sept)

Scandals cause sponsor problems for V-League

With only three months before the start of its new season, Vietnam’s V-League is yet to sign major sponsors. The Vietnam Football Federation earned about VND10 billion (US$630,000) in 2004/05 from its major supporters, Viet Advertisement Company and Ben Thanh Beer , but they are reportedly hesitant to commit to 2006 because of the match-fixing scandal ravaging the sport.

The problem now includes allegations that an international FIFA referee took money to alter the outcome of a First Division game in 2005. Currently facing police questioning, Truong The Toan, the only Vietnamese referee who officiated in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens is alleged to have taken a bribe of VND25 million (US$1,600).

See also: More disclosures on 'the rot in Vietnam football' (16 Sept)