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Blatter will visit "sleeping giant" India in February

FIFA president Sepp Blatter will be visiting India in February with a team of officials to see what can be done to awaken the "sleeping giant", as he referred to the country in an interview with Boria Majumdar, a noted Indian sports commentator. According to Chandan Banerjee of the Financial Express, Majumdar had asked Blatter about India's importance to the governing body of world football.

"Does India really matter to FIFA? We languish at 140 in the world ranking yet the passion for the game is intense. How do you view India?" Majumdar had asked, in an interview recorded earlier this month. In reply, Blatter said the question of India needed to be "tackled" in the next few months. "Come February, a FIFA squad including me will visit India," Blatter said.

Majumdar told the Financial Express that Blatter considers India a "sleeping giant that now needs to be awakened." For Blatter, far more than performances on the ground, football can be used as a mode of life to help "alleviate several problems of Indian day to day life".

When asked whether Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, the Congress politician who is president of the All India Football Federation, can do justice to his role, Blatter said Dasmunshi is extremely passionate about Indian football and is very keen to develop the discipline in India. "In fact, I would say that because he is politician and a member of parliament he should find it simpler to get things done," Blatter told Majumdar.

Blatter rates football as a world passion and said it is great to know that people in India love the game. "I know it is not the number one sport in the country. Cricket is on top of the list, but we are determined to help Indian football come up," Blatter told Majumdar.

"I have already had a rather fruitful meeting with the Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee in Germany during the World Cup and FIFA is rather keen work hands on with the Indian government. If football can do a great job in China, Japan and Korea, not to mention Brazil and Argentina, there is no reason why India should lag behind," he added.

Indonesian club to resist tobacco sponsorship ban

The 2006 Dji Sam Soe Indonesia Cup champion, Arema Malang FC of East Java, has no plans to remove the X-Mild sponsor logo from its shirts in 2007 despite the Indonesian Professional League Board (BLI) threatening fines, manager Satriya Budi Wibawa said. Arema is one of two clubs from East Java province representing Indonesia in the forthcoming AFC Champions League.

The BLI will reportedly fine Arema and any other club breaching its new regulation Rp 100 million (US$10,990) per match and an additional Rp 50 million per match if the club puts another sponsor's logo on A-boards in the stadium. The BLI will also slash the points earned by the rule-breaking clubs.

The BLI has promised compensation of Rp 500 million for clubs forced to forgo individual sponsorship deals with competing tobacco companies because of the league's four year sponsorship deal with the Djarum company which commenced in 2004 and injects about US$40 million into the Premier League and Division One each year.

Satriya said although the fines would be hard for the club to bear, losing its exclusive Rp 15 billion contract with X-Mild, a cigarette brand produced by Bentoel, the company which owns Arema, would put it under greater pressure.

See also: Clash of tobacco sponsors upsets Indonesian club (23 Dec)

Thailand beats Vietnam to win 2006 King's Cup

Thailand won a solid 3-1 victory over South East Asian rivals Vietnam to win the annual King's Cup tournament for the first time in six years. Backed by one of Thailand's biggest football crowds in recent years, the hosts controlled the match from the start and sealed victory with goals from Sutee Suksomkit and Pipat Tonkanya. The Vietnamese pulled back a goal on 68 minutes when Phan Thanh Binh found the net but the Thais responded less than a minute later with a Suchao Nuthnum low drive.

"It was a great team effort overall, the attack, midfield and defence. I'm happy with the way we've played here. Vietnam made it tough by playing a defensive game, that's why it took us so long to score," Thai coach Charnwit Pholcheewin told Martin Petty of Reuters.

"They were better than us, but we could have played better. We were in third gear throughout the game and when they had the ball they were so much better than us. It's always the same -- my players can't play to their full potential," Vietnam's Austrian coach Alfred Riedl said.

Khurshed Makhmudov is Tajikistan's top player

Khurshed Makhmudov of league champions Regar-TadAZ was named Tajikistan Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Other winners were Asliddin Khabibulloev of Vakhsh (Best Goalkeeper), Khima’s Dzhamoliddin Oev (Best Defender), Regar’s Ibraguim Rabimov (Best Midfielder) and Parvoz’s Numon Khakimov (Best Striker). AFCMedia reported that Sharif Nazarov (Khima), Pulod Kodirov (U17 national team) and Makhmadzhon Khabibulloev (Regar-TadAZ) were selected as the three best coaches while Orif Dzhuraev won Referee of the Year.

China's Chengdu Blades to take on English clubs

English League Two club Accrington Stanley will play host to China League club, Chengdu Blades, in January, the club announced. Chengdu, which is owned by English Premier League club Sheffield United will be on a four match tour of England which starts against Conference side Woking on 4 January before they take on Stanley at the Fraser Eagle Stadium on 9 January. They will play Sheffield United and their reserve side in the remaining two fixtures on 11 and 15 January respectively.

Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province in northwest China, is in the top half of China's Championship division and is aiming for promotion to China's Super League. The club plays in the Chengdu Sports Centre which has a capacity of 40,000.

"This is a fascinating fixture for us coming so soon after the establishment of the Accrington Stanley Asia website. Chengdu, like us in the UK, is a well known name in Chinese soccer circles. It is likely to be a very close game and, who knows, along with our new web site, could open a few doors for us in Asia," Stanley chief executive, Rob Heys, said.

Chengdu Blades was established in 1996, but in January this year Sheffield United paid £200,000 for a 90 percent stake in the club, the first Chinese football club to be majority-owned by a foreign investor. Sheffield United is also developing a football academy in Hainan Island in southern China and Chinese player, Hao Haidong, is in the club's first team squad.

Most foreigners in V-League no good, says coach

Vietnamese football is struggling to improve because of an influx of foreign players, according to the national team's Austrian coach. "The young players are suffering, and it's not good for the national team," Alfred Riedl, currently in his third stint as the team's boss, told Martin Petty of Reuters. "Vietnam has no reserve leagues and no youth leagues. A lot of talented players don't get the chance to play at all. Some of my national team players aren't playing regularly for their clubs."

The V-League currently allows teams to name five foreign players in their squad for each match but Riedl, 57, said players were imported because of their size and strength rather than their skill. "Most of the foreign players aren't good, they're just taller and more powerful -- they aren't better footballers than the Vietnamese. This is not good for my team and not good for developing local players," he said.

"The former Austria Vienna, FC Metz and Standard Liege striker is hugely popular in Vietnam having taken the national side to silver medals in the 1999, 2003 and 2005 South East Asian Games. Riedl was previously sacked for speaking out against the country's state-run soccer federation, which has hired and fired six foreign coaches in as many years," Martin Petty reported.

Palestine-Israel team makes history in Andalusia

Members of the national team of Asian Football Confederation-member Palestine, joined with players from neighbouring UEFA-member Israel in a friendly against a team representing the southern Spanish region of Andalusia on Wednesday. Organised by the Peres Centre for Peace, the game attracted 35,000 fans to Seville’s Sanchez Pijuan Stadium where Israeli Vice-Premier Shimon Peres and French football great Michel Platini performed the honorary kick-off.

Israeli singer Noa performed beforehand and 1,500 children formed the word “peace” in Spanish on the field. The proceeds from the match are to go towards financing schools in Palestinian territories in a project sponsored by the Andalusian regional government.

As for the game, Andalusia beat the Palestinian-Israeli team 3-1. The Associated Press reported that Dani Guiza, who plays for Getafe in Spain’s First Division, scored in the fifth and 22nd minutes. Pablo Alfaro, captain of Sevilla, the Spanish league leaders, added Andalusia’s third goal in the 69th. Klemi Saban, a defender who plays at Romania’s Steaua Bucharest, scored for Palestine-Israel in the 43rd.

Seol of Reading is South Korea's player of 2006

According to an 800-person survey conducted by the Korea Football Association and quoted by Arirang News, South Korean football fans say their national team played its best this year in its 1-1 draw with France in the World Cup. Best goal of the year went to K-League Most Valuable Player Kim Do-heon of Seongnam Ilhwa who's mid-range shot in an Asian Cup qualifier against Taiwan. Player of the year was Seol Ki-hyeon, who plays for Reading in the English Premier League.

Western Asian DIC's long-term plan for Liverpool

Dubai International Capital claims it has a long-term strategy for Engish Premier League club Liverpool which would include funds for new players. The western Asian company hit back at claims that it plans to sell the club, it is in the process of acquiring, as early as 2014 for a quick profit.

“What DIC are doing is planning to make sure that, if a deal is done, Liverpool have the best possible funding in place going forward under DIC stewardship," a DIC source told AFP. "This is particularly important as we would need to get on with the stadium early in 2007 and it takes time to sort out the necessary financing. This is also important in terms of making sure cash is available for the ongoing strengthening of the playing squad. Should DIC acquire the club, Liverpool will be well run, both on and off the pitch, and we are currently laying the groundwork to ensure that will be the case.”

But DIC officials have pointed out they are yet to successfully conclude their takeover of the club and that, as a result, talk of plans to sell it off for profit are premature.

“DIC have not yet formally made an offer, never mind completed a deal. Certainly there are no plans to exit an acquisition we have not even bought yet,” added the source. “We are very serious investors with considerable resources at our disposal and the ability to take a long-term view. Equally, we believe that we understand the responsibilities that come with owning Liverpool Football Club. DIC have made it clear that, should a deal be concluded, we would not interfere in the day-to-day running of the club.”

EPL Charlton signs Shandong's Zheng Zhi on loan

Relegation-risky English Premier League club Charlton Athletic has signed China captain Zheng Zhi on loan from China's Super League champion, Shandong Luneng, with a view to a permanent deal. Zheng, 26, who can play in defence or midfield, had a brief trial with the club under former head coach Les Reed last month before leaving to play for China at the Asian Games in Qatar.

Zheng, his country's footballer of the year in 2003 and 2006, will be the first Chinese player to represent the Addick and is the first signing of new manager Alan Pardew. Zheng scored 21 goals for Shandong Luneng this year.

Brazil Air Force pays for coach for Pakistan club

Brazilian coach Jader Campelo will train the Pakistan Air Force football team for two years, Air Vice Chief Marshall Rashid Kaleem announced at a press conference attended by Fausto Goday, the Brazilian ambassador. Kaleem said the appointment of a foreign coach was a direct deal between the PAF and the Brazilian Air Force. “The national players will benefit from the services of Campelo in Islamabad,” he added. Kaleem said it was not an easy task to hire a qualified coach for the PAF team. “It will be a great opportunity for our players to improve their skills [as] the PAF boys are not performing up to the expectations at national level,” he admitted.

The Brazilian ambassador said the coach would be paid by the BAF while the PAF would provide him the boarding facilities. “I am optimistic this tie between the PAF and BAF will further improve relationships in other departments also. I want soccer to become more popular in Pakistan like Japan. I wish Pakistan football team plays World Cup soon,“ he added.

New coach Campelo said Pakistan had talent in football. “There is a need to make the Pakistani players physically, mentally and technically strong before improving their skills. Pakistani boys are keen to play football and people are showing their full interest in the game,” he told the media, as reported by Daily Times.

Ruslan Sydykov collects Kyrgyzstan player award

Dordoi-Dynamo defender Ruslan Sydykov has been named Kyrgyzstan Player of the Year for 2006. "Sydykov, who won the award last year too, had a terrific season with Dordoi-Dynamo clinching the Kyrgyz League title and the Cup as well. They also won the AFC President’s Cup in Malaysia," AFCMedia reported. Sydykov’s teammates Valery Kashuba was named as Kyrgyzstan Goalkeeper of the Year and Vadim Harchenko won Midfielder of the Year award. League runner-ups Abdysh-Ata’s Vyacheslav Pryanishnikov was named Forward of the Year award and Dordoi and Kyrgyzstan acting coach Boris Podkorytov won the Coach of the Year award.

Women help build world TV dominance for football

Football dominated global television viewing figures for 2006. Not only were the ratings for the FIFA World Cup final between Italy and France far higher than for any other competition, but the average audiences for 32 of the 64 matches in Germany were better than the USA NFL Super Bowl, the next most popular event. Initiative Sports Futures calculated the audiences from 54 markets, representing more than 90 percent of the world’s television-owning households.

“Football has traditionally been the most popular sport in Europe, South America and Africa but over the last decade it has shown its strongest growth in North America and Asia/Pacific," the agency's head of analytics, Kevin Alavy, told John Goodbody of The Times. “One of the most notable features of the global audience for the 2006 FIFA World Cup was that more women than ever before watched the tournament. Women accounted for 41 percent of the global audience for the event.”

Alavy pointed out that the attraction for sponsors of the five most-watched properties grow ever stronger compared with all other events. Apart from football and American NFL, the Winter Olympics and Formula One predictably were well clear of any of their rivals. One international event that suffered in 2006 was the Tour de France, of which only 15 million people watched the final day. Alavy believes that the repeated drugs scandals that have hit cycling and the Tour in particular have been partly to blame.

Global viewing figures of leading sports events in 2006:

FIFA World Cup final: 260 million (average), 603m (total)
American NFL Super Bowl: 98m, 151m
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony: 87m, 249m
UEFA Champions League final: 86m, 209m
Brazilian Grand Prix: 83m, 154m
Daytona 500: 20m, 47m
MLB World Series (game five): 19m, 55m
Golf: The Masters (final day): 17m 59m
Wimbledon men’s singles final: 17m, 69m
NBA finals (game six): 17m, 48m

Total viewing figures includes anyone who watched for at least three minutes. Source: Initiative Sports Futures

Indonesia tells coach: do well at AFF cup or resign

The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has reportedly issued an ultimatum to national coach Peter Withe to reach the final of the 2007 ASEAN Football Federation championship in January "or resign". The AFF tournament, formerly known as the Tiger Cup, is being jointly hosted by defending champion Singapore and Thailand.

According to Moch. N. Kurniawan in The Jakarta Post, the warning by PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid that Withe should resign "if he can't do his job" is designed to prompt Withe to also help Indonesia reach the final round of the AFC Asian Cup (co-hosted by Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia) in July.

However veteran local coach Endang Witarsa has criticized PSSI for its choice of coaches, saying the national game did not mesh well with Europeans like Withe and the Dutch coach of the U-23 team, Fope de Haande.

"We are quick in sprint and in playing the ball with one-two touches. Western European soccer is dominated by long passes and power as they have big, tall and strong players," he told Kurniawan. He suggested the PSSI turn to Latin American countries such as Brazil or Argentina to learn how to improve the national players' skills and techniques.

Vietnam police bust another football betting ring

Raids were conducted on 13 houses in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday morning and around 7 billion dong (US$400,000) in betting money was found, a city police officer told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. The ring, which had been operating since last year and had connections with betting companies in Hong Kong and Macau, offered bets on European football matches, he said.

Terrorists critically injure top Iraqi footballers

Four members of Iraq's league champion, Al Zawra'a have been injured, three of them seriously, in a terrorist mortar attack on the club's stadium on Sunday, PA Sport reported. The attack took place during the first team's training session, injuring Dargham Abbas, Ammar Abdulzahra, Ali Rida and Wissam Kazem. All four were rushed to nearby Al Karakh hospital, with three of the quartet believed to be in a serious condition.

Al Zawra'a are due to represent Iraq in the 2007 Asian Champions League and are drawn to face Qatar's Al Rayyan, Al Arabi of Kuwait and Al Wahda from the United Arab Emirates when the tournament kicks off in March.

Indictments issued for Vietnam football corruption

On 25 December six defendants in Vietnam's match fixing scandal were present at the Supreme Peoples’ Procuracy to listen to the prosecutor's indictment. The six are former players of the national football squad, Van Quyen, Quoc Anh, Van Truong, Bat Hieu, Phuoc Vinh and Hai Lam. According to VietNamNet Bridge, the players are charged with fixing the results of football matches during the 23rd SEA Games, held in Manila, the Philippines, late last year, during which Vietnam lost in the final match against Thailand. They had earlier been detained and prosecuted for gambling.

The Supreme Peoples’ Procuracy has also released the indictment on the prosecution of 14 people who fixed V-league football matches through referee bribes. The defendants being prosecuted for giving bribes are Nguyen Thanh Vinh (trainee of Dong A Bank–Pomina Steel Club), Tran Manh Cuong (assistant to the trainee of Youth Team of Dong A Bank–Pomina Steel Club) and Le Van Cuong (former Director of Can Tho Sports Department). Nine referees are facing prosecution for receiving bribes, while referee Luong Truing Viet is being prosecuted for acting as an intermediary in giving and receiving bribes.

Australia's young men and women footballers play

Australia’s finest young football talent will be on display when Sydney plays host to the Australian Youth Olympic Festival next month. Australia’s male and female teams will face Japan, Korea and China during the tournament which takes place at Valentine Sports Park in Glenwood from 17-21 January. Football will be one of 16 sports on the program having been included for the first time.

The men’s football tournament is for athletes under 18 years of age as at 1 January 2007 and the team, selected from the Australian Institute of Sport scholarship athletes, will be coached by current AIS coach Steve O’Connor. The squad is: Laurence Braude (Maroubra NSW), James Brown (Kingscliff NSW), Isaka Cernak (Ferny Hills QLD), Peter Cvetanovski (Yagoona NSW), Luke Devere (The Gap QLD), Apostolis Giannou (Sydney NSW), Richard Greer (Algester QLD), James Holland (Gorokan NSW), Marco Jesic (Bossley Park NSW), Matthew Jurman (St Johns Park NSW), Tahj Minniecon (Slacks Creek QLD), Matthew Mullen (Wynn Vale SA), Jason Naidovski (Prestons NSW), Andrew Redmayne (Mt Elliott NSW), Sebastian Ryall (West Pymble NSW), Alex Sunasky (Golden Grove SA), Jerrad Tyson (Belconnen ACT), Stefan Vrbesic (Brisbane QLD)

The women’s football tournament is for athletes under 16 years of age as at 1 January 2007 and the squad will be coached by Mike Mulvey who has been appointed to coach the Australian U-17s women’s team that will attempt to qualify for the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2008. The squad is: Tameka Butt (Mudgeeraba QLD), Danielle Calautti (Cannington WA), Alesha Clifford (Winmalee NSW), Stefania Cola (Quarry Hill VIC), Rhali Dobson (Wauchope NSW), Casey Dumont (Elanora QLD), Alisha Foote (Logan Reserve QLD), Sophie Hogben (Mt Gravatt East QLD), Jenna Kingsley (Cambridge Park NSW), Rebecca Kiting (Weetangera ACT), Ella Mastrantonio (Beaconsfield WA), Kirstyn Pearce (Kanwal NSW), Vedrana Popovic (Moorooka QLD), Elizabeth Sharpe (Corlette NSW), Kyah Simon (Quakers Hill NSW), Samantha Spackman (Harrington Park NSW), Emily Van Egmond (Valentine NSW), Samantha Wood (Riverview NSW)

EAFF accepts Northern Mariana Islands FA

The Executive Committee of the East Asian Football Federation, a regional affiliate of the Asian Football Confederation, has decided to include the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association as a provisional member. A provisional member does not have voting rights but otherwise is given the same rights as other member associations.

The EAFF also confirmed the dates for the men’s and women’s EAFF Championship which will be held in 2008. The men’s preliminary competition will take place from 15-24 June 2007 in Macau and the Finals will be hosted by China in February 2008. The preliminary competition for the women’s competition will be held from 9-16 July 2007 in Guam with the Finals taking place at the same time as the mens'.

The committee also approved a joint youth tournament with the ASEAN Football Federation next year.

Korean and Chinese clubs join Singapore League

Two foreign clubs - Korean Super Reds FC (Korea Republic) and Liaoning Guangyuan FC (China) - have joined the Singapore's professional S-League for the 2007 season. With Sporting Afrique FC having pulled out, 12 teams will be battling for the honours. Nine of these are local teams while Albirex Niigata, a feeder team from Japan, is the third foreign club. The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was investigating the placement of its U-23 national team but was reportedly unsettled by the minimum five-year commitment.

“I am confident of a top-three finish,” Super Reds coach Hong In Woong, who was earlier the coach of Sporting Afrique, told AFCMedia. Most of Hong’s team is made up of U-23 players. Liaoning Guangyuan FC, was formed through a partnership between Chinese Super League side Liaoning Football Club and sponsor Shanghai Guangyuan Co.

Singapore Armed Forces FC is the defending champions while Tampines Rovers are the Singapore Cup holders. Both the teams are playing in the AFC Cup 2007.

Indian companies investing more in football clubs

European football club culture is reportedly now beckoning Indian corporates. "While Pramod Mittal recently bought the Bulgarian football club CSKA Sofia, Indian corporates such as United Breweries and Mahindra & Mahindra are busy trying to turn their clubs - Kingfisher East Bengal and Mahindra United - into revenue generating units. Today, they are talking about formalising player transfers and getting sponsors akin to their European counterparts," Amanpreet Singh and Bhanu Pande observed in the Economic Times.

According to sources, Ispat Industries bought CSKA for Euro 15 million because Kremikovsti, the steel plant in Bulgaria owned by Mittal, had long patronised the club. “Steel behemoths traditionally support football in East Europe and most business houses have a passion for the game but the challenge is to run a club profitably,” says Anirban Das Blah, VP, Globosport, a sports management firm.

On the other hand, in a serious bid to professionalise their club, Mahindra United has changed five coaches in the last six years. “Soccer was M. Mahindra’s vision and currently we are looking at getting the NFL to Mumbai and making a mark in Asia,” said Alan Durand, the club's president and senior advisor.

Vijay Malaya’s United Breweries Group also wants to play ball. It has a stake in two of the biggest football clubs of Bengal; Kingfisher East Bengal and McDowell Mohun Bagan. Kingfisher East Bengal has alrerady signed up sub-branding deals and has a three-year kit deal with Reebok India.

Chinese fans face big bill to watch Premier League

Followers of the English Premier League in China may have to start paying to watch the broadcast next season if a Guangdong-based Pay TV station wins the tender for the 2007-2010 broadcasting rights. An alliance of over a dozen local TV stations that include sports channels like CCTV-5, Shanghai-based G Sports and Oriental Entertainment and News, charge an annual fee of 150 yuan to relay European football. But Guangdong's Tiansheng Digital TV is likely to end that honeymoon if its bid is successful.

"The chances of open-wire Premier League broadcast in the 2007-08 season are really slim," said Li Hui of G-Sports, as reported by Zhou Zuyi in Shanghai Daily. Li refused to divulge any details of the bidding or the asking price for the rights but Tiansheng will reportedly charge 188 yuan (US$23.5) per month for live feeds.

Italy's Serie A, Spain's La Liga and Germany's Bundesliga has massive fan following across the country but the English Premiership enjoys the highest viewing figures among all the G-Sports broadcast, said Li. "And I suppose it's the same case with other members in our alliance."

NZ Soccer asks for email interest in A-League club

New Zealand Soccer has formally asked for expressions of interest from potential investors in a New Zealand-based A-League club. A condition of the investment is hiring All Whites' coach Ricky Herbert, a member of New Zealand's 1982 World Cup team. Football Federation Australia has given Oceania Football Confederation-member NZ Soccer until 31 January to submit a proposal for a club to replace the New Zealand Knights FC in the A-League from next season after the Knights' participation licence was revoked on 14 December.

While NZ Soccer is not in the position to invest in a professional team or have a mandate to do so, chief executive Graham Seatter said the national body is eager to facilitate the creation of “a win-win scenario for a new team, its fans, the Hyundai A-League and the game in New Zealand”. He says he is confident a successful A-League club will not only drive NZ Soccer's participation and performance initiatives but also provide a unique developmental opportunity for the All Whites as they eye the Confederations Cup in South Africa and World Cup qualifying via Asia, also in 2009.

NZ Soccer hopes to receive a commitment of $2 million by mid-January as part of an “ideal” capital base of up to NZ$5 million. "Whilst approximately half of that amount may be adequate for the initial season, this would not create the certainty required for the business to become well established," Seatter told Fred Woodcock of the Dominion Post. "It would almost certainly result in the need for further capital injection in year two, with resulting uncertainty. Significant sponsorship and commercial relationships will depend upon a sustainable model and certainty beyond three years."

He said group-based ownership, loosely modelled on Melbourne Victory FC which has about 60 owners, remained the preferred option, though not every investor would have to make an equal contribution. Seatter said investors should make their interest known to him, via e-mail, and he will then send them a draft framework as soon as possible, to be followed by a prospectus.

Clash of tobacco sponsors upsets Indonesian club

The 2006 Dji Sam Soe Indonesia Cup champion, Arema Malang FC of East Java, is angry about an Indonesian Professional League Board (BLI) ban on placing its sponsor's logo on its shirt in the 2007 season. "This situation is very difficult for us," manager Satriya Budi Wibawa told Wahyoe Boediwardhana of The Jakarta Post. "We have prepared a good team for next year's league but we can't put our sponsor's name on our jersey." Arema will represent Indonesia in the forthcoming AFC Champions League.

Satriya estimated the ban would cost the club Rp 15 billion (about US$1.65 million) from a sponsorship deal with X-Mild, a cigarette brand produced by Bentoel, the company which owns Arema, one of only four privately-owned football clubs in Indonesia).

The ban was imposed because of a clash with the Indonesian Premier League's naming rights sponsor, Djarum, one of the country's largest cigarette manufacture. It signed a four year sponsorship deal commencing in 2004 which injects about US$40 million into the Premier League and Division One each year.

BLI has promised compensation of Rp 500 million for clubs forced to forgo individual sponsorship deals with competing tobacco companies. However, Satriya is outraged with the new regulation. "It's not fair. We own and manage the club and we already have our own sponsor. Bentoel sponsored us before another cigarette company sponsored the league. How can they (BLI) place this ban on us," he said.

Besides the sponsorship issue, Arema is also upset over its grouping in the 2007 Premier League's East Division. The BLI put Arema in the same zone with archrival Persebaya FC of Surabaya. Arema management fears being grouped with Persebaya will affect its ability to attract sponsors. "No company will sponsor a match which is at risk of brawls," Satriya said.

Arema supporters clashed with Persebaya fans during the quarterfinals of the Copa Dji Sam Soe in September. Twelve people were injured in the incident and Rp 2 billion in damage was done to cars and the stadium.

The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI)'s board of appeals banned Persebaya from competing in Surabaya for one year. It also put a one-year ban on the team's supporters from wearing the club's colors or otherwise advertising themselves as supporters of the side while attending Persebaya matches. The punishment was much more lenient than the one handed down by PSSI's disciplinary board, which slapped a one-year ban on Persebaya competing in East Java and a three-year ban on the team's supporters from entering any football stadium in the country.

FIFA plans special 2007 initiative for India football

Strategic planning for the sustained growth of football in India was the primary objective when FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter welcomed a high-level delegation from the All India Football Federation to FIFA headquarters in Zurich yesterday. The delegation, led by AIFF President and Indian Minister of Information Priya Ranjan Das Munsi, met with top FIFA officials to plan a new initiative and design a framework for achieving tangible short and long-term results in the development of football across the subcontinent.

"India is a country with an amazing potential for growth of the beautiful game," said President Blatter. "It is home to 20 percent of the world's population and deserves particular attention from world football's governing body. Therefore, FIFA, in conjunction with the Asian Football Confederation Vision Asia project, is developing a special initiative for the future of Indian football. All I can say now is 'stay tuned' - years from now, people will look back and see 2007 as the start of something remarkable for our sport in India."

The as yet undisclosed initiative will be officially launched by the FIFA President when he visits India in 2007. Designed to reflect FIFA's mission statement "Develop the game, touch the world, build a better future", the initiative will utilise the wide variety of resources available to FIFA and the AFC to provide a solid foundation across the board, including infrastructure, competitions and business development.

Furthermore, during the meeting, AIFF President Das Munsi, accompanied by General Secretary Alberto Colaco, addressed the challenges that have thus far prevented India from achieving the level of development it deserves, but confirmed their positive vision of the future with the support of FIFA and the AFC.

Eight Indian U-13 teams barred for overage players

Eight teams have been banned from the All-India Football Federation’s Boys U-13 Football Festival starting in Chennai tomorrow for fielding overage players in the team. Jharkhand (three players overage), Jammu and Kashmir (four), Orissa (six), Rajasthan (six), Mizoram (nine), Bengal (three), Punjab (four) and Uttar Pradesh (three) have been sent home and subsidies for participation, train fare and food allowances have been withdrawn, Shaji Prabhakaran, director of Vision India, a Development Project of the AFC, told PTI.

“The respective state associations have to be proactive. We are taking strict measures in dealing with such cases and then progressively this problem will be eradicated. We are making a database as per the guidelines of the Asian Football Confederation, under whose rules the festival is being held. A team of 14 boys will be selected from this event to compete in the AFC U-13 tournament in Bangladesh from 1-8 May,” Mr Prabhakaran said.

South American clubs must sell players to Europe

Almost all South American football clubs rely on trading players to European teams to stave off bankruptcy as match attendances in the region decline, according to a study by Deloitte & Touche LLP. Brazilians clubs, which post an average annual operating loss of $83.5 million, sold 804 players in 2005, generating US$100 million, the accountancy firm said. Half came from Robinho's move from Santos to Real Madrid. "Clubs have to invest in and strengthen their assets and financial position," Deloitte said in a synopsis of its 16-page report qioted by Alex Duff of Bloomberg. "The situation is far removed from that in the Old Continent," it added, referring to Europe.

Brazilian and Argentine teams derive 30 percent and 50 percent of revenue from trades respectively. They are increasingly turning to financial advisers as they seek to lift income from television rights, sponsorship and ticket sales, according to Deloitte. An average of 7 percent of Brazilian clubs' revenue comes from ticket sales, compared with 12 percent in Argentina. "Because of socio-economic problems in the region, together with safety concerns in various South American stadiums, attendances have gone down considerably," the report said. The average attendance has dropped to 12,000 from 16,000 in Brazil since the 1980s, it added.

Brazilian clubs get as little as US$9 million from TV television rights, 20 percent of total sales, the report said. In Uruguay, Penarol and Nacional, with eight elite South American titles between them, survived on sales of $3.2 million and $6.5 million respectively in the 2004-05 season, according to Deloitte. Nacional received $2.6 million from player trades, allowing it to post a profit of $300,000. Penarol had a loss of $300,000 and got $800,000 from player trades. In Chile, Universidad Catolica earned $1.8 million from player trades, 90 times as much as it got from the sale of merchandise including team shirts.

Team placements drawn for the 2007 AFC Cup

The draw for the fourth edition of the Asian Football Confederation's club tournament for developing football nations, the AFC Cup 2007, took place in Kuala Lumpur on 22 December 2006. AFCMedia reported. The group stage matches kick off on 6 March and culminate on 22 May.

Group A

Shabab Al-Ordun, Jordan
Muscat Club, Oman
Al-Nijmeh, Lebanon
Al-Saqr, Yemen


Group B

Al-Muharraq, Bahrain
Al-Wihdat, Jordan
Al-Helal Hodedah, Yemen
MTTU, Turkmenistan


Group C

Dhofar Club, Oman
Al-Faisaly, Jordan
Nebitchi, Turkmenistan
Al-Ansar, Lebanon


Group D

Xiangxue Sun Hei, Hong Kong
Hoa Phat Hanoi, Vietnam
Negri Sembilan FA, Malaysia
Victory SC, Maldives


Group E

Singapore Armed Forces FC, Singapore
Happy Valley, Hong Kong
New Radiant, Maldives
Mahindra United, India


Group F

Osotspa M-150 FC, Thailand
Tampines Rovers FC, Singapore
Mohun Bagan AC, India
Pahang FA, Malaysia

The six group toppers advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best second-place finishers. The quarter finals will take place on 18 and 25 September while the semi finals are scheduled for 2 and 23 October. The two-legged Final will be held on 2 and 9 November.

Ladbrokes considered for Vietnam football betting

Vietnamese authorities are set to seek government approval for a regulation to legalise previously-banned football betting next year, under which gamblers could place a maximum stake of VND450,00 (US$28). Nguyen Trong Hy, deputy head of the National Sports Committee told a press conference reported by Thanh Nien, that the draft was to be submitted to government in the first quarter of 2007. Besides imposing the cap on each stake, the regulation restricts punters to a certain number of bets per month.

The committee is considering partnering with UK-based betting firm Ladbrokes to form a Vietnam state-run 51:49 joint venture company headed by a Vietnamese national. Regulations could be modeled after those in the UK, in that companies offering gambling services are required to advise punters against betting if they lose more than they win in a certain month. Hy quoted police sources as saying billions of US dollars were drained away from Vietnam per year to betting centres in Hong Kong, Macao and elsewhere.

AFC's Velappan honoured by Olympic Hall of Fame

Retiring Asian Football Confederation General Secretary Dato’ Peter Velappan has been honoured by the Olympic Council of Malaysia Hall of Fame for his immense contribution to Asian football since joining the AFC in 1977. The formal induction ceremony will take place on 22 December. “As a Malaysian, I am honoured to be inducted into the OCM Hall of Fame,” he told AFCMedia.

Neill says Euro Socceroos focuused for Asian Cup

Socceroo defender Lucas Neill said Australia should look at nothing less than finishing first in their Asian Cup group. "I would be probably embarrassed if the team wasn't to not only qualify from the group, I think we should be looking and aiming to top it and give ourselves a more comfortable second round draw," Neill told Andrew Lowcock of Sportal. "By that, I mean getting to stay in the same venue where we're settled, and of course we'll want to go on to the latter stages where we'll be probably playing the top two or three teams in Asia. And being in that mix, we want to get as far as we can, and I am going there wanting to win it and hoping that we can."

The 28-year-old Blackburn Rovers defender, widely regarded as the Socceroos' star performer at the World Cup, said the build-up to the Asian Cup would be harder than their World Cup preparations. "Because of things like the heat and the fact that we'll be one of the teams everyone wants to beat, we say here in England all the time that on any given night in a cup game, the small team, the underdog, can get up and beat the giant," Neill said. "It's harder to go into a tournament knowing that you're expected to win every game then go into a tournament such as the World Cup we just went into and not having any expectations. It's a different kind of pressure and I think it's something that we're kind of used to but we need to do it. We need to get results."

He is wasn't worried about the players experiencing burnout after their long European seasons have finished. "It will be the third consecutive year that Australia has played a major tournament during the European off-season, after its Confederations Cup and World Cup campaigns. As long as you're man managed well enough throughout the year, throughout the season, I think you can get away with it," Neill said. "So I don't fear for it and I'm not going to choose any different because who wouldn't want to play Confederations Cup and World Cup, then Premier League and then get the opportunity to play Asian Cup and hopefully go in to challenge and try and win trophies which is what playing football is all about?"

J-League players transfer to Austrian first division

Former Japan captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto has agreed to join Austrian first division side SV Salzburg from Gamba Osaka, AFCMedia reported. Another Japanese joining SV Salzburg is J-League champions Urawa Reds’ Brazilian-born naturalised Japanese midfielder Alessandro Santos.

Why Premier League clubs will sell-out in 2006-07

English Premier League football club Newcastle United has confirmed it is in talks with US hedge fund Polygon over a possible takeover. Following media speculation, the club issued a statement to the London Stock Exchange to say it had received a potential takeover approach from St James’ Park Group Ltd – a consortium backed by Polygon Global Opportunities Master Fund. Estimates say any deal would reach close to £230 million. The club say no agreement has yet been reached, nor was a takeover inevitable.

“The board of Newcastle confirms that St James' Park Group Limited, a consortium backed by Polygon Global Opportunities Master Fund, is one of the parties that has made an approach to the company regarding a possible offer for Newcastle.The board wishes to reiterate that it has not accepted any proposals for the company from any party nor is any due diligence being conducted on the company,” the statement said, as reported by Reuters.

Foreign ownership of English Premier League clubs is almost certain to increase over the next 12 months, an Independent newspaper investigation by Nick Harris revealed earlier this month Chelsea, Manchester United, Portsmouth, Aston Villa and West Ham are already owned by overseas buyers, but at least another seven clubs could soon join them. Liverpool look likely to be bought by the billionaire ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, while Manchester City is also involved in talks with a potential investor (with a reported price tag of £75 million). Reading's owner, John Madejski, has gone on record as a potential seller and Everton might consider offers.

The Independent revealed that the Premiership's 20 clubs are worth £3.3 billion combined. The most valuable club is Manchester United, which would cost upwards of £923 million to buy today. Arsenal, at £569 million, is rated as the next most valuable, followed by Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham.

Keith Harris, chairman of the investment bank Seymour Pierce, has pinpointed why 2006-07 is a selling season like no other. The Premiership's new domestic TV deals, with Sky and Setanta, worth £1.7 billion between 2007 and 2010, are major factors but so is the league's backdrop of financial stability, wage inflation control ("towards a more sensible 50 to 60 percent of turnover") and the Premiership's consistency as a world brand. Harris also cites a global upsurge in hugely wealthy individuals.

"The domestic TV deal was much higher than anyone thought. That underpins the clubs' revenue," Harris told the Independent. "The international rights are also being sold, and the news about BT and Setanta [joining forces to offer games on a pay-per-view basis] shows the appetite going forward. Pay-TV was always driven by movies, entertainment and sport. Now it's sport, and within that, football."

The extra cash from the new TV and sponsorship deals will be huge. The total prize pot now is £1.6 billion over three years, or £25 million per club each season on average, ranging from £17 million (lowest) to more than £30 million (league winners). From next year that will jump to £40 million per club on average. Even the least successful team will see an extra £8 million go straight to the bottom line, while the top clubs will earn £20 million more each year.

"Clearly investors are attracted to the revenue streams, but how we are run is crucial," said Dan Johnson of the Premier League. "No one or two teams hog the broadcasting revenue as they do in Spain or Italy. There's a strong base to build from, and rewards for success." And the Premiership is "well run, it's not so over-reliant on TV like Germany, or on commercial income like in Italy," said Prof Chris Brady, the dean of the Business School at Bournemouth University. "It's easier to buy into places where you can just take out one or two big shareholders, which isn't often the case on the Continent. The growing attraction for Americans is opportunities you can't have in the NFL, where you're not allowed to sell a branded credit card or have ties with bookmakers because you're only allowed to 'do' the sport business. For football, England against other countries is just a better business deal all round."

The Independent asked a panel of experts, brokers, analysts and club insiders how to value a club and the only thing they all agreed on was: "What someone will pay."

Pakistani coaches complete AFC B certification

Nine Pakistani coaches successfully completed the Asian Football Confederation B Certificate Football Coaching Course, a spokesman of the Pakistan Football Federation told APP. A further three were provisionally passed. The graduates were ex-Pakistan Captain Bashir Ahmed, Muhammad Muslim Butt (deputy director PFF), Gohar Zaman (Peshawar), Nasir Ismaqel (NBP), Muhammad Habib (Wapda), Shehzad Anwar (Punjab), Sjjad Mehmood (KRL), Hassan Balooch (KESC) and Qazi Wajid (Nowshera). The participants praised the efforts of Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Muhammad Arshad Khan Lodhi and the PFF for conducting such a course of high learning. Both PFF President Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat and Secretary Muhammad Arshad Khan Lodhi congratulated the successful coaches and hoped that they will transfer the modern playing methodology to the grass root level which is very important for the promotion and development of football in the country.

K-League Names MVP and Best Rookie for 2006

At the K-League 2006 Award ceremony in Olympic Park, southeastern Seoul, the Korea Football Association announced the results of the MVP and the best rookie polls, which were carried out two weeks ago in a journalists' vote held at the KFA headquarters. Kim Do-heon, 24-year-old midfielder who led Seongnam Chunma to the K-League championship title this year, was named the most valuable player for 2006. Kim scored six goals and set up for another four during the season, helping Seongnam take home its seventh winning trophy. Seongnam won last time in 2003. "I was expecting a little bit, but this is huge award for me," Kim said. "I want to share the honor with the teammates who have helped me a lot throughout the year."

The best rookie award went to Chonbuk Motors midfielder Yeom Ki-hun, 23. Yeom shone during the Asian Football Confederation Champions League, when he scored three goals and one assist, helping his club win the title last month. Chonbuk beat Syria's Al Karama 3-2 on aggregate at the finals. The only rookie in the Korean national team, Yeom scored once during the just-ended Asian Games in Doha when South Korea beat North Korea 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

Amongst other K-League award-winners, Seongnam coach Kim Hak-beom took home the coach's award while Seongnam striker Woo Sung-yong, who scored 16, received the best scorer's title. Popo of Busan as well as Park Ho-jin and Baek Ji-hoon, of the Suwon BlueWings, were awarded the Best 11, along with eight other players, such as Kim Eun-jung of FC Seoul, Chonbuk defender Choi Jin-cheul and Seongnam defenders Kim Young-chul, Jang Hack-young and Mato, Moon Gwang-lip reported for The Korean Times.

Mahindra's Surkumar is Indian Player of the Year

Mahindra United defender Surkumar Singh has been named named 'Player of the Year' for 2006 by the All India Football Federation. He was selected for the honour following his impressive performances for the country as well as Mahindras throughout the year and is only the second Manipuri player to receive the award after Tomba Singh in 2003. The former Tata Football Academy cadet was a vital cog in Mahindras' first triumph in the IFA Shield last week. He was also part of the Indian team at the Doha Asian Games and found the net in the match against the Maldives.

Among other decisions taken at the AIFF AGM, 2007: Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been selected for extension of the Vision India project. Gangtok and Bangalore were confirmed as the centres for the second stage of FIFA's Goal project in India after initiating the effort with Delhi and Manipur. The AIFF is also considering starting a women's football league and club tournament and providing financial incentives for states participating in U-13 football festival, Press Trust of India reported.

AFC presents Asian Cup final draw at gala evening

Debutante Australia will play in Group A against Iraq, Thailand and Oman in the Asian Football Confederation 2007 Asian Cup according to the draw conducted in a gala ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday evening. Defending champion Japan, which has won the cup three times, went to Group B and will play against Vietnam, Asian Games gold medalist Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which finished third in the qualifying rounds with 13 points. In Group C three-time Asian Cup winner Iran and 2004 runner-up China will vie for the top two positions beside Malaysia and Uzbekistan. Group D consists of Indonesia, South Korea, three-time winner Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The July 7-29 tournament will be held in four countries, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, the first time an Asian Cup has been held in multiple countries. The four nations will host all the matches in their group. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage, which will culminate in the final in Jakarta on 29 July.

"There are no easy groups when there are four co-hosts. They can be really tough given home turf advantage. All the matches will be tough and none of the teams can afford a slip up," said Takeshi Uno, technical director of the Japan Football Association. China coach Zhu Guanghu said the draw boded well for China’s goal of reaching the semifinals. "There was some luck in the draw, but the most important thing is that we prepare with a positive attitude ... Our primary goal is to ensure our path through the group and to enter the last four, then strive for an even better achievement,” he said. “It’s a tough group, but none of these groups are easy, these are the best teams in Asia,” said Football Association of Thailand secretary-general Worawi Makudi of Group A. “We respect Australia, we know we’re behind them in the rankings, but we’re playing at home, with our own fans, and we think our boys can really do something.”

Australian chief coach Graham Arnold said Australia will field most of its European-based players. "We are demanding that they be available because it is a prestigious competition. This is our first time in the Asian tournament so we are going to do our best." He said he is glad to have avoided World Cup 2006 qualifier Saudi Arabia, "they are always a big threat so it is good to stay away from them," and is confident Australia will at least make it to the semifinals. "The interest is massive (back home). We will have a huge contingent of Australians going to Thailand to have a holiday at the same time."

But Arnold also issued a word of caution. "Historically the host nations of the Asian Cups have done well so Thailand will be looking to continue that record. Iraq recently made the final of the Asian Games and they showed us when we played them last year in Sydney how dangerous they can be. We had to come from behind and it was only a late goal by Ahmed Elrich that got us over the line 2-1. Oman are a bit of an unknown quantity. We have never played them before and they have had some solid results recently which shows they can beat anyone on their day. It's going to be warm and we will need to ensure we do the appropriate preparation work for the tournament."

Australia, Iran, Japan and South Korea, the top four teams according to FIFA rankings, were seeded before the draw under a new classification system, which ensured that they would not have to play each other until the knockout stage. It is a break from the past when teams were seeded solely on the basis of their performance in the previous AFC Asian Cup competition.

A special draw was also held for Saudi Arabia to make sure it doesn't play any match in Thailand or Vietnam. The AFC wants to avoid Saudi Arabia playing in Thailand because of diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Saudi Arabia couldn't play in Vietnam either because the runner-up of the pool playing in that country would have played the quarterfinal in Thailand. According to the Associated Press, the tensions stem from the slayings of three Saudis in Bangkok. One was a diplomat who was shot to death in front of his home in 1989 and the other two were Saudi Embassy workers who were slain in 1990. Also, relations have remained sour over the theft of a large quantity of jewels from a prince's palace in Saudi Arabia by a Thai worker in 1989.

UPDATE

Following the announcement of the draw, Australian betting agency Centrebet installed Arnold's men as favourites to win the tournament. They are offering odds of A$3.00 for the Socceroos to win the tournament on debut. "No Asian side progressed further at the World Cup than the Socceroos who beat Asian champ Japan en route to the last 16," Centrebet's Neil Evans told The Age. "They deserve to be the favourites."

According to Dan Baynes of Bloomberg, Centrebet's odds to win the Asian Cup are: Australia 2-1, Japan 11-4, South Korea 9-2, Iran 5-1, Saudi Arabia13-2, China 25-1, Qatar 33-1, Iraq 40-1, Oman 50-1, United Arab Emirates 66-1, Uzbekistan 66-1, Bahrain 100-1, Thailand 100-1, Indonesia 150-1, Malaysia 150-1 and Vietnam 150-1.

The AFC Asian Cup 2007 Match Schedule

Sixteen teams will contest the final rounds of the AFC Asian Cup 2007 – the six winners and runners-up of the qualifying round groups, and the host associations Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The tournament from 7 to 29 July 2007 is conducted in two steps with a round-robin group stage and a knockout stage.

GROUP STAGE

The 16 finalists have been seeded and divided into four groups of four teams. Each team plays each of the other teams in the same group according to a league system (three points for a win, one point for a draw, no points for a defeat). The winners and runners-up in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.

KNOCKOUT STAGE

Quarter-finals
The winners of each of the four groups will meet a runner-up from another group in the quarter-finals. All four quarter-finals will take place over one match with the winner progressing to the semi-finals. If the score is tied at the end of the regulation playing time, an extra two periods of 15 minutes each will be played. If the score is still level after extra time, the winners will be determined by kicks from the penalty mark.

Semi-finals
The four winners of the quarter-finals play the semi-finals over one match with the winners progressing to the final. As with the quarter-finals, extra-time and penalties will be utilised in the event of a draw between two sides.

Final
The winners of the semi-finals play in the final to determine the AFC Asian Cup 2007 champions. As with the quarter-finals and semi-finals, extra-time and penalties will be utilised in the event of a draw between the two sides.


July 7
Thailand v Iraq (Group A), Bangkok

July 8
Australia v Oman (Group A), Bangkok
Vietnam v United Arab Emirates (Group B), Hanoi

July 9
Japan v Qatar (Group B), Hanoi

July 10
Malaysia v China (Group C), Kuala Lumpur
Indonesia v Bahrain (Group D), Jakarta

July 11
Iran v Uzbekistan (Group C), Kuala Lumpur
Korea Republic v Saudi Arabia (Group D), Jakarta

July 12
Oman v Thailand (Group A), Bangkok
Qatar v Vietnam (Group B), Hanoi

July 13
Iraq v Australia (Group A), Bangkok
United Arab Emirates v Japan (Group B), Hanoi

July 14
Uzbekistan v Malaysia (Group C), Kuala Lumpur
Saudi Arabia v Indonesia (Group D), Jakarta

July 15
China v Iran (Group C), Kuala Lumpur
Bahrain v Korea Republic (Group D), Jakarta

July 16
Thailand v Australia (Group A), Bangkok
Oman v Iraq (Group A), Bangkok
Vietnam v Japan (Group B), Hanoi
Qatar v United Arab Emirates (Group B), Hanoi

July 18
Malaysia v Iran (Group C), Kuala Lumpur
Uzbekistan v China (Group C), Kuala Lumpur
Indonesia v Korea Republic (Group D), Jakarta
Saudi Arabia v Bahrain (Group D), Jakarta

July 21
Quarter-final 1 (winner Group A v runner-up Group B), Bangkok
Quarter-final 3 (winner Group B v runner-up Group A), Hanoi

July 22
Quarter-final 2 (winner Group C v runner-up Group D), Kuala Lumpur
Quarter-final 4 (winner Group D v runner-up Group C), Jakarta

July 25
Semi-final 1 (winner Quarter-final 1 v winner Quarter-final 2), Kuala Lumpur or Hanoi
Semi-final 2 (winner Quarter-final 3 v winner Quarter-final 4), Hanoi or Kuala Lumpur

July 28
3rd/4th playoff (loser Semi-final 1 v loser Semi-final 2), TBA

July 29
Final (winner Semi-final 1 v winner Semi-final 2), Jakarta

From its humble beginnings in 1956, the AFC Asian Cup has developed into the continent’s premier football tournament, bringing together the top national teams from the length and breadth of Asia to compete for one of international football’s most sought-after prizes every four years.

The tournament had it roots in the formation of the Asian Football Confederation in Manila in 1954. The 12 founder members of the AFC sought to shape the development of the game in Asia and one of the keys to achieving that aim was the organisation of a regional competition for the continent's international teams. Just two years later, the first ever Asian Cup was staged in Hong Kong with seven of the 12 affiliated national associations vying for the title of Asia's best football team.

1956 Korea Republic (in Hong Kong)
1960 Korea Republic (in South Korea)
1964 Israel (in Israel)
1968 Iran (in Iran)
1972 Iran (in Thailand)
1976 Iran (in Iran)
1980 Kuwait (in Kuwait)
1984 Saudi Arabia (in Singapore)
1988 Saudi Arabia (in Qatar)
1992 Japan (in Japan)
1996 Saudi Arabia (in United Arab Emirates)
2000 Japan (in Lebanon)
2004 Japan (in China)

More history and statistics at the Asian Cup 2007 website.

A-League needs NZ Knights because of contracts

Football Federation Australia has admitted that it needs the New Zealand Knights to continue in the A-League because of media and other contractual arrangements. "We owe it to the league, the other seven clubs and the FFA's partners to ensure we continue," operations manager Matt Carroll told Terry Maddaford of the NZ Herald. "There are millions of dollars worth of contracts that would be in jeopardy if we didn't have eight teams." Of suggestions the licence which had been stripped from the Knights former owners could now be handed to a franchise in Australia, Carroll said that while there was some interest, none was ready to step in.

"We are aware of interest in North Queensland and Woollongong but they would be regionally based and not have the same support base as you have here in New Zealand. In any case they are not ready and at least a year away." Carroll also said that under the agreement there could be no additional Sydney or Melbourne franchises in the league's first five years.

Former star cans China's prospects for Asian Cup

China is unlikely to win the 2007 AFC Asian Cup a former Chinese international told an Asian Football Confederation media conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Fan Zhiyi, who played 109 international matches for China and was the AFC's Player of the Year in 2001, said "not many promising young players had emerged" since his generation retired. Known for having an uneasy relationship with the Chinese Football Association, Fan said "the entire environment of Chinese football is not very good," and cited problems in the coaching and administration of the team. "For (the) coaching side and administrative part, we have some problem," he said. "As an ex-national team player, I wish them all the best and hope they reach the final, but I don't think China can reach the final because they are so young [and] are not as good as my generation was," he said.

FIFA warns Brazil World Cup 2014 bid is still open

FIFA president Sepp Blatter warned Brazil that there were several other countries in line to host the 2014 World Cup if their bid was not up to scratch. Brazil has formally submitted its bid to bring the tournament to the country for the first time since 1950. The 2014 World Cup is scheduled to take place in South America as part of FIFA's rotation policy and Brazil's bid is expected to be the only one from the region. But critics say only one Brazilian stadium, the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, is in good enough condition to host a World Cup finals match. There are also serious concerns over public safety and transport, Alastair Himmer commented for Reuters.

"There are so many countries on the starting blocks to organise a World Cup -- both in that region and out of that region," Blatter told reporters. "I'm sure Brazil are doing everything possible to get the 2014 World Cup. We have not yet heard from the other countries in South America to see if Brazil's is not the only bid."

Blatter said last week that if a South American bid fell short of FIFA's requirements the 2014 tournament could be elsewhere. "We have not yet decided the rotation of the World Cup after 2014," Blatter told reporters in Yokohama before Sunday's Club World Cup final. "Do we say America is one continent? Because CONCACAF are a FIFA confederation too. We could even come back to Asia."

Will Malaysia qualify for the 2022 World Cup?

The Football Association of Malaysia is still mulling over which year its national team should qualify for the World Cup. FAM deputy president Datuk Redzuan Tan Sri Sheikh Ahmad said 2022 might be set as a realistic target. "We must have a target and we are still gathering feedbacks before making any plans that can be effectively implemented," he told a press conference after opening Malaysia International Football Symposium 2006, in Kuala Lumpur. The symposium created an opportunity for FAM to get necessary feedbacks from coaches, managers, academicians and media practitioners.

FAM secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad said the football governing body was striving to enhance the quality of football at the grassroot level. "If we were to set 2022 as a target, the Under-14 team are the target group crucial for the FAM," he told Bernama newsagency. Besides the U-14 squad, FAM would also focus on new talent below 17 years of age who will carry the country's challenge in the future, he said.

Suspension removed as Iran agrees to follow FIFA

The world football body FIFA has lifted Iran’s suspension from international football, making it eligible for next week’s Asian Cup draw. President Sepp Blatter said emergency talks had yielded a deal with authorities in Iran, which was suspended last month over government meddling. “We reached an agreement with the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran and we will say yes, Iran can participate in the draw for the Asian Cup,” Blatter told a press conference reported by AFP.

“This is a good outcome where football has shown its intentions when it comes to interference,” Blatter said. The deal was brokered by Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed bin Hammam, Blatter said. “I’m grateful to the political leaders in Iran for understanding that we’re not dealing with the internal running of their country,” he said. “If you participate in FIFA everybody has to abide by the FIFA statutes, otherwise they can stay in their country.”

UPDATE

On 19 December FIFA officially informed the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation that the suspension imposed on it on 23 November 2006 had been lifted. The FIFA Emergency Committee, composed of the FIFA President and one representative of each of the six confederations, took the decision to lift the ban on 18 December as a result of a series of cooperative negotiations between FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation, the IRIFF and the Physical Education Organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran as reported by Iran Football:

The negotiations resulted in the establishment of a Transitory Board ('Haiet Raiseh Enteghali' in Farsi) of the IRIFF, jointly recognised by FIFA and the PEO, with the following duties: the management of Iranian football at national and international levels; the drafting and ratification of new statutes for the IRIFF based on the FIFA Standard Statutes; the organisations of elections for the future leadership of the IRIFF, based on these new statutes and with the support of FIFA and the AFC.

The Transitory Board is to be composed of Mohsen Safaei Farahani as chairman, Qumars Hashemi as deputy chairman and Mohammad Hassan Ansarifar, Dr Hassan Ghafiri, Dr Mohammad Khabiri and Ali Reghbati as members. It is planned that the whole process of transition will be completed by 31 March 2007.

With this commitment, the IRIFF is now in a position to normalise its structure and statutes in accordance with the FIFA and AFC regulations. This development signifies that the objections raised by FIFA, which gave rise to the suspension of the IRIFF, have been removed.

150 teams in 2007 Australian futsal championships

Up to 1500 futsal players across 150 teams will converge on Canberra in early January for the 2007 Australian National Futsal Championships. Competing States and Territories will be vying to be named Futsal champions of Australia, which will be decided across a multitude of age groups, both male and female. There will also be teams from New Zealand and the Solomon Islands appearing at the five-day tournamentover 8-12 January. The competition brings together the best Futsal players from around Australia competing in age groups from under 10 boys and under 11 girls to open age men and women. A number of Qantas Futsalroos will compete in the open men's division where national coach Scott Gilligan will cast his eye of national team hopefuls ahead of next May's AFC Futsal Championships.

British museums have more patrons than football

According to Hamish McRae of The Independent, more people in Britain go to museums than to football matches. The heaviest hitter in football is Manchester United, which in 2004-05 had just under 1.3 million attending its matches; the heaviest hitter in museums is the Tate, which had 6.3 million visitors. In fact, Man Utd was the only football club above the million mark, with the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum all in the three to five million range. Although people have to pay to go to a football match, while museums are free, 43 percent of the UK population visited a museum in the previous year, whereas according to a Mori survey in 2005, only 41 percent of the population confessed to being interested in football.

These statistics come from a report by Prof Tony Travers of the London School of Economics, which the museums are using to beef up their case for more state support. There has been a squeeze on funding: income has been flat in real terms whereas the number of visitors has been rising.

Brazil's SC Internacional wins FIFA Club World Cup

Brazilian football notched up another major achievement when SC Internacional of Porto Alegre, representing South America, overcame Spain's FC Barcelona, representing Europe, to win the 2006 FIFA World Club Cup in Japan. In the process, Inter became the third Brazilian side to taste success in the competition after Corinthians in 2000 and Sao Paulo in 2005.

New Zealand given until 31 Dec for A-League club

Football Federation Australia has set a deadline of 31 January for new owners to step forward and take over the New Zealand Knights franchise in the A-League or they will give the licence to an Australian club. The FFA have said they are committed to a New Zealand-based team playing in the league but it is dependent on some person or group willing to invest the $5 million to $6 million a year needed. "We want a team from New Zealand playing in the A-League and I hope we will be able to issue them a licence by the end of January," A-League head of operations Matt Carroll told Michael Brown of the New Zealand Herald. "Unless meaningful discussions are taking place then, January 31 is the deadline. But New Zealand Soccer are confident there are people in New Zealand who will back a team in the A-League and that discussions with them will start in earnest next week."

The license was taken from a holding company owned by Brian Katzen, Anthony Lee and Maurice Cox. Katzen co-founded Octagon Holdings in 1997, which owns 50 companies, employs 800 people and generates revenue of about US$300 million. Within Octagon's portfolio is English League One club Swansea City Football Club, which the company bought a major share of in 2002. At the time, Swansea were teetering on the brink of collapse but in the space of four years have turned things around on and off the pitch. Lee founded Student Support Centre in 1990 and built it into a business with 500 people and a turnover of NZ$20 million. Earlier this year, Katzen told the NZ Herald on Sunday: "We are not doing it for fun, you know. We're here to make money, otherwise I wouldn't be around."

He said he wouldn't panic about losses of NZ$3 million last season as "everything is a long ride. It takes years to get things right because in business, you have to invest for the long term, otherwise it doesn't make sense. If you want a quick fix, it's like gambling. "[What happened] last year makes me feel even more strongly about getting it right. It makes me want to prove to myself and to other people that we can make it in a rugby-mad culture."

Thailand hosts Beach Football trophy in Pattaya

Nine international teams of beach football players from Thailand, UK, Ireland, Holland, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Bangladesh and Pattaya Allstars Team will contend in a Beach Football Championship Trophy from 18-23 December on Jomtien Beach, Thailand, Pattaya Daily News reported. The game, played recreationally on beaches, was regularised in 1992 under the auspices of Beach Soccer Worldwide. Because of the unevenness of the sandy pitch, the game demands a high degree of improvisation from its participants. The compact pitch - 28x37 metres – lets the players score from virtually any angle. Accordingly, with such a small arena, the scores are usually high, on average 11 goals per game.

Rules: three 12-minute periods, five players per team, including the goalkeeper, unlimited substitutions from a choice of 3 - 5 extra players , every game must have a winner - the contest lasting for up to three minutes of overtime,followed by penalty kicks if the score remains tied, two referees per the match, fouls result in a free kick on goal, to be taken by the fouled player, blue cards may be issued, with the offender being banished for two minutes, whilst his team continues with one less player, shoes are not permitted, throw-ins are taken from the side lines - either with hands or feet , goal kicks are taken by the goalkeeper using his hands.

Bayern Munich to play Vietnam friendly in March

Leading Bundesliga club Bayern Munich will visit Vietnam between 17-31 March 2007 to play a friendly match with the host team. An agreement to the effect has been reached between representatives of the Vietnam Football Federation and Bayern Munich. However, the VFF has not yet decided whether the national team or the Olympic team will play in the game. Several players from the german club will be on duty with their national teams for Euro 2008 qualifying rounds, making it impossible for them to attend the match in Vietnam thus cutting down the team's travel cost to US$400,000, Vietnam Net reported.

Dong Fangzhou receives visa to play for Man United

After three years on loan with Belgian club Royal Antwerp, former Dalian Shide player Dong Fangzhou will finally make his move to Manchester United. The Chinese international has received a work permit and will arrive in England on 1 January and is ready to impress coach Sir Alex Ferguson. "Dong has been doing exceptionally well and scoring a lot of goals at Antwerp," Ferguson told MUTV, goal.com reported. "He has great pace and power and the boy has a big chance." United paid China Super League club Dalian Shide almost $7 million dollars for his services and until now, he has only appeared for the Red Devils on pre-season tours.

A-League still suffering financial growing pains

With a A$130 million pay-TV deal, crowds up to a tick over 120,000, a staggering 50,333 - a record for a club soccer match in Australia - turning out to watch Melbourne Victory play Sydney FC and media interest at an all-time high, the A-League should be allaying fears it would be a one-season wonder, Ray Gatt commented in The Australian. A little over 15 months since it kicked off amid much fanfare, the national competition has seemingly set its roots in an Australian footballing culture once dominated by the AFL and rugby codes. However recent revelation that the eight A-League clubs lost A$16 million between them last season and the fact that Perth Glory and New Zealand Knights are without owners has exposed the fragile nature of the league.

Football Federation Australia took control of the Knights on Thursday over alleged breaches of the Participation Agreement and claims it is owed in excess of $800,000 by the New Zealand club. The federation has also had to prop up Perth Glory and also holds a stake in Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory. Sydney FC won the inaugural title last season but it came at a huge cost with the club losing close to A$ 6million - a debt that is almost wiped it out. Had it not been for the intervention of the Lowy family, whose head Frank Lowy is chairman of FFA, the club would have struggled to survive.

Despite the financial concerns, it has not scared off potential investors with regional consortia from the Gold Coast, Wollongong and Canberra expressing interest in joining the A-League.

Jeonbuk finish fifth in FIFA 2006 Club World Cup

Asian Football Confederation champion club, Jeonbuk Motors of South Korea, yesterday beat the Oceania Football Confederation's mainly amateur Auckland City of New Zealand 3-0 to avoid last place in the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup tournament being played in Japan. Kim Hyeung-Bum scored a contender for goal of the tournament after teenager Lee Hyun-Seung's opener, and Ze Carlo wrapped it up with a second-half penalty. Jeonbuk were narrowly beaten in its opening game against CONCACAF's Club America of Mexico while Auckland, most of whose players have day jobs, went down 2-0 to Africa's Al Ahly of Egypt. Auckland was formed only two years ago and won this year's Oceania title mainly due to the absence of teams from Australia, which joined the Asian Football Confederation. Jeonbuk became the first East Asian team to win the AFC Champions League when they beat Al Harama of Syria over two legs last month.

Mahindra win 112th edition of India's IFA Shield

A depleted Mahindra United beat Mohun Bagan 1-0 to clinch India's IFA Shield for the first time at the Salt Lake Stadium. Manjit Singh scored the match-winner for Mahindra in the 13th minute. Playing without their key players due to injury or disciplinary issues, the Mumbai outfit thwarted the pair of Jose Ramirez Barreto and Baichung Bhutia to emerge victorious in the 112th edition of the tournament.

PSMS Medan takes third Bang Yos Gold Cup

PSMS Medan won the 2006 Bang Yos Gold Cup, the Governor of Jakarta's invitational tournament, its third consecutive victory, after defeating PSIS Semarang in a penalty shootout. PSMS won 3-1 after both teams tied 1-1 until the end of extra time. PSMS had led with a goal from striker Frank Seator in the 24th minute. However, after PSIS's Alfredo Figuero was fouled by PSMS defenders, a Julio Lopez kick from the penalty spot in the 41st put PSMS back even. The team defeated Persik Kediri, this year's Indonesian League winner, 2-1 in last year's final and beat Singapore's Geylang United 5-1 in 2004.

The two Australian state league clubs participating (Bulleen Zebras of the Victorian Premier League and Manly United from the NSW Premier League) did not post a win and collectively scored only two goals in their games against the four Indonesian national league clubs.

Tourism Malaysia to promote AFC Asian Cup 2007

The Asian Football Confederation and Tourism Malaysia have announced their collaboration to promote the AFC Asian Cup 2007 final competition, starting with the Final Draw to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on 19 December 2006. “The AFC Asian Cup is Asian football’s crown jewels, and we are committed to making it the best AFC competition ever. Through valuable partnerships in each of the host countries, we can achieve this.” said AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam. “One of these very valuable partnerships here in Malaysia is with Tourism Malaysia, and we are delighted with their support and enthusiasm. As Malaysia is one of the hosts, it is a great opportunity to further promote the country as a sporting venue.”

Tourism Malaysia’s Director General Dato’ Mirza Muhammad Taiyab added, “We’re all proud to be a part of such a dynamic and truly Asian tournament which from global television audience perspective, is the second largest single-sport event in Asia, second only to the FIFA World Cup. We are delighted that Malaysia was selected as one of the four hosts, as it coincides with our Visit Malaysia 2007 campaign year in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s Independence. We look forward to celebrating through football!”

Qatar beats Iraq for gold in Asian Cup football final

Qatar became the fourth hosts to win the 15th Asian Games football gold when they defeated Iraq 1-0 in the final at the Al Sadd Stadium yesterday. The solitary goal scored in the 63rd minute by Bilal Mohammed was enough to give Qatar the title. Iraq's Ali Rehema, standing in for suspended Younes Khalef, lamented that the absence of their regular captain had handicapped them. But he was happy nevertheless. "We wanted to win the gold, but we are happy to win a silver medal. Congratulations to Qatar," he told Suman Malla of Gulf Times.

At the start of the tournament everybody expected the traditional Asian football powers like Iran, Japan and South Korea to be the dominant teams in the men's football competition. But Qatar eliminated the defending champion Iran 2-0, in the semi-finals while Iraq ousted Asian powerhouse South Korea 1-0. Both finalists lost once during the competition, with Uzbekistan beating Qatar 1-0 in a group game and Iraq losing to China with the same scoreline.

Iraqi coach Yahya Manhel said he hoped people in Iraq would rejoice at the team's progress. "Football is the biggest sport in Iraq. Men, women and children all love it. There are many things which Iraqis disagree about but sport unites them," he said. Iraq had to beat near insurmountable odds to make it to their second Asian Games final. The security situation in Iraq prevented the side not only from having a training camp and they were also unable to practise for more than an hour a day.

ESPN Star Sports to promote UEFA Euro 2008

ESPN Star Sports has won the live and exclusive broadcast and live simulcast internet rights for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship (UEFA Euro 2008) across India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives, the company's managing director, Jamie Davis, confirmed. With this acquisition, ESS will be broadcasting all 31 matches from the tournament live and exclusive. The competition will feature the top 16 national teams from Europe and will be held in Austria and Switzerland in June, 2008. In addition to its live coverage of matches, ESS will be producing exclusive pre-game, post-game, and halftime shows around UEFA Euro 2008 as well as other localised content designed to broaden the base of football viewers in the Indian subcontinent.

Vietnam's HAGL goes down to Watford Reserves

Vietnamese football club, Hoang Anh Gia Lai lost to the reserves of English Premier League club Watford 3-0 in a friendly on Tuesday. It was the V-League team's opening match of its English tour. The Central Highlands' team will play Arsenal second team tomorrow, ahead of the match between Arsenal and Portsmouth at the Emirates Stadium in the afternoon. HAGL are scheduled to play a junior team of Tottenham Hotspur on 22 December. HAGL chairman Doan Nguyen Duc said playing against the Gunners on their home turf was "every Vietnamese football player's dream", Vietnam Net reported.

Dehli 'Vision India' project slower than expected

The progress of the Delhi project of the Asian Football Confederation’s ‘Vision India’ program over the last two years has been slower than expected, AFC director of national association and clubs development Brandon Menton, told Aditya Kumar of Express India during the FIFA Futuro III program for coaching, refereeing, administration and management being hosted by the All India Football Federation. “I won’t say the Delhi project has been disappointing, but it has been rather slow. There are valid reasons for it but that can be worked around. I hope the next year would be better than the last,” he said.

The Delhi project, started in 2005, had considerable success with the launch of the school league but the city league is yet to see the light of the day. “There has been several limitations with Delhi and a settled office was one of them, now it has been sorted so we are expecting results,” said Menton. “We hope under the new president, they will be able to take control of the Ambedkar Stadium and it would be a big shot in the arm for development of football in Delhi,” he added.

An AIFF-AFC delegation is expected to meet the Delhi Soccer Association to take stock of the situation and discuss the future course of action. “We would like to see the launch of the city league in the Capital. We hope it should kick-off by August 2007. We would also like to see more schools joining the league. There is a lot of potential for growth in Delhi, we can only hope that Delhi do not let the opportunity go. Delhi don’t have to look too far for inspiration. Manipur would be a great example for them to follow. The sense of purpose and the professional manner in which Manipur conduct their events is really heartwarming. So it’s for DSA to tighten the noose and get going,” said Menton.

Pakistan appointed host of 2007 President's Cup

The third edition of the Asian Football Confederation President’s Cup will be held in Lahore in April 2007, Pakistan Football Federation secretary general Arshad Khan Lodhi told a press conference at Football House. “The PFF is very serious about hosting international football events each year. The national federation hosted SAF Games in 2004, 6th SAFF Championships in 2005, the AFC U-14 Football Festival in 2006 and now the AFC President’s Cup will be hosted next year,” he said, as reported by the Daily Times.

Hicham El Amrani, AFC’s marketing manager and Sardar Naveed Haider Khan, PFF director of marketing, were also present to brief reporters about the annual eight-club show to be held at Punjab Stadium from 5-15 April. AFC President’s Cup will feature national champion clubs of eight countries. Nepal, Tajikistan, Chinese Taipei, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Cambodia will join the winner of the Pakistan Premier League.

Man United to play in Malaysia after Asian Cup

Tourism Malaysia has agreed to host one game in Manchester United's summer tour but only after the 2007 Asian Cup. Earlier the Asian Football Confederation feared that the English Premier League side visit would overshadow their flagship tournament, the Asian Cup. Tourism Malaysia is one of the sponsors of the Manchester United Far East tour and co-hosts of the AFC Asian Cup 2007, which runs through 7-29 July. One of the semi-finals will be held in Kuala Lumpur.

"If Manchester United come, they will be coming after the AFC Asian Cup. It will not affect the AFC Asian Cup in any way," Tourism Malaysia director general Mirza Mohammad Taiyab told media. "We are really happy to host one of Asia's and indeed the world's biggest football competitions. And what is more important is that it is coinciding with our Visit Malaysia 2007 campaign and the 50th anniversary of our independence," he said. Tourism is Malaysia's second-largest foreign exchange earner. Officials are targeting 20.1 million visitors for 2007.

FF Australia revokes NZ Knights A-League license

Football Federation Australia today determined that Octagon Sports Limited, owners of the New Zealand Knights Football Club, had breached their Club Participation Agreement for the Hyundai A-League and, as a result, have had their licence revoked. The FFA said the breach was due to an insolvency event. The licence has now been returned to the FFA who have reached agreement with New Zealand Soccer to manage the football team's operations for the remainder of the 2006-07 A-League season. The FFA has been in contact with the Knights players and ensured them of their contracts until the end of the current season. NZ national All Whites coach Ricki Herbert will assume the head coach position at the Knights immediately.

"The action that we had to take today is disappointing as the FFA has gone to great lengths since the commencement of the league to support Octagon Sports Limited who currently owe the FFA in excess of A$ 800,000," said FFA Head of Operations Matt Carroll. "In this context, it is disappointing that Octagon Sports Limited should suggest today that their viability is dependant on a relatively small scheduled grant being withheld by the FFA as a result of Octagon Sports Limited's long-term, multiple, serious Participation Agreement breaches."

FFA had previousl;y been advised by Anthony Lee, the Knight's Chairman, that the owners of the club wished to surrender their 5-year licence as they did not have the capacity to run the club. FFA considered this request, but in the interest of continuity and football, the FFA made Mr Lee an offer to relinquish the licence after the match on Sunday, 17 December. The offer by the FFA also included the Australian governing body wearing a substantial debt owed to it by the club. As there had been no formal response to the FFA offer from Mr Lee, FFA had put in place contingency plans, with the support of New Zealand Soccer, to ensure that the players are looked after and they play their remaining matches.

The issue came to a head today with Knights management issuing a statement accusing FFA withholding promised funds. "Currently, the NZ Knights are awaiting funds from the FFA in relation to the FOX Sports broadcasting partnership with the Hyundai A-League," it said. "These considerable funds (in quarterly payments) were promised to the Knights by the FFA but as of this moment are yet to be received. Upon receipt of those funds the NZ Knights will be in a position to continue in the Hyundai A-League. Without the promised payment the Knights participation in the Hyundai A-League is jeopardised."

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the Knights had run up debts of more than A$600,000 this season and that those losses will be worn by owners Brian Katzen, Anthony Lee and Maurice Cox. The FFA would take over the licence debt-free -- making it more attractive to potential buyers -- and would cover all the costs of running the team for the rest of the season. FFA chairman Frank Lowy told the newspaper recently that the governing body continued to support the concept of a New Zealand-based team in the A-League, despite the club's many failures on and off the field.

Germany to assist Indian football professionalism

The All India Football Federation and Deutsche Futball Liga, which runs Bundesliga in Germany, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to share knowledge and experience to develop the game in India. According to AFCMedia, AIFF General Secretary Alberto Colaco and DFL's Chief Operating Officer, Holger Hieronymus signed an agreement to exchange managerial, technical and sporting know-how.

“Germany has a upper-hand over India in terms of organisation of the league, the marketing of clubs and the league, et al. Our first aim is to popularize German football in India but we would also be involved in the areas of management and organisation, youth programme and sporting activities,” Hieronymus said.

Malaysians gather to discuss football directions

A three-day International Football Symposium on Malaysian football starts Monday in Kuala Lumpur, hosted by the Football Association of Malaysia, FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation and supported by the National Sports Council. Keynote speakers include Datuk Peter Velappan, AFC general secretary, Dr Gyorgy Mezey from FIFA technical committee who was also a member of the Technical Study in the last World Cup and Takashi Ono, technical director of the Japan Football Association.

Coaches, past and present, have also been invited to give their views and observations about the present status of Malaysian football and the best direction it should take. National team coach, Norizan Bakar, will present a paper on the preparation of the Malaysian team for the 2007 Asian Cup; B. Sathianathan, the Malaysian Olympic head coach who FAM sent to Germany for the World Cup, will also present a paper on the Malaysian World Cup dream; and National youth coach K. Rajagopal will give his analysis of the Malaysian team at the recent Asian Youth Championships in Bangalore, India.

"We have received some heavy criticism and also suggestions from those who do not wish to see the game erode any further in Malaysia, so we will be discussing its direction, what we have done and are we on the right track," said Robert Alberts, FAM technical director. "I am hoping very much that there will also be a change of mentality among the participants as we need to be positive and find ways and means to see how we can improve. We also hope to learn from the experts who are coming to this symposium," Roberts.told Christopher Raj of the New Straits Times.

Some 200 participants from State FAs, National Sports Council and other associations and organisations are expected to attend.

English 'divers' may be grounded by video evidence

The Football Association of England is hoping to persuade world football's governing body FIFA to allow it to use video evidence to punish players retrospectively for diving. "Basically we want FIFA to be more flexible on how video evidence can be used for disciplinary matters," an FA spokesman told Reuters. "We have only raised it in principle at the moment and we will ask again at the FIFA Board meeting in March."

The FA already uses video evidence retrospectively for certain situations, such as in cases of wrongful dismissal or where a referee did not see a particular incident. However, with high-profile cases of diving hitting the headlines on a weekly basis, the FA wants more power to bring the offenders to book. "We already use video evidence more than every other country," the spokesman said. "We know that there is a need to protect the authority of the referee but also to protect the sense of fairness and justice."

Man United's Gala Dinner for UN Children's Fund

English Premier League club Manchester United’s Old Trafford dinner for international charity partner UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is an important annual. Funds raised from this tonight's United for UNICEF Gala Dinner will support UNICEF’s five-year global children and AIDS campaign, ‘Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS’, helping children and young people orphaned and affected by HIV and AIDS across the world. Manchester United this year officially committed itself to supporting this campaign, pledging to raise £1 million over the next four years, through the United for UNICEF partnership. This year's event had an African theme, in recognition of the team’s pre-season tour of South Africa where the squad visited a number of NICEF-supported HIV and AIDS programs.

The event featured a high profile Grand Auction offering prizes including the chance to join the team on its Far East Tour in 2007, flying on the team plane and staying at the team hotel, along with a silent auction and raffle giving attendees the chance to win money-can’t-buy prizes whilst supporting UNICEF work. "We are delighted with the support that Manchester United shows to the 'United for UNICEF' partnership by hosting this event each year. Every single penny of the proceeds from tonight’s event will help UNICEF to make a real and positive difference to the lives and futures of children worldwide,” UNICEF UK Executive Director David Bull said.

Inter officials visit Bahrain ahead of friendly

Officials from Italian Serie A club Inter Milan arrived in Bahrain on a one-day visit to assess the Kingdom's preparations to host its friendly against the Bahrain national team on 6 January. Inter's team manager Guido Sussini, accompanied by physical fitness trainer Ivan Carvini, met with Bahrain Football Association vice-president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa. The meeting was also attended by officials from SP Middle East which is promoting the team's training camp and the friendly match.

The Italian officials also visited National Stadium, Al Ahli, BFA grounds and the General Organisation for Youth and Sports' physical fitness gym at the National Stadium which will be used by the team during their stay, Gulf Daily News reported.

Inter Milan's tour will be held during a 10-day Bahrain football festival from 1 to 10 January marking the BFA's 50th anniversary and is part of Bahrain team preparations for the upcoming 18th Gulf Cup scheduled from 17 to 30 January in Abu Dhabi. Inter is scheduled to arrive on 2 January.

FIFA sacks officials after sponsorship debacle

FIFA has sacked marketing director Jerome Valcke and three others following a US court ruling over the Mastercard v Visa sponsor debacle. Valcke, FIFA’s director of marketing and TV and colleagues Tom Houseman, Robert Lampman and Stefan Schuster were all shown the door by football’s governing body.

A US judge ruled long-time FIFA partner Mastercard should be reinstated as sponsor of the FIFA World Cup for both 2010 and 2014. The court declared a sponsorship contract concluded between FIFA and Visa was invalid and ordered FIFA to implement the contract that had been negotiated but not concluded with Mastercard on the grounds that FIFA had breached its obligation to give Mastercard first refusal.

“In this context, the FIFA employees who had conducted negotiations with Visa and Mastercard were accused of repeated dishonesty during negotiations and of giving false information to the FIFA deciding bodies in question. Even though the judgment has proved to be very biased in favour of Mastercard, the fact cannot be overlooked that FIFA's negotiations breached its business principles. FIFA cannot possibly accept such conduct among its own employees. FIFA is currently considering lodging an appeal against the court's judgment, while taking account of the interests of every party involved and seeking suitable solutions,” FIFA said in a statement.

North Korea wins Asian Games women's football

North Korea beat Japan 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a scoreless regular and extra time to win the gold medal of the women's soccer tournament at the 15th Asian Games. In the bronze medal match, China defeated South Korea 2-0.

Kuwait "scared of us" Australians finally reply

Australia's Socceroos coach Graham Arnold said he wasn't surprised at stinging attacks last week from Kuwaiti-based Arab officials over Australia's entry into the Asian Football Confederation. West Asian Games president, Sheikh Talal al Fahd al Sabah, labelled the AFC's decision "the biggest mistake made against Asian soccer" and called on Australia to be booted out of the confederation after the Asian Cup finals. This echoed an earlier attack on Australia by his brother, Ahmad Al-Fahad Al Sabah, the president of the Olympic Council of Asia. But Arnold said that criticism was to be expected after the Socceroos knocked Kuwait out in the group stages of the Asian Cup.

"We're new into Asia and they are scared of us," Arnold told Guy Hand of The Australian. "Once the World Cup qualifiers kick off and we take an Asian team's position, they'll probably be even more upset. It was the first time in 24 years they've (Kuwait) missed the Asian Cup. Because we were in their group he (the sheikh) wasn't probably too happy."

Arnold disclosed that Australia had dismissed security fears ahead of next year's Asian Cup finals and will base themselves in any of the four countries they are drawn to play group matches - including Indonesia. "Wherever we go, I'm sure security will be good," Arnold said.

The FFA is trying to arrange two friendlies for the Socceroos in Australia in June ahead of the Asian Cup - possibly against Argentina on June 2 in Sydney and June 6 in Melbourne. The team will then go into a 10-day camp prior to departing for Asia. "We need that (a 10-day training camp) before we travel across. It's going to be hot conditions wherever we do go, so we'll have a camp somewhere it's quite warm," Arnold said. "Those based in Europe finish their competitions in May, so they'll have four weeks off (prior to the camp). We'll look at a location where the step up in temperatures won't be so severe."

See also: Australia's 'No Comment" on Arab expulsion call (11 Dec)

Nike signs largest Australian football sponsorship

The corporate commitment to football in Australia reached a new high today when Football Federation Australia announced its biggest ever sponsorship agreement with Nike. The two companies revealed that they had renewed their successful partnership and had entered into a nine-year agreement that will see Nike continue to be the official Performance Partner of the FFA and its national teams. It is by far the biggest sponsorship agreement signed for football in Australia and is Nike’s biggest ever commitment to any sport in Australia. The sponsorship, which represents a significant increase in the value of the previous agreement, covers the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, 2007, 2011 and 2015 AFC Asian Cups and the 2007 and 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cups.

Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley said that the size and length of the partnership was a clear indicator of the level of support there is for football in the corporate sector. “Nike was the first company to take the leap of faith with the game when ‘New Football’ was launched and I’m delighted that we will now be able to further develop what has already been an extremely successful partnership. The national team jersey created by Nike for the World Cup has already become a symbol of international sporting success for all Australians. It’s no wonder so many tens of thousands of Australians now own one,” he said.

Nike Pacific MD Paul Zadoff said: “In 2004 Nike was excited about the potential of football in Australia and the success of the game over the past two years has surpassed our expectations - not only at the highest level of the game with both the Socceroos and Matildas success, but also the increasing popularity of the Hyundai A-League and the growing levels of participation in the sport at grassroots. Nike’s significant nine-year commitment to the game and our ongoing relationship with the FFA and the national teams will only strengthen our leadership in the world’s most popular game, particularly going into the Asian Cup next year.”

UPDATE

According to Ray Gatt in The Australian, the Nike contract with the FFA is up to three times more than the previous deal which had been struck in 2004, A spokesperson for Nike told him it was "significantly" better than anything any other sporting organisation in Australia had received from the company, including the AOC. "On a year-by-year basis, the deal outstrips our previous contracts with the AOC for the 2000 and 2004 Olympics," the spokesperson said. "In terms of the length of the contract, nothing like that has been done here, though there are deals with Manchester United and the Brazilian national team that have been over longer periods."

Under the terms of the Australian deal, which includes all gear, equipment and marketing expertise, the Socceroos, the Matildas, the Young Socceroos (U-20) and Joeys (U-17) will be sponsored through until the end of 2015. It is expected a new Socceroos jersey will be unveiled in 2008, and every two years after that. Nike is also the boot sponsor of several Socceroos, including Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton, Archie Thompson and Mark Milligan.

Singapore tickets for AFF Cup go on sale

Tickets are now on sale in Singapore for the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship . Defending champions Singapore will play their first match against 1998 runners-up Vietnam on 13 January at the National Stadium, followed by Laos on 15 January and Indonesia on 17 January. All Group A matches will be contested at Singapore’s National Stadium and Jalan Besar Stadium and Group B at Thailand’s Suphachalasai Stadium and Army Stadium. In Singapore's national Stadium, tickets in the Grandstand go for US$6.50, in the Adult Gallery US$3.90 and in the Child Gallery US$1.3 In the Jalan Besar Stadium it is US$3.90 in the Adult Gallery and US$$1.3 in the Child Gallery.

South Korea's Busan wins Binh Duong TV Cup

South Korean Busan FC edged out Vietnamese hosts Binh Duong to win 3-2 in the final of the 2006 Binh Duong Television Cup. On the way to the final, Binh Duong beat V-League defending champions Dong Tam Long An, while Busan crushed Pisico Binh Dinh 4-0. Busan FC pocketed a cash prize of US$20,000, while Binh Duong won $10,000. Pisico Binh Dinh were placed third.

Malaysian football show turns into a club reality

Continuing from the popular Malaysian MyTeam TV Reality Show, the UPB-MyTeam FC will debut in the country's second-level Premier League on 22 December. "We are no Chelsea, we rather be like a low-cost carrier," team manager Khairy Jamaluddin told Jugjet Singh of the New Straits Times after introducing his players. Ten players have been retained from the TV show squad, while two foreigners, Croatians Mijo Dadic and Marin Mikac, the national skipper, Khaironissam Shahbuddin and ex-internationals Mohamed Harris Safwan Kamal, Mohamed Faizal Abdul Rashid and Yosri Dermarajoo were added to give the team stability. The team will be coached by Bojan Hodak, from Croatia, and assisted by Khan Hung Meng and Abdul Rashid Hassan.

Being ‘homeless’, the MyTeam management has opted for Malacca to be their base but plans are afoot re-open Stadium Merdeka’s rusty gates and bring back football to the landmark stadium which not only played host to Malaysia’s best but also the best from Asia and some world class club teams. Their club crest, which bears some similarity to that of Liverpool FC, has ‘Est 2006’ engraved on it and Khairy emphasised that they are no fly-by-night operation.

"The reason we merged with UPB (United Plantations of Jenderata Estate in Perak) is because we have similar goals. UPB has been working to develop the grassroots, and MyTeam also works along the same line. I would like to stress here that we are not in it for instant success, pumping in money and buying all the top players available. We would like to move up slowly, as this is a long-term investment. We are coming in just as clubs are deserting the sport, we are swimming against the current because we want to help revitalise local football," said Khairy.

New Zealanders now deemed 'imports' in Australia

A-League head of operations Matt Carroll said a recent ruling by the Asian Football Confederation that New Zealanders playing with Australian clubs will in future be classed as imports would have a positive knock-on effect for the New Zealand Knights FC. There are seven Kiwis playing with Australian A-League clubs - most of whom were overlooked by the Knights, who have only four home-grown players in their squad. "The AFC has confirmed that clubs competing in the Asian Champions League can have only three imports on their list, making Australian clubs less inclined to target Kiwi talent. To me, that makes it even more important for the Knights to provide a pathway for top-class New Zealand talent," Carroll told Michael Cockerill of the Sydney Morning Herald.

VTTC gets broadcast Vietnam rights to AFF Cup

The Vietnam Television Technology Company has won the exclusive broadcasting rights to the ASEAN Football Championship – formerly known at the Tiger Cup – to be co-hosted by Thailand and Singapore from 12 January to 4 February. VTC is expected to sign a broadcasting deal with the World Sports Group today. The group stages will be held in Singapore and Thailand from 12-17 January 2007, with the top two teams from each pool progressing through to the semi-finals on 23-24 January and 27-28 January. Vietnam will be competing with Singapore, Indonesia and Laos in Group B of the biennial tournament.

AFC Elite Education Seminar programs in January

The Asian Football Confederation will hold a series of course and lectures during its Elite Education Seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A total of six courses – coach education, (22-27 January - Instructors 11, Participants 33), referees’ instructors (22-23 January - Instructors 2, Participants 20), referees’ assessors (24-25 January - Instructors 2, Participants 30), men elite referees (26-28 January - Instructors 2, Participants 60), women elite referees (27-29 January - Instructors 2, Participants 50) and match commissioners (22-29 January - Instructors 2, Participants 70) will be presented at AFC House. The courses, conducted by experts, are designed to improve and enhance knowledge in key areas of football and comprise both theoretical and practical aspects of the game, AFCMedia reported.

Iraq and Qatar make suprise Asian Games final

Iraq capitalised on its only real chance and beat South Korea 1-0 to stay on track for its first Asian Games' football gold in more than two decades. Host Qatar upset defending champion Iran 2-0 to reach the final for the first time. Qataris filled the Al-Sadd Football Stadium to see their team pull off the biggest upset of the football competition, beating the Iranians – who had been on a 15-game winning streak at the games – in a very physical match. It was the first time Qatar had made it to the semis. Iraq captain Khaleef said he was looking forward to playing Qatar in Friday's final. “It will be an all-Arab derby,” he told Eric Talmadge of AP.

Saudi Arabia FF to introduce foreign referees

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation has decided to use foreign referees for important league and cup matches following crowd trouble triggered by poor refereeing in two recent league encounters. "Blatant mistakes by referees in the Al Hilal-Al Nasr and Al Ahli-Al Hilal matches upset the crowd who threw missiles on the pitch and resorted to violence in the car-parks outside it," AFCMedia reported.

Prince Sultan Bin Fahd, President of the SAFF and Youth Welfare Presidency, expressed his regret over the incidents. “The Youth Welfare Presidency is keen on preserving fair play in the competition among all clubs. The presidency is also keen on doing away any negative effects or acts inside or outside our stadiums. Such actions, off late, have come as a result of referee's mistakes leading to destruction of property and private cars."

The FF has suspended the referee of the Al Ahli-Al Hilal match for a year and set up a committee to study the reasons behind the poor refereeing. Al Ahli have also been ordered to play one match outside Jeddah because of their fans’ behaviour.

Australia's 'No Comment" on Arab expulsion call

Keen not to rock the boat after less than a year in the Asian Football Confederation, Football Federation Australia offered a blanket "no comment" in response to Kuwaiti officials' calls to throw Australia out of the AFC, AAP reported.

See also: Arab officials continue campaign against Australia (10 Dec)

Korea FA introduces Pro Diploma Coaching Course

The Korean Football Association has become the first FA in Asia to introduce the AFC Professional Football Diploma Coaching Course, the most advanced coaching course in Asia. Twenty-four professional team coaches, both active and former, are currently enrolled for the course which is being held at the Paju National Football Centre. The coaching licence course is conducted exclusively by the AFC once every two years for coaches who have an AFC ‘A’ licence. But the KFA has been allowed to organise the course to provide more opportunities to professional team coaches for keeping themselves abreast of the latest in coaching techniques. The course comprises three sessions in a year, including programmes like fitness conditioning, game and strategy analysis, professional club management, sport medicine, sport psychology, communication and club visits.

“Introduction of the ‘P course’ is a worldwide trend in football coaching. The KFA got approval from FIFA and AFC to conduct the course,” Cho Young-jung, executive director of the National Football Center, told AFCMedia. “Without the P license, it would be difficult to take a head coach’s position in professional football. The program targets coaches in professional leagues and it could help quality improvement of coaches not only in coaching and player management but technical skills as a manager and coordinator in a team,” he added.

PL clubs react to mooted gaming sponsorship ban

Tottenham Hotspur chairman, Daniel Levy, is outraged by a British Government investigation into whether top football clubs should be prevented from being sponsorsed by online gaming sites. The UK Sports Minister Richard Caborn has instructed the Gambling Commission to probe whether the sponsorships break regulations prohibiting such sites targeting children. “I think it’s ridiculous," Levy said. "This country freely advertises the lottery on TV and billboards. It’s no different. What about all the alcohol advertising you get on billboards? I just think it’s nonsense.”

Earlier this month Sport and Technology disclosed how one online gaming company is using football to penetrate Asian markets. Launched in September 2004, Mansion (Gibraltar) Limited is a fully licensed gaming company employing over 130 industry experts and member support staff. In 2006, Mansion signed a four-year £34 million shirt sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Under the terms of the deal, Mansion will partner Spurs across a wide range of commercial activities including targeting of the Asian market and a co-branded internet gaming site that will operate on a revenue share basis.

Mansionpoker.net is a free play online poker site where players can hone their strategy and qualify for a seat and a chance to share in the $2 million-plus prize pool on offer in the company's Poker Dome Challenge, a 43-week televised tournament series in Las Vegas. Mansionpoker.net has attracted over 200,000 registered players since launching in late May 2006. “A highly resilient infrastructure is fundamental to the success and continued growth of our business – even the shortest outage of service would be damaging and result in players turning to our competitors’ online gaming environments,” said Grant Brett, Mansion's head of IT.

English footballers back books-reading intitiative

Ever wondered if footballers read in their spare time? David James, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Eidur Gudjohnsen are among twenty English Premiership players who have revealed their favourite books as part of an English initiative called Premier League Reading Stars which is aimed at encouraging people of all ages to read more books and access their local libraries. Each club has nominated a Reading Champion, who has selected their favourite children or adult's book to create a list that will be used to inspire families across the country to read.

Players have selected a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, including Dan Brown's bestselling thriller "The Da Vinci Code" (Kevin Davies, Bolton Wanderers), Roald Dahl's classic "Matilda" (Steven Caldwell, Sunderland) and Lance Armstrong's inspirational autobiography "It's Not About The Bike" (Stephen Clemence, Birmingham City).

The scheme has been developed as part of a partnership between the National Literacy Trust, Arts Council England, Football Foundation and the Premier League, and will be supported by a series of family reading groups at libraries across the country. All clubs have adopted at least one library, who receive free copies of all the player recommended titles. All participants have the chance to meet an author, and take part in a series of football based literacy games throughout the initiative.

Dave Richards, Chairman of the Premier League and the Football Foundation, said: "With Premier League Reading Stars, we hope to be able to use footballers' favourite book choices as a way of inspiring families to read together. The programme gives players the opportunity to act as positive role models and shows that by using the power of football we can successfully change people's attitudes to reading."

Gary McKeone, Director of Literature at Arts Council England, said: 'We're delighted with the success of the scheme so far in bringing together football clubs and local libraries. We have seen how the iconic power of footballers helps to encourage children to read more, and, even more importantly, to enjoy reading more. We look forward to seeing the scheme develop so it can reach even more children and their families across the country."

Neil McClelland, Director of the National Literacy Trust, said: "Children who grow up in a home where reading is valued are being given the best start in life. By tapping into people's passion for football and providing positive role models, Premier League Reading Stars is able to inspire families to enjoy reading and sharing books together."

Will Rob Bain guide Australia to a World Cup win?

A Dutchman, 63-year-old Rob Baan, has been appointed Australia's "first meaningful and internationally experienced" technical director, Craig Foster commented in the Sydney Morning Herald. "Baan's appointment has been received with a subdued acceptance, yet his influence could potentially be as great as that of Guus Hiddink ... because the work can now begin under Baan for Australia to win a World Cup, not just qualify for one. If Hiddink's influence quickly showed a better way for Australia, and thus that change was both needed and eminently possible, Baan's appointment will solidify gains made, and ensure methodology is imported to accelerate our improvement."

Inter Milan to set up long-term Australian program

Italian Series A football club Inter Milan has announced its intent to have a long-term presence in Australia with plans to bring some top youth coaches to teach Australia's future stars. The club also wants to set up a university-level course to help Australia's leading coaches as well as an exchange program that will give our best players and coaches the chance to work overseas. Inter's representative in Australia, Vince Colagiuri, said the way forward was to forge links with Europe's finest coaches.

"We [Australia] have the raw material, we just don't have the good coaching and the good environment," he told John Stomo of the Sydney Morning Herald. "The guys who are coming out are super-experienced youth development coaches and they want to contribute to improving our system. The only way we, as coaches, are going to get better is to be exposed to better coaches." The coaches will arrive late next month and their agenda will include a player scouting expedition, as well as seminars to lay the groundwork for these programs.

Arab officials continue campaign against Australia

An Arab backlash against Australia's inclusion in the Asian Football Confederation is continuing. Following an outburst by Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, the Olympic Council of Asia president, his brother, Sheik Talah al-Fahd Al Sabah, president of the West Asian Games committee, publically stated: "We are against Australia joining the Asian continent, even in soccer. This is the biggest mistake made against Asian soccer. This will kill the ambitions of Asian soccer ... What are we going to benefit from Australia's soccer team when it plays a game with Asia? Is it the experience? We might play with them once every four years, not more"

Sheik Talal envisaged no trouble removing Australia from the AFC. "It is natural to be able to change the decision. A general assembly can annul it the way it approved it," he told a news conference at the ongoing Asian Games in Doha reported by The Age. "There are general assemblies that can ask them to leave the way they brought them in. I hope this happens before the World Cup qualifications."

See also: Olympic head calls Australia into Asia "a mistake" (6 Dec)

Malaysian team gives foreign coach extension

Steve Darby has had a two-year extension to his contract with Perak FA in the Malaysian Super League to the end of 2008. Darby is considered the most successful foreign coach in South East Asia with League and Cup wins in Malaysia and Singapore and a SEA Games Gold for Vietnam.

While Darby was still coaching S-League club, Home United, in 2005, ESPN Star Sport's Jason Dasey wrote: "They don't come any more international than football coach Steve Darby. He was born in England, matured in Australia and .... In between, he's coached in Bahrain, Vietnam, the UK and Malaysia ... You'd never guess that he's spent more than a quarter of a century making a living out of football around the world, marrying a former Miss Hanoi and picking up the Vietnamese and Malay languages ... with an astute football brain and good communication skills, he's enjoyed more than his fair share of success."

Singapore squad called-up for King's Cup and AFF

Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic has called up a squad of 25 to begin preparations for the 37th King’s Cup in Bangkok, Thailand (24–30 Dec) and the ASEAN Football Championship (12 Jan–4 Feb 2007). Singapore will play Kazakhstan, Vietnam and hosts Thailand at the King’s Cup and will begin their defence of the ASEAN Football Championship on home soil in January having been drawn in Group B with Vietnam , Laos and Indonesia. Centralised training begins on 10 December with the squad scheduled to fly out to Bangkok on 22 December.There is a first senior call-up for SAFFC fullback Hafiz Osman after the 22-year-old’s assured performances for the U-23s at the recent Asian Games, AFCMedia reported.

AFC to resume assistance to Cambodian football

The Asian Football Confederation will resume funding of Cambodian football after observers said elections for the Cambodian Football Federation presidency were free and fair. General Sao Sokha, the national Military Police commander and close ally of Prime Minister Hun Sen, was re-elected as CFF president on Saturday for a four-year term. The new CFF executive committee comprises Senior Vice President Ravy Khek, Vice President Keo Sarin, Treasurer Bopha Saradeth Phuong and General Secretary Yean Chheang.

Rene Z Adad, deputy chairman of the AFC's legal committee, said the polls were legitimate and international aid would resume. "I was very much impressed with what we have witnessed," Adad told a news conference reported by Ek Madra of The Guardian. "It really followed the democratic process. As the rules have been followed, the election therefore has to be recognised."

Sao Sokha said financial support for the war-scarred country was essential. "Cambodia is a poor country and has just has earned its peace. I urge FIFA, the AFC, the AFF and others to provide for us support both financially and technically so that we can improve our soccer."

Pele school lost in Singapore casino decision

Genting International has won the high-stakes bid for Singapore's second casino resort with a multi-billion-dollar pitch focused on a movie-based theme park and the world's largest aquarium. One loser was Eighth Wonder, a Las Vegas firm which teamed up with Australia's Publishing & Broadcasting and two other partners. The costliest bid, Eighth Wonder's proposal included a football stadium and football-theme hotel. Brazilian football legend Pele was enlisted to run a sports school.

Britain looks at banning gaming shirt sponsorship

Online gambling companies may be stopped from advertising on English football shirts. The UK Gambling Commission is concerned such advertisements might be encouraging children to bet, especially when they appear on youngsters' replica kits for Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough and others. The sudden arrival on the scene of online gaming companies with huge advertising budgets has helped fuel a 25 percent increase in spending on shirt sponsorship deals in the English Premier League in the last season alone, with the amount now totalling £70 million.

Some clubs appear to have seen the row coming. Manchester United pulled out of shirt sponsorship talks with Gibraltar-based, Indonesian-linked betting group Mansion after becoming unhappy with the association with gambling. In May, Mansion signed up Spurs instead, in a £34 million deal. The club insisted the company could only use the word 'Mansion' and the logo, rather than the website addresses of its gambling sites.

However, "it is not clear whether such agreements would be enough to satisfy a critical Gambling Commission investigation," commented Jim Armitage in the Evening Standard, "as simply typing 'Mansion' and 'gaming' into Google takes viewers directly to the casino.

AFC has 'Plan B' to replace Iran in Asian Cup draw

Asian Football Confederation Assistant General Secretary and Director of Competitions Carlo Nohra said a ‘Plan B’ was in place for the AFC Asian Cup Official Draw in case Iran failed to meet FIFA’s conditions by the fast approaching deadline of 12 December. Nohra’s comments come a day after FIFA chief Joseph Blatter warned Iran that failure to comply with FIFA’s stipulations, which includes setting up of a normalisation committee by next Tuesday, would mean the three-time champions would not be able to take part in the AFC Asian Cup.

“We do have a Plan B which will be communicated to the AFC Competitions Committee for consideration when we reach the 12th,” said Nohra. “But we hope the situation will resolve itself. “As Iran is a traditional power and have qualified, we don’t want our biggest competition the AFC Asian Cup to be without them. We want our best 16 teams in the draw.”

Malaysia can rise again in football "in 10 years"

In November, Malaysian football nose-dived several rungs to 153rd spot on FIFA's world rankings. But there is still hope, at least according to World Sports Group President, Seamus O'Brien. In an interview with Jackson Sawatan of Bernama newsagency, the head of the company controlling marketing rights to the Asian Football Confederation made known his feelings that Malaysian football is salvageable, provided the condition is right.

"If you start now, in 10 years maybe you can have a respectable position ... there's absolutely no reason why Malaysia cannot be a very successful football team," he said. "Start 'em young. It's very hard to take a person who is already 16 and try to teach him how to play football. You've got to start teaching them when they are seven or eight years old, or at the time whey they first kick the ball," he said, adding that "the coach has got to be as good for an eight year old as he is for a 20 year old."

O'Brien cited Japan as an example of how a country can be successful in football development. He said that the country had invested a lot of efforts, time and resources to produce "a whole army" of good coaches and send them to schools to teach football to the young. "If you use the example of Japan, South Korea and even Australia, and you analyse how they've achieved (success) -- and what they have taken to achieve this -- it's significant. And it's not just about just going out and acquiring a good coach or building a decent stadium. You have to move the whole mechanism that is producing talents in football... and Japan has got hundreds of soccer coaches that are in the school system, making sure that those eight, 10, 15 or 16 year olds in the school system come into a professional environment with the skills and technique of the game correct, as good as they can be. That works for Japan. They started soon after the 1992 Asian Cup and launched the J-League the year after. That was when they put in serious commitment at all levels," he said.

To O'Brien, it's not a question of the lack of talents. "If you believe that everybody is born equal, then it's not a question of talents. It's all about what happens after that. And as countries have proven, everybody can play football. The talent base is equal," he added. "The overriding issue is where the talent pool must come ... you've got to think where do I want the M-League to go in 2015 and fix the process to get there.".

However he noted that there are some "fundamental issues" in the structuring of Malaysia's professional league, particulalry the apparent "disconnect" in the transition from states-based football to club-based football. "You've got a highly successful football league model based on states. Football is a place-based sports. The supporters and the fans come from place-based rivalries ... its tribalism. Football is often referred to as a very tribal sport. M-League as a state-based team is widely successful. In the 80s and 90s you have massive crowd. What happens is (the introduction of) football clubs (which does not represent a place or a state). There clearly is a disconnect in that process, to the point where the fans actually become dissociated rather than feeling an enhanced attachment to the clubs," he said.

In places like Japan, the teams used to be based on companies but the country had since moved into place-based or city-based clubs. "South Korea has not yet successfully made that full transition which is why the anomaly that the national team is successful but the football club isn't, because the teams aren't associated with cities," he said. But South Korea can afford that kind of anomaly and emerged as a football giant in Asia because it had a very good coaching system, he added.

Asia retains its 4.5 places for 2010 World Cup

Then Asian Football Confederation has retained its four-and-a-half places for the 2010 World Cup finals, FIFA decided during a board meeting in Zurich. The football governing body decided not to dock a berth for South Africa 2010 from Asia, which did not have a single team reach the second round at Germany this summer. Asian champion Japan, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia were all eliminated in the group phase. "I thought Europe would be given an extra berth," Kozo Tashima, general secretary of the Japan Football Association, told The Yomiuri Shimbun. "It's a very good thing Asia did not lose a place."

Europe will have 13 places, Africa 5, South America 4-1/2 and North & Central America, Caribbean (CONCACAF) 3-1/2. South Africa automatically qualifies as the host.

The playoff format for a potential fifth slot against the Oceania Football Confederation remains undetermined. Oceania could be included in the Asian qualifiers altogether, or the region's first-place team could play off against the fifth-place team from Asia. For the 2006 World Cup, Bahrain, Asia's fifth-place team, played off against Trinidad & Tobago, the fourth-place CONCACAF team. Trinidad & Tobago won over two legs to reach its first World Cup.

The Oceania Football Federation and New Zealand officials have been lobbying FIFA to get a play-off against Asian opposition instead of the feared play-off against the fifth team in South America.

Dates and teams for Indonesia's 2007/08 League

Placement of 34 clubs in the two conferences of Indonesia's 2007 Premier League was finalised by the League and National Team Committee at a Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) meeting in Surabaya, capital city of East Java province, on 5 December, PSSI website reported. Fittingly, seven teams from East Java will participate in the competition which is regarded as an audition for the 18-only franchises that will be available in the new Indonesian Super League being launched in 2008.

Zone 1 (Western Conference)

PSDS Deli Serdang
PSMS Medan
Semen Padang
Sriwijaya FC
Persita Tangerang
Persikota Tangerang
Persija Jakarta
Persitara Jakarta
Persib Bandung
Persiraja Banda Aceh
PSSB Bireun
Persikabo Bogor
Pelita Jaya Purwakarta
PSIS Semarang
PSS Sleman
Persik Kediri
Persela Lamongan
Persema Malang


Zone 2 (Eastern Division)

Persipura Jayapura
Persiwa Wamena
Persiter Ternate
Persmin Minahasa
Persibom Bolaang Mongondouw
PSM Makassar
PKT Bontang
Persiba Balikpapan
Persegi Bali FC
Perseman Manokwari
Persma Manado
Persebaya Surabaya
Persis Solo
Persijap Jepara
PSIM Yogyakarta
Arema Malang
Persekabpas Pasuruan
Deltras Sidoarjo

The Premier League commences 6 February then will break on 30 March to allow Indonesia's nation squad to prepare for the Asian Cup. The season will resume after the Cup final is played in Jakarta on July and conclude in January 2008.

The national squad is Goalkeeper: Hendro Kartiko (Persija), Syamsidar (PSM), Yandri Christian Pitoy (Persipura), Ferry Rotinsulu (Sriwijaya FC); Defender: Bayu Sutha (Persema Malang), Firmansyah (Persikota), Ledi Utomo (Persita), Maman Abdurachman (PSIS), Ricardo Salampessy (Persipura), Dian Fachrudin (Persema), Erol Iba (Arema Malang), Ismed Sofyan (Persija), Mahyadi Panggabean (PSMS Medan), Muhammad Ridwan (PSIS), Supardi (PSMS); Midfielder: Agus Indra Kurniawan (Persija), Eka Ramdhani (Persib Bandung), Jefri Dwi Hadi (Persik Kediri), Ponaryo Astaman (Arema Malang), Syamsul Bachri (PSM), Atep (Persija), Budi Sudarsono (Persik), Eli Aiboy (ex Selangor); Forwards: Ahmad Amirudin (PSM), Bambang Pamungkas (ex Selangor), Ilham Jayakesuma (Persita), Saktiawan Sinaga (PSMS), Zaenal Arif (Persib).

EA signs 4.4 million Asian users for FIFA Online

Electronic Arts launched an online version of FIFA in Asia in May. According to CFO, Warren Jenson, the company has since signed up 4.5 million users and, at one point as many as 85,000 football fans have been playing at the same time. The game itself is free. However, over the summer, EA began tempting addicted players with small in-game purchases for things like an expert coach, charisma, energy drinks, and even the ability to wipe your slate clean and start from the beginning, he told delegates to the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference.

FIFA suspends funds to 22 Asian associations

The FIFA Executive Committee has determined that the dates for the final competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be 11 June to 11 July 2010. The allocation of places will be the same as for 2006: Europe: 13; Africa: 5; Asia and Oceania: 5 (4.5 + 0.5; play-off); South America and CONCACAF: 8 (4.5 + 3.5; play-off); hosts (South Africa): 1. Oceania's preliminary competition will cover three phases: the South Pacific Games 2007, the OFC Nations Cup 2008 and culminating in the winning team entering a group in Asia's final round.

The FIFA Executive Committee also decided that payments from the FIFA Financial Assistance Program will be suspended until further notice for 59 member associations that still have not submitted their statutes to FIFA for inspection. This decision affects 22 associations from Asia.

Why Malaysia now misses its Chinese champions

Zainul Arifin is perplexed why there is a dearth of non-Malay players, especially Chinese, in Malaysia's state and national football squads. Writing in the New Straits Times he answered his own question whether Malaysian Chinese were longer interested in football with the observation that Chinese youths are often dressed in football jerseys and, "at mamak restaurants on weekends when the English Premier League is in play, you can see them cheering the Rooneys and the Henrys. I believe the Chinese are as crazy about football as other Malaysians."

Are Chinese discriminated against? To this Arifin quoted a 'letter to the editor' by Perak football coach Steve Darby. "The first (Perak) team squad of 20 players, which was chosen purely on football ability, comprises a wide spectrum of races, religions and languages. This polyglot of players have four different religions and, together, they are capable of speaking 10 languages." Darby dismissed rumours of selection policies based on race as far as his team was concerned. Character and ability were the only criteria for the team, said Darby.

"But how is it that we stopped producing household names like Soh Chin Aun, Yip Chee Keong, Wong Hung Nung, Khan Hun Meng, James Wong, Ong Yu Tiang, Wong Kam Fook and Chow Kwai Lam?," Arifin responded. His hypothesis is it has a lot to do with the school system.

"It used to be that non-Malay enrolment in national schools was high. The national schools were major attractions for parents with high enrolment of non-Malays, especially in major towns. Most of these schools have strong tradition and emphasis on popular sports, especially football, hockey and rugby. Obviously, the athletically-gifted students tended to be drawn to them, regardless of race. A host of reasons has led to the exclusion of Chinese from Malaysian sports.

"It includes the introduction of Bahasa Malaysia as the [language] of instruction in the 1970s, the urge of Chinese to re-connect with their roots, the desire to see the emergence of a stronger socio-cultural development through the school system and the perception that Chinese-based education is better. This has led to non-Malay students, especially Chinese, moving to vernacular schools. These schools, largely in urban areas and mostly privately-funded, rarely have facilities like fields for football and hockey, let alone rugby. They tend to favour games that require less space like basketball, badminton, table tennis and volleyball.

"As a result, a generation or more of Chinese students have no access to organised football or hockey tournaments that usually start when they are in primary school through inter-house or inter-school games. It is through this grassroots system that talent would have been spotted, developed and nurtured for district and state teams, and from then on the very best would be picked to represent the country. It is not a coincidence that the decline in the number of Chinese footballers and hockey players seem to coincide with their desertion of the national schools. Granted, I do not have the statistics and I may be wrong; it is after all a hypothesis inspired by reading the sports pages.

"I am not suggesting that Chinese players will be the saviours of our dismal football performance," he concluded. "Our national team may still fail us, regardless. But what I am saying is that we are systematically being denied a peek at a large section of the population, which has disqualified itself by being a non-participant.This, I believe, is as much a loss to the Chinese community as it is to the nation. Now this is another cause for revamping the national schools and making them the destinations of choice again."

English FA warned its new agent laws unworkable

A leading British football agent and specialist sports lawyer, Mel Stein, thinks the English Football Association doesn't like him. "Some 18 months ago when they first decided, unilaterally, to introduce new Regulations for agents, they must have hoped they would have a smooth ride. They claim to have had a full consultation process but when we got around to forming the Association of Football Agents, none of the initial Board members who represented the six largest agencies in the United Kingdom had ever been consulted! Notwithstanding that, on the basis of shooting first and asking questions afterwards, the FA managed to introduce an unworkable piece of quasi legislation on a par with the government's efforts to stop people using mobile phones whilst driving," he told World Sports Law Report.

"Draft 1 (which astonishingly became 'law' on 1 January 2006, was so unworkable that even the FA themselves merely paid lip service to it. Drafts 2, 3 and 4, which followed at fairly regular intervals, proved no final works of art (or indeed draftsmanship). What we now have is a set of Regulations which are due to come into force in May 2007. The reason they have not introduced these immediately is to allow agents to "familiarise" themselves with the same. However, in this case, familiarity can only breed contempt as having read them, re-read and re-read them again, my mouth drops ever open with disbelief at the impracticalities of the Regulations.

"It is astonishing that they have been drafted by (or at least approved by) those who seek to regulate the game of Football in the United Kingdom. When the FA Council gave them a rubber stamp on 21 November, one assumes they must have been following the party line as it is impossible to believe that anybody with any real experience of football could have read them and approved them unless they were told to do so.

"What these regulations will do (if allowed to stand and remain unchallenged, which is unlikely) is to push football back into the dark ages, where all sorts of schemes and fictions are developed simply for the purposes of avoiding the regulations and driving what had become a transparent industry back underground," he commented.

British footballers return to Bangladeshi homeland

A 15-member British football team with players of Bangladeshi origin have arrived in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, to play friendly matches in a bid to strengthen bonding with the local culture, reported bdnews24.com. Aftab Rahman, team leader of the Bangladeshi Youth Forum, said they would play a number of matches in several towns during their 20-day stay in Bangladesh, the home of their ancestors.

The visiting youths will also launch a linkage program for learning English between British and Bangladeshi schools, organise workshops for cancer awareness and supply tube wells for safe drinking water.

Rahman was speaking at a press conference hosted by British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury at his Dhaka home. The envoy praised Bangladeshis living in the United Kingdom for their contribution to various sectors. "Bangladeshis are even leading Britons in some areas," he said, adding that he was hopeful that the visiting youths would have a first-hand idea of rich Bangladeshi tradition and culture.

Olympic head calls Australia into Asia "a mistake"

Reacting to the president of FIFA's invitation to Australia's Socceroos to join the next Asian Games, Asia's Olympic chief said he thought the decision to take the Australians under the Asian Football Confederation umbrella was a mistake. "If Australia comes to the Asian Games we are killing about 16 other nations -- New Zealand, all those other small countries -- will not find a good environment for the development of their sport," Ahmad Al-Fahad Al Sabah, the Kuwaiti president of the Olympic Council of Asia told a news conference at the 15th Asian Games reported by TV NZ.

"We have to support Oceania ... to continue to host their games, just to make sure there will be a development sport on the other side of the world in the Asian continent. In Asia there are 45 countries ... it's enough for our Games and competitions, let them develop their sport."

"I think it's a big mistake to bring Australia to our football," Al Sabah said. "It was a big mistake by AFC, maybe they are inside only for the marketing and sponsorship view. "Finance is a major thing but not the most important thing," he added. "The most important thing is the ideas and goals of the (Olympic) movement, then we have to look at sport to look at continued development."

But Al Sabah said an Australian request to take part in the Asian Indoor Games in Macau next October would receive serious consideration. And, earlier this week, OCA vice president Manuel Silverio told China's Xinhua news agency that Australia's participation at the Asian Games was possible.

See also: Socceroos "could be admitted" to Asian Games (2 Dec)

China holds camp and friendlies for Asian Cup

China PR will enter a three-week training camp in Kunming a day before the official draw of the AFC Asian Cup 2007 Finals on 19 December. Coach Zhu Guanghu, who has already set the target of reaching the semifinals of the premier continental tournament, has called up 31 players for the camp. The Chinese Football Association has meanwhile started negotiations for setting up two friendlies against the United States and Mexico during this training. However, the squad does not include overseas-based and Olympic team players. First time inclusions are Lv Zheng, Du Wenhui, Yang Jun, Zong Lei and Wang Sheng.

Myanmar hosts Grand Royal Challenge Cup 2006

U-23 teams from Indonesia, Malaysia and host Myanmar will feature in the Grand Royal Challenge Cup 2006 football tournament to be held in Mandalay, according to the Myanmar Football Federation quoted by Xinhua. The Grand Royal, jointly sponsored by the MFF and a local company, will take place from 17 to 23 December at the Bahtoo Stadium in Burma's second largest city, Mandalay, 640 kilometres north of Yangon. Four teams -- Indonesian U-23, Malaysian U-23, Myanmar U-23 and the Myanmar national team -- will compete at the tournament which will offer US$ 15,000 for the champions and US$7,500 for the runners-up.

Indonesia camp prepares for AFF Championship

AFC Asian Cup 2007 co-hosts Indonesia checked into a 20-day training camp in Bandung on Monday to prepare for the AFF Championship in January. “The camp will end in the last week of December and the team will play a friendly against Malaysia before leaving for Singapore for the AFF Championship,” said team manager Andi Darussalam Tabusala. Coach Peter Withe has called up 28 players for the training session and the former champion England player is likely to cull four players before the friendly whose date has not yet been decided. Indonesia have been slotted in Group B with Vietnam, Singapore and Laos for the AFF Championship. Meanwhile, the Indonesian U-23 team has started training under coach Bambang Nurdiansyah in Malang for the four-team Grand Royal Challenge Cup in Myanmar.

Jordanian women lead Arab world at Asian Games

Jordan, the first women's football team from the Arabic nations to compete at the Doha Asian Games found competing with powerful teams such as China and Japan a challenge. "You don't know how difficult it is to develop women's soccer in Jordan," said coach Issa Al Turk, as quoted by Xinhua. "I have only two or three minutes to talk to the girls at the halftime break, because they need time to change clothes." Most of the players are around 18 years old -- the youngest one of the squad is Shahnaz Jebreen at 14 -- and some wear Hejabs during the match and have to readjust the Hejabs after heading the ball.

"In Jordan there are only seven clubs with women's soccer team, and the total number of the girls playing soccer in Jordan is between 120-150. To play soccer in Jordan those girls will meet pressure from the family and the tradition. It's not the same as in other countries. After the age of 20 or 22, the girls are likely to get married and then they cannot play soccer. So that's a big problem," said Jordan Olympic Committee media relations officer Farwati Mohammed.

Issa said the girls all come from rich families, and they choose football because they love the sport. "I love football since early age. My father was a football trainer," said Ala Al Qraini, Jordan's defender at the age of 18, whose idols are Fabio Cannavaro and Roberto Carlos. "Certainly we are under some pressure due to the tradition. But nowadays there are more people encouraging us to play soccer. Of course some people object to us, but I think the percentage is not very big."

Issa said the team has an aim of reaching Beijing Olympic Games 2008. They will play a two-leg match with Hong Kong in February 2007.

FIFA president proposes major changes to calendar

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has proposed ending the traditional summer break in European club football and moving the season to a February to November schedule. "I've recently suggested to the clubs that they playthrough the summer and base the season on a calendar year," Blatter said in an interview with Kicker. "The season should run from the end of February to the end of November. Then there would be enough recovery time for the players and you could play three-week blocks of (international) qualifiers. "

Blatter also said he was confident his plan to limit the number of foreign players in European club football will soon come into force. "The six-plus-five plan will come into force for sure," Blatter said. Blatter's plan would force clubs to play a minimum of six players eligible to represent the national team of their country, with a maximum of five foreign players making up the numbers.

"It will mean greater identification between clubs and their fans," Blatter said. "Secondly it will give more opportunity to talented players. Thirdly it will ease the financial pressure on clubs when they are bringing in players from their own training program."

UK Govt's 2007 Global Sports conference details

UK Trade and Investment will be fielding a cast of international games organisers at its Global Sports conference in London on 7-8 March 2007. The event will be opened by Sports Minister, Richard Caborn and will also include the British representative to the IOC, Sir Craig Reedie. According to Sport Business, there is already strong support from many international organising committees, past and present and "BOCOG, VANOC, ATHOC, SportDenmark, and Sochi 2014 Bid Committee have all shown a keen interest in headlining the event."

UK T&I’s Andrew Bacchus said, “this is the first time that so many senior level representatives from bidding and hosting nations and cities will be presenting at the same conference. Major games organisers face increasingly high stakes and it is essential that they get the right commercial partnerships in place. Our intention is to raise the level of debate to the very highest and make a substantial contribution to partnership success”

Subtitled Partnership Excellence in Global Sport, the conference will be held at the Grange City Hotel, London, over two days with a networking gala dinner designed to give delegates access to games organisers representing £millions in contracting opportunities. To register interest in attending or exhibiting email sasha.barker@sportbusiness.com

Fans "willing to pay" for internet football highlights

A survey published by the International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship shows that football fans are willing to pay an average €3.73 for highlight reports and matches via the internet. Research conducted by Sven Theysohn of Frankfurt’s Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University polled 12,600 fans of seven Bundesliga clubs on attitudes towards internet football services. The findings indicate that internet reports could have a dramatic effect on the television industry in the near future.

Currently, Pay-TV operators have relied on football as the key subscription driver, resulting in huge rights fees for prime European football content.

Theysohn believes the internet could be a threat to the model, especially as consumers would be able to watch their soccer match of choice, independent of time and location: “The quick distribution of broadband as well as the growing popularity of paid content and particularly video streaming services could turn soccer reports on the internet into a viable alternative to traditional media channels.”

Other key findings in the survey include:

-- The estimated willingness to pay (WTP) for football highlights on the internet for the Bundesliga is high.

-- Respondents with fewer or no alternatives to watch a match report have a higher willingness to pay than others.

-- Fans based overseas are willing to pay an average of €6 for a video report of their favourite side

-- Fans of the best ranked team show the highest WTP among all teams, but there is little correlation between the WTP and team success.

-- Different demographic segments demonstrate different levels of WTP and prefer different report packages. ‘Old bachelors’ prefer to watch the whole game, but are willing to pay less, whereas ‘family men’ prefer shorter reports but have a high WTP. ‘Young enthusiasts’ rate report length the key motivating factor and have the highest WTP of all segments.

-- There is a demand for a full-game report and a 10-minute highlight version in the overall market.

-- The rapid availability of soccer reports on the internet is only reasonably important to one segment in the sample – and unimportant to the others.

The survey suggests that football clubs could be in a strong position to either stream their own content, or profit from it, rather than rely on the distribution infrastructure of the television operators. This potential remains regardless of whether the internet replaces existing distribution channels.

According to Theysohn: “The yet undeveloped market of soccer reports via the internet can be viewed as a promising instrument for professional soccer clubs to reach both potential and existing consumers worldwide, to enhance their marketing strategies and to generate new income sources.”

For more information contact: Simon Rines, Publisher, International Marketing Reports, 57 Poland Street, London W1F 7NW, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 20 7372 6561; Fax: +44 (0) 20 7439 9101; Email: simonrines@im-reports.com; Web: www.imrpublications.com

Australia launches player career support service

Football Federation Australia and partners have launched a player support services program, My Football Career, designed to empower players to be proactive life/career managers who are encouraged to be career informed and to pursue continual professional development. The program is not only aimed at the current Socceroos and A-League players, but also elite youth and female footballers who have unique challenges in relation to their professional development.

Comprehensive support services can be accessed through the My Football Career website (www.myfootballcareer.com.au) which includes information related to career management, networking, learning and development, lifestyle management and financial planning and management.

A Player Advisory Panel is being formed to facilitate dialogue between young, up-and-coming, footballers and older, more established, professional and national team players. In addition special coaching courses are being held to assist current players gain the necessary accredited qualifications to allow them to stay involved with the sport when their playing career ends.

The program is supported by the Professional Footballers Association, Relationships Australia, Relate NZ, the Australian Sports Commission through the National Athlete Career and Education Program and the National Australia Bank.

Former Socceroo and now Central Coast Mariners defender Tony Vidmar hopes the next generation of professional footballers will benefit greatly from the initiative. "When I first went overseas I never had this sort of support group behind me that could advise you on your decision making. Basically, a lot of players went into the deep end and wondered whether they had made the right choice or not. Now the younger players have a support group around them to help them make the decisions which are best for them," he said.

"When I was growing up it was always something that I though was very important in the women's game. Because we (female footballers) don't earn a lot of money it's really important that the learning and player development as well as the financial planning programs equip our elite players not only for a football career but also life," said Matildas captain Cheryl Salisbury.

Shanghai stadium gets overhaul for Women's Cup

China Super League club Shanghai Shenhua will play its home fixtures at the Yuanshen Sports Centre Stadium in the city's Pudong district next season as their Hongkou Stadium ground undergoes a RMB 200 million overhaul ahead of next year's Women's World Cup. According to Sinosoc, the 35,000-seater Hongkou Stadium, built in 1955 and restructured in 1999, will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Women's World Cup, to take place from 10-30 September 2007. It is one of five Women's World Cup venues along with Tianjin Olympics Centre Stadium, Wuhan Sports Centre Stadium, Zhejiang Dragon Stadium and Chengdu Sports Centre. Shanghai's 80,000-capacity Shanghai Stadium, located in the city's Xujiahui district, will be used for next year's Special Olympic Games.

Liverpool considers takeover move by Asian group

Liverpool FC is reportedly close to accepting a £450 million deal which will allow a West Asian, Dubai-based consortium to take control of the Premier League club. According to the Soccer Investor, while American billionaire George Gillett and property tycoon John Miskelly are also thought to be keen on a takeover, the Dubai International Capital group will be permitted to begin the due diligence process this week. The proposed deal will include £200 million to build a new 60,000-capacity stadium.

Although the due diligence process gives DIC exclusive rights to study the accounts of Liverpool in order to finalise a deal, it is unclear whether it would be a full-scale takeover by DIC, or whether they would take over from chairman David Moores as majority shareholders.

DIC is run by chief executive Sameer Al Ansari and owns the Madame Tussauds Group and the Travelodge hotel chain as well as one third of the London Eye. The company is an investment arm of Dubai Holding, which is owned by Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Brazil's champion Sao Paulo to play series in India

Sao Paulo, the national league champions of Brazil, will play the opening tie of the five-match Super Soccer series in India against East Bengal at the Kanchenjungha Stadium in Siliguri on 27 January. According to The Statesman, the Brazilian team "will cross swords" in the second and third encounters of the series with Mohammedan Sporting and Mohun Bagan in Jamshedpur and Kolkata respectively. In Cochin, the club will take on one of the two top football clubs in south India, Dempo or Salgaocar, while they will "lock horns" with JCT Phagwara in the final match of the series in New Delhi on 11 February.

Philippines hopes Chelsea releases Younghusband

After a second place finish in the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Football Championship qualifier, the Philippine national football squad is upbeat on its chances of making it to the top two of the next round in Thailand. But will top goal scorer Philip Younghusband see action for the team when it battles Malaysia on 12 January, Thailand on 14 January and Myanmar on 16 January?

In an interview with Henry C. Villalva of the Sun.Star Bacolod, Younghusband said his presence in the RP lineup during the Thailand campaign will depend on his English Premier League club Chelsea. "I would want to continue playing for the country but the reality is that it will have to depend on whether I will be allowed to play by my club," he said. The Philippine Football Federation will ask Chelsea to release Younghusband but PFF president Juan Miguel Romualdez believes the player's particiapation is doubtful.

Chelsea FC invited to star in new Bollywood movie

Engish Premier League club Chelsea is to team up with some of Bollywood's most famous stars, Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Lara Dutta and Preity Zinta, in a Yash Raj movie called "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" being shot in London. "The character I play in the film is a very loyal Chelsea fan. I have now had the chance to see Chelsea live after following them over the last few years and the club have given me a jersey with my character's name Ricky on it, so that was fun. A friend of mine introduced me to Chelsea; I enjoy their football and the way they play," Abhishek Bachchan told Asian News.

"Naturally we are delighted to be involved in a Bollywood movie and, we take it as a big compliment to be approached with this storyline and to be associated with this calibre of actors and actresses," Paul Smith, Chelsea's Business Affairs Director, explained to Asian News.

"Bollywood is not just one of the most successful movie genres in the world, it is also one of the most successful art forms as it has a unique character and popularity. From a Chelsea perspective, we have been looking at ways to reach out to the British Asian community and play a leading role by involving them more in football. We already host the Asian Cup Final and have done so for several years and we are now sponsoring a major Asian community award in London. But we are also looking to Asia, particularly India, as part of the strategy of extending the Chelsea brand into new markets," he added.

Socceroos "could be admitted" to Asian Games

Australia's Socceroos, voted the Asian Football Confederation's Asian team of the year this week, could be admitted to future editions of the Asian Games, said FIFA President Sepp Blatter, quoted by Radio New Zealand. Australian competitors are currently excluded from the Asian Games because their country's national Olympic committee is part of Ocenia, not the Olympic Council of Asia. However, the Australian Football Federation is now a member of the AFC and a number of other Australian sports governing bodies have also split with Oceania and joined pan-Asian federations.

Velappan on the success of AFC over 30 years

What will Dato Peter Velappan do when he steps down as the Asian Football Confederation secretary general? "It is 30 years of continuous and hectic work. I have no regrets, but it is time to have some rest and be with the family," Velappan told Yasir Abbasher of Gulf News. "I assure you there were no pressures on me to retire. It is a personal decision because of my health. But mind you, I will not be away from AFC. I still have some obligations with the Vision Asia program and other AFC committees. It is not a total retirement. I am only stepping down from being the secretary general and I will still have an office at the headquarters of the AFC in Kuala Lumpur. I also plan to write in newspapers and compile books about the game and believe me I have so much to write about."

He recalled his long road with the AFC: "When I joined, there were only 22 members. Now we have 46. Asia was then represented by one single team in the finals of the World Cup, while at the moment, we have five teams. Our budget has increased from $5 million in the '80s to $100 million this year. The changes have been quite significant - the most notable being the sport's increase in popularity over the years. Football was fourth or fifth in Asia behind cricket, hockey, baseball and basketball. Now, it's the most popular game in the continent." Velappan said.

One of the best achievements of Velappan was the formation of a marketing company during the finals of the Asian Cup in Singapore in 1984, which led to an increase in AFC's annual budget of $100 million. "The real improvement had happened in the competitions organised by AFC. In the '80s, there was only the Asian Cup and no other competition at the club level. We now have the Asian Champions League, the AFC Cup, the President's Cup and the Challenge Cup, in addition to competitions for the youth and juniors. All these competitions have increased the popularity of the game and most people in Asia are now kind of breathing football! We succeeded in bringing different countries together where the politicians failed. We brought together South and North Korea, Iraq and Iran and India and Pakistan. Football became a means to promoting peace in Asia."

Although his biggest disappointment was the failure of the Asian teams to make it to the semifinals of the World Cup in Germany, earlier this year. he believes "in the next 10 years, we will be the number two continent in football, after Europe."

Chelsea signs with Sina.com for Mandarin website

English Premier League club Chelsea believes it has taken an advantage in the Chinese market by contracting internet portal Sina to establish a Mandarin version of its new website by next year. The Premiership champions, who claim their popularity in China is now three times above the average for English clubs, opted for the Nasdaq-listed company because it is based in Beijing rather than Hong Kong.

"The club is ranked fourth of all foreign clubs in terms of popularity in China narrowly behind Manchester United and ahead of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid," China Daily earlier reported. Chelsea already have partnerships in China and last April began cooperating with the Chinese Football Association and the Asian Football Confederation to develop football at local level.

"This partnership marks the next stage of Chelsea's development in China. Clearly we are becoming more popular and this is the right time to take that to the next level," Paul Smith, Chelsea's Business Affairs Director, said in a statement quoted by Reuters.

“We don’t just want to be one of the classic European clubs going on tour in the summer for the highest fee and then evaporate. We actually want to have some kind of legacy with countries and help them develop but we can only do it one country at a time and we have chosen to do that in Asia because that’s where we have our strongest appeal. We’ll paint Asia blue and then we’ll turn to Africa," he said, as quoted by Simon Lewis of The Irish Examiner.

According to David Bland in The Telegraph, the club is confident that Sina's close links with the Chinese government, with whom they have an agreement to self police any material deemed "unhealthy" on political, sexual or religious grounds, will help the club to avoid falling foul of state censors and increase their support.

Figures released by British telecoms watchdog Ofcom show 43 million homes in China now have a broadband connection. Access to the internet is growing faster there than in any other country in the world. However Sina was one of two internet companies whose search engine services were temporarily blocked by the government in June this year while censors carried out checks for sensitive content.

China may prepare bid for 2018 FIFA World Cup

FIFA president Joseph Blatter said bidding for the World Cup 2018 is open to China and all other Asian countries. "The bid for World Cup 2018 is not open yet. But under the rotation system, China have the chance to bid for the hosting rights of the World Cup. The World Cup 2002 was co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, and for 2006 it was held in Germany. South Africa will host the 2010 World Cup. And 2014 will be a South American country to hold the World Cup. China are able to organise any big events. Do remember that in 1995 we held the first women's World Cup in China and that was a big success," he said as quoted by Xinhua.

UPDATE

Officials of China's capital city may be preparing a bid for the earlier FIFA 2014 World Cup -- as part of the city's 11th Five-year Plan (2006-11). "Beijing's sports market won't go cold after the 2008 Olympics as we have expressed our willingness to the Chinese Football Association," Sun Kanglin, director of Beijing Sports Bureau said in a statement quoted by Zhao Rui of China Daily. "We want this top event to come to Beijing."