In an interview with France Football, Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has once again said his star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, should win the covetedFIFA Ballon d’Or, formerly known as the FIFA World Player of the Year award, for 2012 instead of Barcelona striker Lionel Messi, who has won the trophy for the last three yearsin […]
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Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
FIFA to Cover Injured Marcelo's Salary for Real Madrid
FIFA has confirmed that it will pay Marcelo’s salary for Real Madrid for the duration of his injury, which was sustained during a training session with Brazil on Monday. Theleft-back’s injury, a broken fifth metatarsal — which is expected to keep him out of action for up to three months — qualifies for FIFA’s Club […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
No apology from Canadian star
[SINCLAIR SUSPENSION] Canadian star Christine Sinclair accepted her four-game ban for her actions critical of Norwegianreferee Christiana Pedersen after the epic USA-Canadian Olympic women’s soccer semifinal. But an apology? No way. “I’ve said it before — I don’tregret what I said,” Sinclair told reporters in a conference call on Monday afternoon. “We had just lost […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
FIFA throws book at Canada star
[SINCLAIR SUSPENSION] The controversy surrounding the USA’s 4-3 win over Canada in the semifinals of the 2012 Olympic women’s competition won’t die any timesoon. Christine Sinclair, who scored all three Canada goals in the game, was handed a four-game suspension Friday for her criticism of referee Christiana Pedersen. The CSA did not indicate that any […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter: 'Bravo, Miro Klose'
German national team forward Miroslav Klose‘s confession that he used his hand when scoring a goal for Lazio won praise from many quarters on Thursday. FIFA PresidentSepp Blatter tweeted, “Bravo Miro Klose for your gesture last night! Just shows that you can be both a great andfair player at the same …” Klose scored with […]
Posted inSoccer Business Insider, Story
U.S. Soccer wins six-year antitrust suit
By Paul Kennedy In an 82-page opinion issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber ruled forU.S. Soccer in the six-year case ChampionsWorld v. U.S. Soccer, throwing out the testimony of ChampionsWorld’s expert witness, therefore rejecting its antitrust claim and issuing a summary judgment infavor of U.S. Soccer. August 18, 2012 In 2003, ChampionsWorld matches […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
FIFA launches investigation into Canadians' remarks
FIFA is investigating comments made by Canadian players and their coach following the USA’s 4-3 overtime win in Monday’s semifinals of the Olympic women’s soccer competition. At issuewas the decision of Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen to call Canada goalie Erin McLeod for time-wasting, leading tothe USA’s tying goal in the 80th minute. “We feel cheated.” […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Diving calls and other biases
By Paul Gardner A look at three recent episodes that starkly reveal the problems created by pre-judgment. Which is a fancy word for bias. * June16, 2012: Euro 2012, Greece 1 Russia 0, 62nd minute. Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson doles out a yellow card to Greek captain Giorgos Karagounis for diving. A terrible decision. The […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Evidence against Bin Hammam grows
Mohamed bin Hammam‘s troubles aren’t over. On Thursday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted the Qatari’s life ban from soccer imposed byFIFA for his role in a vote-buying scheme in the Caribbean during his 2011 bid for the FIFA presidency. On Friday, details of an audit of his activities as Asian Football Confederation(AFC) president […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
French federation bans Islamic headscarf
The French soccer federation (FFF) finds itself at odds with FIFA, refusing the authorize the wearing of a hijab, the Islamic headscarf for women players. The move comes on a day after theInternational Football Association Board overturned its 2007 ban on the Islamic headscarf, which it had argued was unsafe and increased the risk of […]