02.25.2009 | 10:02 am | News
Last night saw the latest round of the UEFA Champions League, which sees a number of English teams still very much in the running, and a great start for Manchester United and Arsenal in their first leg games. While both teams performed very well, the highest praise must go to Manchester United who took on Inter Milan and 80,000 screaming fans on their home patch!
In all honesty Manchester United bossed the game from the first minute to last and if they had walked away with a three nil victory then nobody could really have had any complaints. As it happens the game ended goalless and Inter Milan will visit Old Trafford still in this tie and without giving away the vital away goal which United needed to secure.
Arsenal took on a rampant Roma team at the Emirates Stadium and, much like Manchester United, seemed to dictate the game from the very first minute. A Robin van Persie penalty was however all that Arsenal had to show for a great performance and they travel to Rome of with the slenderest of leads although they seem to have an ability to score away from home in Europe.
While Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson were more than content with the performance of their teams they will both rue the lack of goals which could have made the second legs pretty much a foregone conclusion for both teams. However as a consequence the second legs of each game are far from foregone conclusions and could see some serious about turns if either side is not on form.
Tonight sees some excellent games with Chelsea taking on Juventus and Liverpool away to the formidable Real Madrid. With four English teams looking to break into the last 16 of this year’s Champions League there is every chance that the biggest trophy in international club football could be going back to the UK yet again!
02.24.2009 | 10:00 am | gambling
It is very difficult to find a balance between privacy for athletes and sports people and the need to ensure that the world of sport is clean from any performance enhancing drugs. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has taken on the mantle of setting the drug testing program for various regulators around the world but has received severe criticism over the last few weeks.
Over the last few days we have seen the English football associations suggesting that their players should be exempt from drug testing during the close season when many of them are on holiday. However, critics to this approach claim that this will effectively give those who are tempted to take recreational and performance enhancing drugs a period of “grace” in which they can attempt to cheat the system.
Under the new regulations which have been introduced, any sports person on the National register for testing needs to make themselves available for one-hour between 6 AM and 11 PM three months in advance of a test. Communication between the parties involved takes place online with a messaging system available to ensure that all procedures are followed and there are no misunderstandings.
The world of gambling has in the past been severely affected by suggestions of drug taking because very often when the tests are released into the public domain many bookmakers and betting sites will already have paid out on the “winners”. While there is no doubt that gambling around the world is a massive industry the reputation of sport in general should come first although in this particular situation all parties, including sports people, seem to benefit.
Drug testing, drug taking and the production of new “hidden” drugs have prompted this fairly strong approach which has been taken by WADA and while there are critics, are there any real alternatives?
02.23.2009 | 10:02 am | gambling
The sport of cricket is just one of the many casualties from the US investigation into the affairs of Sir Allen Stanford and his highly influential Stanford Group. This is the billionaire businessman who is behind the 20/20 cricket tournament which saw an England eleven take on an all-star eleven with each winning player guaranteed $1 million in prize money. As it happens the England cricket team collapsed dramatically and were totally outgunned by the Allen Stanford all-star select team. So what does this mean for cricket?
The 20/20 tournament was only the tip of the iceberg with the ECB signing a lucrative sponsorship agreement with the Stanford Group which they claimed would see substantial investment into British grassroots cricket. There have been rumours that a number of cricketing associations around the world refused to sign up to any sponsorship deals with the Stanford Group and this has placed serious pressure on the ECB and leading lights in this association.
The bottom line is that English cricket has been somewhat left behind by the Indian Premier League (IPL) which continues to attract the best players in the world, the largest sponsorships and the largest worldwide media coverage. Indeed the ECB themselves were recently forced to allow contracted England cricket players to participate in the IPL in between matches, something which again attracted severe criticism from many parts of the sport.
While the ongoing investigation into Sir Allen Stanford’s business operations continue it was announced that all ECB and English cricket related agreements have been terminated although the aftermath looks as though it could carry on for some time yet. While charges have been laid against Sir Allen Stanford and his business group nothing has yet been proven although there are suggestions that the US authorities are investigating an alleged multi-billion investment programme.
02.2.2009 | 8:15 am | gambling
Liverpool boss Raphael Benitez is under serious pressure this morning after the sale of £20 million signing Robbie Keane to Tottenham (the club where he came from) for a cut-price £12 million. There is serious concern among Liverpool fans that the £20 million signing was not given sufficient time to settle into the club, having been dropped from a number of squads, and within six months he is back on his old stamping ground. The Liverpool boss has recently been demanding overall control of the club’s transfer policy although this latest move, which shows an £8 million loss in six months, has not exactly strengthened his case.
Many Liverpool fans are also questioning the sale of a quality striker such as Robbie Keane, as we enter final stages of the premiership season, with Liverpool just managing to hang onto the shirt tails of local rivals Manchester United. The weekend win over Chelsea dealt a bitter blow to their London rivals and ensures that Liverpool at least have a chance of clawing back a two-point deficit in favour of Manchester United. However, the club could be in serious trouble if any of their main strikers are injured or suspended between now and the end of the season with very little quality in reserve.
The Chelsea game also saw the attendance of the clubs two American owners for the first time for many months with speculation that they are either here to conclude a new contract with Rafael Benitez or possibly discuss the sale of the club to an Arab consortium. Either way there would appear to be internal strife and conflict within Liverpool football club at a time when the team is finally starting to perform on the pitch, and actually offering a threat to the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.Will the gamble to sell Robbie Keane work?
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