Brother Can You Spare A Dime? If not, a Knighthood will do . . .

This time of year in the world of football, especially in England, is famously known as "squeaky bum time". It's the time of the year when medals are awarded for a season's long endeavours, a time when hard work and skill (not to mention a degree of luck) are rewarded after a long nine month season comes to an end. It's the time of the year when hearts are filled with joy or sadness, depending on how well your team  has done. However, the headlines all across the papers and websites are all about secret acts of (alleged) skulduggery.

The former chairman of the Football Association, Lord Triesman, accused certain members of FIFA of wanting bribes to vote for England in the recent "debacle" of deciding where the 2018 and 2022 World Cup should be held.    The men accused by Lord Triesman, Jack Warner, Nicolas Leoz, Ricardo Teixeira and Worawi Makudi, have by all accounts, wanted things such as nearly $4,000,000, a Knighthood and the opportunity to command the England team to play his country (Thailand) and also the TV rights to the "game". Now, according to the dictionary, bribery is defined as "an act implying money or the giving of a gift that alters the behavior of the recipient."  Is it any wonder Interpol are allegedly getting involved?

Quite rightly, the F.A. are taking a stand against this. The game's governing body has even threatened to quit FIFA if the allegations are not investigated thoroughly. The stance shown is admirable. However, the threat might backfire. England could find themselves ostracized from the world's competitions, in the same way that South Africa were during the apartheid years. Nobody would benefit from that. What would be a better solution would be for England to take FIFA to court. Let's get the decision to award Russia and Qatar the competitions revoked. It's noble to get the tournament to places that have not had the opportunity to host it before, but if that really was at the back of FIFA's mind, then why encourage bids from England for the 2018 bid and from the USA for 2022? It defies logic. It is hard to understand why FIFA would encourage the bids when deep down they had no desire to choose either England or the USA.


England and USA has everything in place to put on a splendid World Cup; in fact they could host it tomorrow if they were asked.The two countries have the stadia, the infrastructure, the ability to host he world's media - you name it, they can cope!

England prides itself on having a "clean" national sport. In fact, we British pride ourselves on being "clean" where sport is concerned. The distaste left in people's mouths last summer when the Pakistanis were accused of ball tampering in Cricket certainly illustrate the desire to keep sport clean.

In 1963 there was a bribery scandal in football. The culprits were found and sent to jail. The thought of the game's governing body having been soiled sends the wrong message. We know the game hasn't been a sport in the truest sense of the word for many years now but this smacks of resentment, exploitation, jealousy and a leaves a dirty great big stain being visible on the integrity of the game.

Thinking about the Cup being held in Qatar in 2022 in the summer, when the temperatures are getting towards 50 degrees Celsius - that's bloody hot in Fahrenheit believe me - makes this person think that the players are the last to be thought of. It is like they're the downtrodden serfs there just to perform when and where at the beck and call of the so called "powers that be" with no say. Now, before people say "they earn enough", well, on this occasion the welfare of the players has to take precedence. Have we not learned from USA 1994 when they were asking players to perform in mid day heat in Florida?

England v Germany 14th May 1938

One final thought of players being exploited for gain . . .  have a look at this picture  (left)   taken in the 1930's, when England  played Germany and judge for yourself if we've moved on from exploiting players for personal gain. This picture, believe it or not, was taken nearly 73 years ago. It was on the 14th May 1938 when England players gave the Nazi salute. It was the era of appeasement. The players who played that day felt a little sick and were annoyed that the Foreign Office insisted on the players doing it. However they were given no choice. It truly was a dark moment for English football.

There are so many side issues involved with football these days it needs to be said that ultimately we need fit and healthy players so we can have the TV contracts, the replica shirts and all the other products and services associated with the beautiful game. Healthy. A very important word. There have been cases of footballers dying on the field - the Cameroon international Marc Vivien Foe coming to mind - we don't want it to happen in the game's biggest competition do we? We don't need competitions being played in 50 degree heat. The way the decisions to host the World Cup in Russia and Qatar leave a sour taste in the mouth. Lord Triesman would never have made the allegations, never mind the fact that he was testifying before a Parliamentary committee, if he didn't have the proof. Well done sir for being brave enough to being these allegations to light and shame on those he has cast doubt on for exploiting their positions - allegedly.

Whilst on the subject of exploitation, I was interested to read that the exploitation of players, past and present, isn't just the prerogative of Association Football. The New York Times recently interviewed Jim Brown, the famous all round sportsman.  It truly is an interesting article. It illustrated to me the fact that companies feel that they can do what they want with some players. They seem to give the impression that they think "well, he doesn't need all that much money, he's not like the players today" yet the generation he is a part of were the generation that really did shake up the world in terms of not accepting the status quo. We should all be grateful to the likes of Jim Brown. I only wish I had half his courage and determination. It was an article that inspired me to be more expressive in my thoughts when forced into the proverbial corner, believe me!

I mention Jim Brown because it got me thinking about the players who played for England on the 30th July 1966 - England's brightest two hours - when England won the World Cup. Apparently, only three of the players who played that day still own their medal. The rest of them have had to sell their medal to make sure their families were financially secure. These players were victims of the era they played in, when clubs really did control what they did, both on and off the field.

These players, Gordon Banks, George Cohen, Ray Wilson, Jack Charlton, Bobby Moore, Nobby Stiles, Bobby Charlton, Alan Ball, Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Roger Hunt, are enshrined in the history of the game in England. Their names trip of the tongue to any self respecting football fan and yet we have cast them aside in one way to such an extent that . I wish we could have used their knowledge more profitably. We might not have had to wait so long to see England win the World Cup. How many years of hurt is it now, 45??!!

Enjoy the remaining games left of this season,

Eddie