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Inside Insight: No Swiss at the World Cup – really?

February 9, 2014 is a day to remember in many more ways than one.

It is not an earthquake that hit something somewhere. It is not a flood that engulfed English villages (although that happened too) and it is not some major lottery win that would have astounded folks around Europe (although that also happened).

February 9, 2014, is a day of shame (for 49.7% of the voting public) or indeed a day of glorious victory (for the slim majority of the voters,

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Sochi and the lessons Brazil can learn

On the face of it a winter Games should hold no lessons for a summer football World cup. Yet Sochi 2014 does have lessons for Brazil 2014 and it would be unwise of the Brazilians to ignore what is taking place along the Black Sea.

Brazil it must be said starts with an advantage that Sochi could never have had. For anyone interested in football Brazil is the home of football. England may have invented the game and framed the rules but Brazil,

Andrew Warshaw

Andrew Warshaw: Qatar needs time to clean up its act

Amid the often emotional rhetoric and highly-charged language used by human rights and trade union leaders at this week’s European Parliament session denouncing Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers were the usual trademark demands for the country to be stripped as 2022 World Cup hosts.

This is not being an apologist for some of the Gulf state’s notoriously archaic and antiquated laws. I, as much as anyone, believe that Qatar needs to rid itself of the totally unacceptable kafala employment system that has no place in the modern era and which French-Algerian footballer Zahir Belounis so movingly brought to the attention of fans worldwide.

Osasu Obayiuwana

Osasu Obayiuwana: South Africa must confront the bitter truth

Had Fikile Mbalula, South Africa’s angry minister for sport, possessed a statutory right to execute members of Bafana-Bafana, for their dismal performance at the last Championship of African Nations (CHAN), I have little doubt he would have been sorely tempted to use it.

I’m also certain that some equally irate fans would have gladly paid for the privilege of watching the deed being done.

Having failed to qualify for the knockout rounds of the tournament they were hosting,

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: Balotelli lies a crying shame

Do you want to find racism from football fans? Do you want to find racism from football fans in Italy specifically? It won’t take you long.

So no need to invent stories on the subject. Claims that Mario Balotelli was reduced to tears after being racially abused in Naples appear dangerous and counter-productive. Misguided and premature. This subject is too important to treat with such a lack of care.

One of the first things I was taught in journalism by the legendary Reg Hayter was ‘fact is sacred,

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: Drifting into a storm? How football must manage its divergence in riches

“Riches, one may say, are like sea-water; the more you drink, the thirstier you become.” Arthur Schopenhauer, Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit

It was in 1851 that the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote his Wisdom of Life. At the time European empires bestrode the globe and an upper class of landowners and industrialists dominated the social landscape within nations. A militaristic thirst for still more riches brought about the conflict of the Great War,

Osasu Obayiuwana

Osasu Obayiuwana: Substitutes for experience; but will they be Supersubs?

When Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, was recently appointed as UEFA’s coaching ambassador, he gave what I thought was a logical piece of advice for the next generation of managers.

“I would say to every young coach – make sure that you prepare and give yourselves the best opportunities by getting their (UEFA) licenses. It is very important.

“Even when they get their licenses, they need to ensure they attend all the coaching seminars…

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: IOC turns attack on America

Just hours before the Sochi 2014 Games open the IOC President , Thomas Bach, launched a surprising attack on the US and, in particular, former President George Bush junior for using the Olympics for political purposes. Although he did not name Bush the reference to the former US President was clear and this follows Bach’s remarks three days ago when he attacked western leaders, including Barrack Obama and David Cameron, for not coming to the Olympics as an “ostentatious gesture”

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: Arsenal: big guns set to have the last laugh?

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“And the big Gun guffawed,” The Last Laugh, Wilfred Owen

The military connection endures today in name only, and in the cannon that is borne on the club’s crest, but there is no question that in football terms the passage of history has made Arsenal one of England’s big guns. Thirteen league titles and 10 FA Cups point to a record bettered only by Manchester United and Liverpool. But,

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Why FIFA cannot learn from the Olympics

The idea that football can learn from the Olympics has often been articulated not least after the London Games. Then the idea was even endorsed by Sepp Blatter. However, the question that was being talked about during London 2012, at least as far as Blatter was concerned, was how could football deal with what Blatter and others in the game call simulation but what most of us term as cheating. In other words the question of a player who dives in the hope he will get a free kick or a penalty,

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: How far have Manchester City come?

Not many games whet the appetite quite as much as Barcelona vs Manchester City, in the Champions League this month.

This column recently outlined why an important era is approaching for the Catalan club as their dominant decade gives way to uncertainty. Can they remain at the very top when clubs fuelled by petrodollars are starting to accelerate?

Barcelona got past Paris St Germain last season but the French club with the Qatari funding weren’t yet up to full speed.

David Owen: Why it would make sense to introduce a Winter Olympic futsal competition

“Just arrived in Sochi,” Joseph Blatter tweeted on Tuesday. “Looking forward to meeting my friends and colleagues from the Olympic community before Sochi 2014.”

The FIFA President is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member. So he will attend the IOC Session that precedes the Winter Olympics, the first to be chaired by Thomas Bach, the recently-elected IOC President.

There will no doubt also be opportunities to catch up with Russian officials,

David Owen: Why Financial Fair Play is unlikely to chill the transfer market

What impact should we expect UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations to have on business conducted during player transfer windows such as the one that closes today?

You might think the break-even requirement enshrined in the rules would have a chilling effect, dissuading clubs from splashing the cash on these costly assets.

Actually though I think this will be far from the case. Why? Because of the lop-sided way player valuations are dealt with in corporate accounts,

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: ‘Donut’ try to fight it – football is now business

If you scored a match winning goal at the highest league level in your country how would you react? With a slice of pizza behind the goal?

You may have seen Dominic Oduru of Columbus Crew do just that in a match last year against Chicago Fire, provided by the club’s ‘official’ pizza provider. Thank goodness he hit the target otherwise that pizza may have gone to waste. What company was it? Let’s not go there,

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: From Russia, with love. A financial history of Chelsea’s 10 Abramovich years

“Is any of the opposition around?” “Not in any condition to be worried about.” Donald ‘Red’ Grant in conversation with James Bond, From Russia With Love

When Roman Abramovich pitched up at Stamford Bridge with his whirlwind takeover in 2003, few people outside Siberia or the oil-and-gas sector of industry and banking had ever heard of him. But in the decade since his unlikely transformation from governor of Chukotka to guv’nor at Chelsea,