News out of Liverpool says that Liverpool Football Club will have to be sold in the next four to six weeks. And why so? Simply as the banks involved in the deal and those who have lend money to the club plus their American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks want surety on where the club is moving in the future.
There are said to be six international bidders with a chance to buy the club. And it looks likely that an Asian bidder could win the race to buy one of the most iconic clubs of world football. But whoever buys Liverpool FC will have to shell out a substantial amount of money plus also invest a hefty sum in a new stadium and recruit players with which the club can challenge for the Premier League title and the crown of the UEFA Champions League.
The Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Capital are looking after the sale of the Reds with the clubs new chief executive Martin Broughton, a former British Airways chief, looking after the clubs interest in any potential deal. And time is an issue not only for the current American owners to move out, but also for coach Roy Hodgson to have money to spend in the transfer market before it closes on August 31.
But who are the supposed bidders?
The top candidate at the moment for many analysts and pundits is said to be Hongkong-based businessman Kenny Huang, who is said to have the support of China's largest sovereign fund "China Investment Corporation". Some actually say the Chinese government is indirectly pushing Huang to bid and buy the Reds. At least colour wise China and Liverpool FC are on the same line.
The other prominent bidder to have gone public is Syrian born Yahya Kirdi now settled in Canada. Kirdi is a former footballer himself and is said to have financially strong Middle Eastern backers to give the club financial stability. But his closeness to Gillett's son Foster might be a deterrent.
And one Indian name which is being mentioned once in a while, but it does come back again and again is that of Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani. Any interest from Ambani senior has been denied by RIL repeatedly in the past, but that wouldn't be a deterrent. In the past there is said to have been negotiations between the American owners and Ambani about a minority share holding stake, but now the whole club is on sale. A new scenario has emerged and maybe something for Ambani to cash in on. And then we would finally have an Indian owner of a top English Premier League club.
Another Indian businessman who is being linked with Liverpool FC is Sahara Parivar chairman Subroto Roy. People close to Roy have internally said that Sahara has had talks with Liverpool FC, but their asking price would have to come down substantially due to the high debts of over 350 Million Pounds.
The other bidders are said to include Rafed Al-Kharafi, nephew of the Kuwait-based billionaire industrialist Nasser Al-Kharafi; and the Rhône private equity group based in the United States.
But which way the new ownership of Liverpool FC will go is not clear. The only thing that one can say for sure is that Reds fans will be happy once their American owners move out. And they will hope for better investors, who have the deeper pockets to support and strengthen the club. Otherwise this current nightmare could continue for a while...
Jumat, 06 Agustus 2010
Kamis, 05 Agustus 2010
2010 Commonwealth Games: A disaster waiting to happen?
The 2010 Commonwealth Games to be hosted in the Indian capital New Delhi are just under two month's away and the problems seem to be getting bigger and bigger by the day. This isn't anything special for a city, a country hosting a major international sporting event but at the moment things seem to be getting out of control in India. For India hosting the Commonwealth Games is the biggest sporting event our country has ever hosted and also this is supposed to mark our entry into the world of sporting hosts with Asian Games, Olympics and a football World Cup down the road in the next decades. A failure in October 2010 could throw us back by a decade or more even with our economic rise.
But where are the problems? If one looks at the media reports there are to many to mention. Allegations of corruption, venues aren't ready yet while some are already crumbling under monsoon rains plus officials and politicians fighting each other over who should get the credit for things going well or who should be blamed for failure and mismanagement. And to top it all there is former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who is wishing the worst for the games so that the inabilities of certain sports administrators are exposed. That wouldn't be the worst only if India's interest weren't harmed in the process. This all sounds like a real life soap opera. And a really bad one.
The question I ask myself is India ready to host such an international mega-sporting event? I have been of the opinion, we will have problems but will manage to get everything in place in the last minute, but the closer the Commonwealth are getting the more doubts I now have. And I don't seem to be alone with my doubts as yesterday's statements from Baichung Bhutia show.
Baichung said in Kolkata, "We should not have taken a decision to host the Games. The infrastructure is not ready. Look at the situation, the grounds are not ready. Even in hockey, there are not many turfs in India. Even a nation like Malaysia is better-placed to host the Games. We should not have bid for the Games."
Harsh words from Baichung but he is known to speak his mind on pressing issues and not to take a diplomatic view just to please others. And in my opinion his views are spot on!
Instead of hosting the Commonwealth Games now, maybe hosting it in four or eight years would have been better. The funds would have been better utilised to create infrastructure now for youngsters to train and increase the participation in sports. That is India's biggest drawbacks besides qualified coaching and a system for overall sports development, irrespective of sporting discipline. And we also need young, dynamic people to come in and run sporting bodies to bring with them fresh, new ideas and not age old methods which don't seen to take us anywhere.
But still I hope the Commonwealth Games will be a success, but thereafter an overall clean-up needs to happen. Especially the media needs to ask for accountability and those found guilty for offences need to be pushed. But for now India and I mean the whole of India needs to focus on making the Games a success or otherwise our reputation will take a massive hit.
But where are the problems? If one looks at the media reports there are to many to mention. Allegations of corruption, venues aren't ready yet while some are already crumbling under monsoon rains plus officials and politicians fighting each other over who should get the credit for things going well or who should be blamed for failure and mismanagement. And to top it all there is former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who is wishing the worst for the games so that the inabilities of certain sports administrators are exposed. That wouldn't be the worst only if India's interest weren't harmed in the process. This all sounds like a real life soap opera. And a really bad one.
The question I ask myself is India ready to host such an international mega-sporting event? I have been of the opinion, we will have problems but will manage to get everything in place in the last minute, but the closer the Commonwealth are getting the more doubts I now have. And I don't seem to be alone with my doubts as yesterday's statements from Baichung Bhutia show.
Baichung said in Kolkata, "We should not have taken a decision to host the Games. The infrastructure is not ready. Look at the situation, the grounds are not ready. Even in hockey, there are not many turfs in India. Even a nation like Malaysia is better-placed to host the Games. We should not have bid for the Games."
Harsh words from Baichung but he is known to speak his mind on pressing issues and not to take a diplomatic view just to please others. And in my opinion his views are spot on!
Instead of hosting the Commonwealth Games now, maybe hosting it in four or eight years would have been better. The funds would have been better utilised to create infrastructure now for youngsters to train and increase the participation in sports. That is India's biggest drawbacks besides qualified coaching and a system for overall sports development, irrespective of sporting discipline. And we also need young, dynamic people to come in and run sporting bodies to bring with them fresh, new ideas and not age old methods which don't seen to take us anywhere.
But still I hope the Commonwealth Games will be a success, but thereafter an overall clean-up needs to happen. Especially the media needs to ask for accountability and those found guilty for offences need to be pushed. But for now India and I mean the whole of India needs to focus on making the Games a success or otherwise our reputation will take a massive hit.
VIDEO: AFC president bin Hamman interview
Soccerex held its first ever Asian Forum in Singapore last week. And Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed bin Hammam was interview by Matt Lorenzo about different issues.
It is an interesting interview to watch with a lot of insights. Enjoy!
It is an interesting interview to watch with a lot of insights. Enjoy!
Rabu, 04 Agustus 2010
I-League to kickoff in November 2010
The I-League committee met on Wednesday in New Delhi to discuss and finalise the upcoming 2010/11 season. And there were a number of issues to be discussed, be it the number of teams taking part, the dates of the I-League and the AFC Club licensing criteria. A lot of uncertainly has been killed through the results of the meeting though there are still rumours making the rounds that Mumbai FC and Viva Kerala could be pulling their teams out as still no players have been signed.
I-League size
The 2010/11 I-League would be played with 14 teams and would not be expanded to 16 teams. This means that the slim hopes of Sporting Clube de Goa, Shillong Lajong FC, Vasco SC and Mohammedan Sporting Club to stay in the league or move up have been dashed by the AIFF and I-League committee. ONGC and HAL will now remain the two promoted sides, while the AIFF Under-19 XI based in Delhi will replace the now defunct Mahindra United in the 14 team league.
The AIFF also decided against expanding the league to 16 teams due to the fact that the season will miss about 10 weeks this year due to international commitments plus the league's expansion would cost the federation an extra of around Rs. 2 crores. A difficulty in times of unsure income.
I-League dates
The calendar has been the other main issue. And the league is set to kickoff in the third week of November 2010.
With 30 players taken out of the system due to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup preparations and the 2010 Asian Games to be held in November in Guangzhou, China would mean another 23 players would be taken out of the system that would have been too much on the big sides plus also the AIFF Under-19 XI to play in the league.
Also there is the issue of venues. The Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi will not be available until mid-October due to the Commonwealth Games. And then there is the India vs Australia One-Day International Cricket series. The Nehru Stadium, Goa and the Nehru Stadium, Kochi will both host matches from the series which mean that they wouldn't be available to football for weeks.
Also before the start of the I-League all 'A' level tournaments would be held to allow the league time to finish by May 2011. This means that the Federation Cup, Durand Cup, IFA Shield and some of the local leagues would be held in the coming weeks and month's.
AFC Club licensing criteria
The AFC will send a team to assess I-League clubs on fulfilling the AFC Club licensing criteria to India from October 23 to November 1. A workshop for all I-League clubs would be held on November 2.
The I-League committee has also set December 31 as the deadline for all the clubs for fulfilling the AFC Club licensing criteria.
I-League size
The 2010/11 I-League would be played with 14 teams and would not be expanded to 16 teams. This means that the slim hopes of Sporting Clube de Goa, Shillong Lajong FC, Vasco SC and Mohammedan Sporting Club to stay in the league or move up have been dashed by the AIFF and I-League committee. ONGC and HAL will now remain the two promoted sides, while the AIFF Under-19 XI based in Delhi will replace the now defunct Mahindra United in the 14 team league.
The AIFF also decided against expanding the league to 16 teams due to the fact that the season will miss about 10 weeks this year due to international commitments plus the league's expansion would cost the federation an extra of around Rs. 2 crores. A difficulty in times of unsure income.
I-League dates
The calendar has been the other main issue. And the league is set to kickoff in the third week of November 2010.
With 30 players taken out of the system due to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup preparations and the 2010 Asian Games to be held in November in Guangzhou, China would mean another 23 players would be taken out of the system that would have been too much on the big sides plus also the AIFF Under-19 XI to play in the league.
Also there is the issue of venues. The Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi will not be available until mid-October due to the Commonwealth Games. And then there is the India vs Australia One-Day International Cricket series. The Nehru Stadium, Goa and the Nehru Stadium, Kochi will both host matches from the series which mean that they wouldn't be available to football for weeks.
Also before the start of the I-League all 'A' level tournaments would be held to allow the league time to finish by May 2011. This means that the Federation Cup, Durand Cup, IFA Shield and some of the local leagues would be held in the coming weeks and month's.
AFC Club licensing criteria
The AFC will send a team to assess I-League clubs on fulfilling the AFC Club licensing criteria to India from October 23 to November 1. A workshop for all I-League clubs would be held on November 2.
The I-League committee has also set December 31 as the deadline for all the clubs for fulfilling the AFC Club licensing criteria.
QPR Youth trials for Minorities
English Championship side Queens Park Rangers FC are working with Sporting Equals to build their connections with local communities, through a talent ID programme targeted at minority ethnic groups. It is the first such program that QPR is involved in.
The scheme runs on two Sundays – August 15 and 22, from 10.00 to 15.00 GMT. Boys aged 8 – 11 are invited to take part at the QPR training ground at Harlington, under the watchful eyes of the QPR coaching team including QPR Youth Development Manager Steve Gallen. The format will be a fun but rigorous assessment involving small sided games and skills sessions, and any boys who meet the standard will be invited to join the QPR age group teams for training over a six week period.
Trial Details
- Target age group is 8 to 11 years Boys (however, those just over will be eligible)
- First session 10.00 to 12.00 GMT, second session 13.00 to 15.00 GMT
- Small sided games and skills sessions
- On-going assessment to be provided by QPR coaching staff
- Coaching staff to determine the top trialists chosen from first weekend to attend the second weekend trials
- All boys informed of decision at the end of the trial and also by joint letter from Sporting Equals and QPR FC
- Additional information available for parents and children about opportunities to engage with QPR Community Trust – e.g. summer coaching courses, volunteering at QPR season tickets, etc and Sporting Equals to advise about wider opportunities for continuing within football
After registration parents will be notified of which session their children will be attending on August 15.
The trials will take place on Sunday, August 15 at
QPR FC Training Ground
Harlington Sports Ground
Sipson Lane
Harlington
Middlesex
UB3 5AQ
In order to register visit www.sportingequals.org.uk or call 0121 777 1375 for more information about the trials.
New York Cosmos - Return of a legend?
It has been in the pipelines for quite some time, but now it is out in the open. The New York Cosmos, one of the most prominent teams of the now defunct NASL (North American Soccer League), has been newly formed with an initial focus on youth development but with an aim to play Major League Soccer in the future.
English businessman Paul Kemsley leads a group of business people who have bought the original franchise name of the NY Cosmos from G. Peppe Pinton, a former general manager of the club. Now the aim is to re-establish the brand and then challenge for bigger things ahead. And it comes at the right time with football growing in North America.
And this could be good news not only for football in New York, but for the MLS in general. New York has a strong club side in the New York Red Bulls, who earlier this year opened their new soccer specific stadium in Harrison, New Jersey and further another club is on the lines to be formed in FC New York, who are said to be pursuing a place in the 2011 United Soccer League, the second tier of North American football. But the NY Cosmos are one of the iconic clubs of world football, their revival would be something different and could be perfect for a derby against the NY Red Bulls. Players like Brazilian Pele and German Franz Beckenbauer used to play for them in their heydays of the 1970s.
And Brazilian legend Pele is also involved in the new venture. Pele has been named as the honorary president of the club to give it the necessary global push. The relaunch was announced on Sunday, August 1 on the sidelines of the final of the "Copa NYC" at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a NYC youth tournament. And already there is a lot of excitement about the clubs return.
The Cosmos has joined hands with Queens-based youth club BW Gottschee to develop talent at youth level. The Cosmos along with Gottschee will field Under-12 to Under-18 teams in the US Soccer Development Academy under the Cosmos Academy name. And they will now also run the "Copa NYC" under its banner.
But an immediate return to professional football doesn't look likely with the focus on youth development. Some say that the NY Cosmos could initially be a travelling team like the Harlem Globetrotters in Basketball. Former star players playing under the Cosmos banner for good causes to rekindle interest in the club. And if done properly, then I think that there is a lot of potential in the NY Cosmos and it could help football or soccer as they say in North America grow as a sport.
English businessman Paul Kemsley leads a group of business people who have bought the original franchise name of the NY Cosmos from G. Peppe Pinton, a former general manager of the club. Now the aim is to re-establish the brand and then challenge for bigger things ahead. And it comes at the right time with football growing in North America.
And this could be good news not only for football in New York, but for the MLS in general. New York has a strong club side in the New York Red Bulls, who earlier this year opened their new soccer specific stadium in Harrison, New Jersey and further another club is on the lines to be formed in FC New York, who are said to be pursuing a place in the 2011 United Soccer League, the second tier of North American football. But the NY Cosmos are one of the iconic clubs of world football, their revival would be something different and could be perfect for a derby against the NY Red Bulls. Players like Brazilian Pele and German Franz Beckenbauer used to play for them in their heydays of the 1970s.
And Brazilian legend Pele is also involved in the new venture. Pele has been named as the honorary president of the club to give it the necessary global push. The relaunch was announced on Sunday, August 1 on the sidelines of the final of the "Copa NYC" at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, a NYC youth tournament. And already there is a lot of excitement about the clubs return.
The Cosmos has joined hands with Queens-based youth club BW Gottschee to develop talent at youth level. The Cosmos along with Gottschee will field Under-12 to Under-18 teams in the US Soccer Development Academy under the Cosmos Academy name. And they will now also run the "Copa NYC" under its banner.
But an immediate return to professional football doesn't look likely with the focus on youth development. Some say that the NY Cosmos could initially be a travelling team like the Harlem Globetrotters in Basketball. Former star players playing under the Cosmos banner for good causes to rekindle interest in the club. And if done properly, then I think that there is a lot of potential in the NY Cosmos and it could help football or soccer as they say in North America grow as a sport.
3rd International Goalkeeper Congress - A personal review
The 3rd International Goalkeeper Congress was held in Zurich over the weekend of July 31/August 1. I had the task and honour to moderate the theoretical sessions on day one, while day two was filled with practice sessions from goalkeeping experts and former keepers like Jean-Marie Pfaff and Lutz Pfannenstiel showing their training methods.
Day One was held at the Sonnenberg Convention Center in Zurich, the former home of world football governing body FIFA. And surely this was an impressive location for the Congress with the old building's terrace overviewing the Zurich Lake and you have the Alps in the backdrop. This is Switzerland as you have it on picture post cards. Maybe this was why the organisers picked this location after Nuremberg and Munich hosted the first two editions.
Moderating an event like this is a lot of work as you have to prepare yourself with as much input as possible about the people making presentations or being interviewed by you. And also you have to be prepared for all eventualities plus I was given the chance to moderate in place of former FIFA Media Director Markus Siegler, so some added pressure on me but none with which I can't live with. To give you an example, the Global Ambassador of the International Goalkeeper Congress is German national goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke, but due to a serious illness in the family, he couldn't attend. So it meant short notice changes to the program and the overall plans. And then there was Jean-Marie Pfaff, who was being followed by a camera team, as he has a long running reality show in Belgium like the Osborne's used to have on MTV. Impressive how he handled the situation with the camera always around.
The grand opening had former Belgian Bayern Munich goalkeeper of the 1980s Jean-Marie Pfaff; former Swiss captain and Borussia Moenchengladbach keeper Joerg Stiel; German goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel, who is the only player to have played on all continents; and Michael Fuchs, the goalkeeping coach of the German Women's national team, to start the day. The main discussion in the opening session revolved around the Jabulani ball and the goalkeeping blunders at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. While the younger generation put some blame on the ball and the different conditions across South Africa, Pfaff said that quality proves itself in the end and questioned if goalkeeping was at its highest standards as keepers these days are integrated into their sides and aren't crazy individuals as keepers have been in the past.
Over the day you had numerous sessions on goalkeeping and also about artificial turf, a help or hindrance; in stadia seating; plus latest technology which helps keepers to develop their game and find out their weaknesses.
I personally found the sessions with my friend Lutz Pfannenstiel the most interesting as Lutz has not only travelled the world as a player, but has also learned a lot about cultures and follows football around the world. He not only understands the game in theory but the next day showed his vast knowledge in the practical sessions as well. Lutz personally told me, he would be very interested to come to India to coach and manage a club or maybe even get involved with Team India.
An interesting aspect was also the conference call sessions. Something which I hadn't seen at a congress before. This was done as a number of persons couldn't be physically present in Zurich, still we had them as part of the Congress by calling them and getting their views, talking about goalkeeping and football in their countries.
The day ended with a joint dinner, while day two was held at the Sportanlage Chrummen in Freienbach, just outside of Zurich. This happens to be the national training centre of the Swiss national teams with two natural turf grounds plus an artificial turf. And with artificial turf producer Polytan as Congress sponsor and the artificial turf being theirs the practical sessions where held on that ground. Jean-Marie Pfaff and Lutz Pfannenstiel showed their training methodology with other coaches chipping in with their ideas or even discussing if the methods are right or wrong. As a non-goalkeeper it was interesting to follow how such training sessions and methods are structured.
World Radio Switzerland interview - with Lutz Pfannenstiel and myself
Day One was held at the Sonnenberg Convention Center in Zurich, the former home of world football governing body FIFA. And surely this was an impressive location for the Congress with the old building's terrace overviewing the Zurich Lake and you have the Alps in the backdrop. This is Switzerland as you have it on picture post cards. Maybe this was why the organisers picked this location after Nuremberg and Munich hosted the first two editions.
Moderating an event like this is a lot of work as you have to prepare yourself with as much input as possible about the people making presentations or being interviewed by you. And also you have to be prepared for all eventualities plus I was given the chance to moderate in place of former FIFA Media Director Markus Siegler, so some added pressure on me but none with which I can't live with. To give you an example, the Global Ambassador of the International Goalkeeper Congress is German national goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke, but due to a serious illness in the family, he couldn't attend. So it meant short notice changes to the program and the overall plans. And then there was Jean-Marie Pfaff, who was being followed by a camera team, as he has a long running reality show in Belgium like the Osborne's used to have on MTV. Impressive how he handled the situation with the camera always around.
The grand opening had former Belgian Bayern Munich goalkeeper of the 1980s Jean-Marie Pfaff; former Swiss captain and Borussia Moenchengladbach keeper Joerg Stiel; German goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel, who is the only player to have played on all continents; and Michael Fuchs, the goalkeeping coach of the German Women's national team, to start the day. The main discussion in the opening session revolved around the Jabulani ball and the goalkeeping blunders at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. While the younger generation put some blame on the ball and the different conditions across South Africa, Pfaff said that quality proves itself in the end and questioned if goalkeeping was at its highest standards as keepers these days are integrated into their sides and aren't crazy individuals as keepers have been in the past.
Over the day you had numerous sessions on goalkeeping and also about artificial turf, a help or hindrance; in stadia seating; plus latest technology which helps keepers to develop their game and find out their weaknesses.
I personally found the sessions with my friend Lutz Pfannenstiel the most interesting as Lutz has not only travelled the world as a player, but has also learned a lot about cultures and follows football around the world. He not only understands the game in theory but the next day showed his vast knowledge in the practical sessions as well. Lutz personally told me, he would be very interested to come to India to coach and manage a club or maybe even get involved with Team India.
An interesting aspect was also the conference call sessions. Something which I hadn't seen at a congress before. This was done as a number of persons couldn't be physically present in Zurich, still we had them as part of the Congress by calling them and getting their views, talking about goalkeeping and football in their countries.
The day ended with a joint dinner, while day two was held at the Sportanlage Chrummen in Freienbach, just outside of Zurich. This happens to be the national training centre of the Swiss national teams with two natural turf grounds plus an artificial turf. And with artificial turf producer Polytan as Congress sponsor and the artificial turf being theirs the practical sessions where held on that ground. Jean-Marie Pfaff and Lutz Pfannenstiel showed their training methodology with other coaches chipping in with their ideas or even discussing if the methods are right or wrong. As a non-goalkeeper it was interesting to follow how such training sessions and methods are structured.
World Radio Switzerland interview - with Lutz Pfannenstiel and myself
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