""Football can go to hell if this is the situation.""
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Those were the words of Al-Ahly's star player Mohamed Aboutrika in the wake of the tragedy in Port Said, calling for the Egyptian league to be suspended indefinitely. "Crowds are dying in front of us, and there aren't any police or security forces," he said.

Depressingly, few of us who work at the University of California were surprised by the fact thatdemonstrating students would be treated with such violence. A squad ofcolleagues affirmed that it was business as usual when they stood passive whileOfficer Pike calmly went about his task. UC Davis's Chancellor and its PoliceChief both reacted as if this were an unpleasant routine, until it became anews item.

China, Why Costa Rica? - Costa Rica have recently unveiled the state-of-the-art Estadio Nacional. But why was it funded exclusively by the Chinese government?

On Saturday, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid kick off at the Camp Nou and the Mestalla, respectively.

Well done to Wycombe for signing up to the Government Charter for Action to stamp out homophobia and transphobia, the first football club to do so. Admittedly the Charter is rather woolly, a set of four vague pledges with no concrete targets or deadlines, but the sentiment is key, and Wanderers' stated commitment laudable.

Football For Diplomacy Between Cambodia and Thailand

On Saturday, amongst the Premier League and La Liga, the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen hosted a ‘friendship football match' between Thailand and Cambodia to help smooth over some of the recent tensions the nations have experienced.

Looks like it will be a good read
What next for Labour
"Labour does not quite seem to get enough credit for its considerable accomplishments. The foundation of our modern state occurred in the 1945-51 period yet seems taken for granted; the 1960's was a vital decade of social change certainly made easier by a centre left Government; the achievements of the Blair period, constitutionally, electorally and socially are to be lauded and never denied; similarly the social spending of Gordon Brown together with his international financial management at a time of need- all represent considerable governmental achievements.

The French philosopher argued that as our public discourse tightens its grip on sex, mining it for more and more information about the body, the mind and the soul, it turns "sex" turns into a rhetorical black hole – a vortex sucking energy in, radiating pure affect. Making less and less sense.
Journalists (?

By Soraya Soemadiredja, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Final part in AFR's FIFA Election coverage preview.

Joseph S. Blatter has been in charge of world football since 1998. He wants to be in charge for only four more years and promises to leave after this.

On Saturday, we indulge in the pleasures of the beautiful game. On Sunday, we wake up with a global headache.
A collective romance with fair play grounds the entertainment value of sporting events. We love the idea of a level playing field, stories in which the best competitor wins, or in which the well-played match is its own reward.

By Soraya Soemadiredja, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

It would be difficult to call Mohammed Bin Hammam of Qatar an outsider as the FIFA incumbent's sole challenger in the race to lead the world's largest sport's governing body. A member of the FIFA Executive Committee since 1996, he's been the Asian Football Confederation president for the past nine years.

As Preston North End's Northern Irish born Daniel Devine has opted to play for the Republic of Ireland instead of the football association who developed him at under-age level, it seems I have an excuse to write a bit relating to Irish football for this blog.Devine is just the latest player of Northern Irish nationality to declare for the Republic after Darron Gibson, Shane Duffy, Marc Wilson,

Egypt's football fan clubs are figuring prominently in stories about the current uprising. For readers wanting to learn more about the Ultras in Egypt and their role in the uprising, here are a few links:
James M. Dorsey, "Soccer Fans Play Key Role in Egyptian Protests" (readers of this blog will not be surprised, as this is a fairly consistent topic in writing about the sport and politics).

Couple of interesting links about Today's TUC meetings about co-ordinating Union action in response to government cuts.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE70R22U20110128
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/28/coordinated-strike-action-cuts-tuc
This very week here in Liverpool we have the announcement that 1,500 council jobs will go.

Time and time again the Unions are painted by the media as being loony-left strike happy agitators.
Consider this relating to British Airways taking legal action against Unite and stopping it's members from striking (because they failed to mention the number of spoiled ballots
In January 2010, Unite gave BA notice of its intention to conduct a ballot.

Just in case anyone starts banging on about Ed Balls and Ed Miliband being sons of Brown here is David Cameron with Norman Lamont on Black Wednesday
interesting that I found it on ConservativeHome...also interesting that by the time David Cameron was masterminding Howard's disastrous "Are you think what we're thinking" campaign he seems to have learned to blend into the background a bit more.

Is there a place for women in the macho sport of football? According to Sky Television Presenters Richard Keys and Andy Grays, women don't belong in any aspect of the sport. Throughout the Wolverhampton Wanders and Liverpool game, Keys and Grays made several disparaging remarks about female linesman Sian Massey.

"It really bugs me", an exasperated Paul Calf once exclaimed. "They say, 'Oh, David Beckham - he's not very clever.' Yeah. They don't say, 'Stephen Hawking — he's a bit shit at football.'" Many a true word is spoken in jest, and Steve Coogan's mulleted Man City fan may have been onto something.While adored and idolised for their abilities on the pitch and for their "intelligence" in terms of

Football, to those who choose to consume it, realise its importance within cultural proceedings. But to an outsider looking in, the game is considered a bullring containing a group of people over zealous with riches and addicted to their celebrity persona –to some, á la low culture.

Ryan Babel is in trouble once again over his twitter account. The Liverpool player is coming under fire after making improper comments about official Howard Webb. The wanna-be rapper is being investigated by the FA after posting a photoshopped picture of Webb wearing a Manchester United kit. Babel posted the picture in protest of Webb sending off team captain Steven Gerrard.

Arsenal player Theo Walcott admits to diving in a candid interview. The English player admitted to diving in a attempt to save Arsenal from a loss against Leeds United. Walcott admits what he did was wrong stating, "I'm not the sort of player to do it, I own up to that and I apologise for that. It's one of those things that I don't like to see in my game.

By Eric Beard, writing from Boston

Though Brazil will develop into the decade's epicenter of South American sport thanks to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro summer olympics, this summer the spotlight will be on Argentina at Copa América 2011, the continent's prestigious quadrennial international tournament.