When Ivan Gazidis met fans from a variety of supporters' groups at the Emirates Stadium last
week, his message regarding UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations was unequivocal. It will happen
and the clubs are all in favour of it, not least because the alternative – football's bubble
bursting if it continues to expand in the current form – does not bear thinking about.
Yesterday I wondered if United going 8 points clear after winning at QPR would increase City's
resolve and fight, or simply add more pressure under which they would buckle. I think it's fair to
say it was the latter but more than anything else it was a fine Arsenal performance from which we
more than merited the three points.
By Lady Nina Bracewell Sunlounger My old quaffing partner David Gill, the Manchester big chief pow
wow has had a bash at the Football Association, accusing them of victimising his club with
punishments that would not be given to rivals. Now I know the so-called FA and quite honestly few
of them are to be [.
The MLS Disciplinary Committee had plenty of incidents to sift through from this past week, and
three more players have received bans for harsh fouls.
Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Gershon Koffie, Montreal Impact defender Hassoun Camara and San
Jose Earthquakes defender Victor Bernardez were all suspended for a game and fined an undisclosed
amount for their actions.
For a second straight game, the Seattle Sounders will be down one defender because of a
suspension. This time, it was Zach Scott drawing the attention of the MLS Disciplinary Committee
for his 74th minute tackle of Fabian Castillo. Scott definitely tackled Castillo from behind and
does follow through with a scissor-ing motion.
If you thought that Gabriel Farfan was out of the woods after MLS' Disciplinary Committee
announced punishments from last week's Chivas USA-Philadelphia Union game on Thursday and he wasn't
a part of it, think again.
The Disciplinary Committee suspended Farfan two additional games and fined him an undisclosed
amount for his two-footed challenge into James Riley last weekend.
That was Rafa Marquez fouling Shea Salinas over the weekend. Today the MLS Disciplinary Committee
suspended Rafa Marquez for 3 games. As I discussed a couple of times last year, the one thing you
can be sure of is that the Disciplinary Committee will be inconsistent and this is another example
of it.
Major League Soccer's Disciplinary Committee announced the retroactive punishments from last
Saturday's New York - San Jose game. New York's Rafa Marquez has been suspended for three games and
fined for dragging down and kicking San Jose's Shea Salinas and San Jose's Marvin Chavez has been
suspended for one game and fined for a tackle from behind that was missed by the officiating crew.
While watching sports, it can be difficult to be objective. That's just the overall nature of
competitive events. I'm sure last weekend D.C. United supporters felt hard-done by the suspension
of Brandon McDonald and fining of Danny Cruz. I would bet that Vancouver Whitecaps fans felt anger
about losing Atiba Harris.
The MLS disciplinary committee is bringing down the hammer.Â
After reviewing the past weekend's matches, the league's disciplinary arm has suspended FC
Dallas' Jair Benitez, D.C. United's Brandon McDonald and Vancouver Whitecaps' Atiba Harris a game
apiece and fined them for violent conduct, and fined D.
When Dwayne De Rosario fell to the ground flailing after hardly being contacted by Juan Pablo
Angel on a cross and flicked-on header into the Chivas USA box in second-half stoppage time of a
crucial game on Wednesday night, most figured the D.
Much scrutiny has been made of the disciplinary action taken by the MLS this season.
The latest actions taken see suspensions for LA's Chris Birchall and Chicago's Diego Cháves
while San Joe head coach Frank Yallop gets a $500 slap on the wrist for "conduct unbecoming of a
professional" during the Earthquakes match against the Union over the weekend.
Barcelona's new coach Tito Vilanova refused to contribute to the controversy over the lifting of
Jose Mourinho's and his bans after last year's infamous eye-poke incident as he started work at the
Nou Camp.
Pep Guardiola's former assistant, who has since stepped up to the top job, was deliberately
poked in the eye by Real Madrid boss Mourinho during a melee on the touchline at the end of last
season's Spanish Super Cup between the sides.
Thank you for articulating our point so effectively, Winston Reid. Image: Getty Images/Daylife
Dear Karen Espelund, (newly appointed lady member of UEFA's Executive Committee),
From our internationally recognised and lauded feminist perspective, we are absolutely
thrilled that you have broken through the glass ceiling and achieved a position of power within one
of the few global organisations still utterly dominated by males.
Italian soccer won't be suspended as a whole for two years, like Italian Premier Mario Monti
suggested, and the sport as a whole in the country appears ready to move on from the latest
match-fixing scandal.
The Italian FA announced its punishments after an investigation, and four players -- Mario
Cassano, Alessandro Zamperini, Luigi Sartor and Nicola Santoni -- were banned for five years
each.
In the summer of 2006, Wayne Rooney was sent off during the pre-season Amsterdam Tournament for
an innocuous challenge on Pepe, as both players jumped for the ball. It was only a couple of months
earlier that Rooney had been sent off against Portugal in the World Cup and Pepe was prepared to
use this to his advantage.
The FA has passed down it's judgement on Joey Barton, and he has been suspended for a total of
twelve games for his misdemeanours in the last game of the season against Manchester City. The
first four games of the ban cover the sending off for violent conduct, plus an extra game ban for
it being Barton's second sending off of the season – every time a player gets sent off more than
once in a season in England, they have an extra game added to their suspension for eqch subsequent
dismissal.
Special guest column this morning. Shaz wrote this a while ago but I've been waiting for the
right moment to post it. The aftermath of a busy encounter against Stoke City seems like that
moment, particularly with Tony Pulis drawing attention to Pavel Pogrebnyak's enthusiastic tackle
(*cough* glass houses *cough*).
Sitting on a late, crowded, stiflingly hot train. Suddenly the peace of the carriage - that funny,
miserable peace that descends when everyone is as pissed off as everyone else - is broken.
There's a handful of young football fans on the train. Drunk, loud, demanding attention.
Liverpool striker Luis Suárez suspended from Newcastle United match
• Luis Suárez suspended for gesturing towards Fulham fans • Kenny Dalglish reiterates
backing for striker Andy Carroll Luis Suárez will miss the Anfield game against Newcastle United
on Friday after the Football Association handed down a one‑match ban and a £20,000 fine for his
one-fingered gesture to the crowd at Fulham this month.
Wales and Cardiff striker Robert Earnshaw believes that racism is still rife in English football,
but insists that Liverpool F.C forward Luis Suarez is innocent until proven guilty.
Earnshaw, who revealed that he has 'experienced racist abuse loads of times...even at certain
grounds in this country', said:
"It's hard to comment [on the Evra-Suarez incident] because both players have their opinions and it
might be crossed wires, we just don't know.
A big congratulations to our reserve team yesterday for pulling off a 2 - 1 victory over the San
Jose Earthquakes. I know it's not the regular season, but the reserve system is important for
getting the team to play well together and build confidence. It was also something that was sorely
missed in the last few years so I am, personally, very happy to see it return.
Sir Alex Ferguson has had a pop at the FA for the repeated double standards they show towards
our club. Time and again our players and manager are made an example of, receiving harsher
punishments for identical crimes as managers and players from other teams.
Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Young, Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones, Danny
Welbeck and Chris Smalling have all been called up to the provisional squad to face Bulgaria and
Wales in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, much to the delight of the manager.
David Gill has today spoken about the FA's treatment of Manchester United last season, claiming
that they singled us out for harsher punishments because we're the country's biggest club.
"I do genuinely believe there have been some poorish decisions that, in my opinion, wouldn't
necessarily have hit other clubs," he said.
David Gill has today spoken about the FA's treatment of Manchester United last season, claiming
that they singled us out for harsher punishments because we're the country's biggest club.
Wayne Rooney was given a two match ban for swearing at the camera, despite the laws of football
making no distinction between any sort of swearing.
Whiter than white though some might claim it to be, the history of football in England is
pock-marked with attempts to bend the rules as set out by the Football Association. The punishments
meted out to these clubs have been many and varied, but it could be argued that few in recent have
suffered a penalty as harsh as Swindon Town did in the summer of 1990.
If there's one thing for which South American football can be relied upon, it's regular
on-the-field rioting. The Uruguayan bout between Cerro Largo and Cerro (who, despite their names,
are not local rivals) ended in typically punchy and kicky fashion after the home side secured a 1-0
victory.
Before we even dip a toe into the blame game that is WPS vs Dan Barislow, I have one serious
question.
Who represents WPS?
Legally, I mean.
Indulge me for a minute, if you will.
Let's assume that I got a new job. On my first day in the new office, rather than set up my
email, read the personnel manual and display a photo of my adorable puppy, I instead chose to
smash my computer, spray paint my name on the wall, and subject my coworkers to a vicious series
of guerrilla wedgie attacks.
It's been a good week for racism in football. Luis Suarez has been banned by eight matches and
fined £40,000 for racially abusing Patrice Evra whilst Chelsea and England captain John Terry
faces a racially aggravated public order charge for allegedly abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand
in a match in October.
So, a few weeks ago, the Portuguese federation banned Ricardo Carvahlo for a year because he
skipped out on a national team practice. A pretty harsh punishment, right? If Allen Iverson, the
former NBA player, had been dealt with accordingly, he would be serving his ban up until just
before the successful colonization of Mars.
It was one of the more egregious dives seen this MLS season, and now Alvaro Saborio looks like
he could pay a steep price for his action, which drew a penalty and a red card that turned a
scoreless match against San Jose into a 4-0 blowout win.
According to sources within MLS, Saborio stands a very good chance of being suspended for one
match for his tide-turning dive against the Earthquakes last Saturday.
