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Beer must be sold at all venues hosting matches in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, football’s world governing body, FIFA, has insisted.

FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke said the right to sell Beer must be enshrined in a World Cup law the Brazilian Congress is considering.

“Alcoholic drinks are part of the Fifa World Cup, so we’re going to have them. Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that’s something we won’t negotiate,” he said. “The fact that we have the right to sell beer has to be a part of the law.”

Alcohol was banned at Brazilian football matches in 2003 in an attempt to tackle violence between rival football fans.

SOURCE: BBC Sport

We would now like to put forward our support to Jerome Valcke as the rightful heir to the FIFA president’s throne when mad-hatter Sepp Blatter steps down. We like his no-nonsense stance on this issue but own wonders if such a stance will be so easily enforced when the 2022 World Cup bandwagon makes its way to Qatar, a country where alcohol consumption is frowned upon and greatly restricted.

The thorny issue of the sale of alcoholic beverages in football stadiums is dealt with in different ways across the world. Some countries have banned it and others openly encourage it and one hopes that Valcke’s view on the matter comes from a ‘good place’ namely his love for beer and the right for football fans to enjoy a nice pint in the stadium as opposed to any sponsorship rights issue.

If any beer producer wishes to send us crates of the stuff in order to get a positive right up on the merits of their product then we are of course open to that sort of bribery.

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It’s never a Premier League matchday without drama and controversy, but this weekend showed a little too much of that. The mood was set from just the 4^th minute of the early kick off on Saturday between Newcastle and Chelsea. Running on to a through ball, Demba Ba was brought down by David Luiz on the edge of the penalty area. With the whole of ‘The Sports Direct Arena’ expecting to see referee Mike Dean brandish a red card, they ended up questioning their knowledge of the rules as Luiz was only shown a yellow card. It was a clear goal scoring opportunity that was illegally stopped by the Brazilian, and by the letter of the law, the Chelsea man should have been removed from the pitch, being the last defender. It also would have changed the game, as suddenly Newcastle have 85 minutes against a wounded Chelsea, and the game is suddenly played out differently than it was.

But that was just the start of the big refereeing blunders. Inside the first 20 minutes at White Hart Lane and Tottenham are already all over Bolton Wanderers, and applying constant pressure to Owen Coyle’s men. Leading the wave of pressure is Scott Parker, who notices that Gary Cahill’s poor attempt at a skilful drag-back on the side of the half way line has resulted in the ball away from his feet. Pouncing, Parker sprinted in and stole the ball a second before Cahill could, which meant his attempt to kick the ball led to him kicking Parker.  But after blowing for the foul, referee Stuart Atwell brandished Cahill with a red card. To his and his teammates’ dismay, Bolton were left with 10 men. But why? The defender was only on the half way line, at an angle from goal, and hadn’t cynically brought down his England teammate, but instead attempted to play the ball. Neither was Cahill the last man, as replays show that Zat Knight was clearly the last man, not Cahill. But Atwell’s decision left already struggling Bolton a man down against a team with the pace and skill of Spurs, who showed no mercy.

Phil Dowd, who was the referee for Sunday’s six pointer between Wolves and Sunderland, must have been watching Match of the Day in his hotel room on Saturday evening, and thinking that he wouldn’t have made those mistakes. But instead he was the victim of possibly one of the most obvious dives in the Premier League, and Mr Dowd bought it all. Running into the Wolves box, Seb Larsson saw Jody Craddock’s leg dangling out, and leapt over it, flailing his arms about to add to the dramatics. Tom Daley would be proud of the dive, but not the referee’s decision, as Phil Dowd immediately pointed to the spot. Justice was done as Larsson took the penalty himself and gave keeper Hennessey an easy save. This miss was even more costly, as inside 30 seconds after Hennessey’s save, his team were level. And then with less than 10 minutes left, Wolves snatched the winner to the delight of the home fans. This also took some attention off Phil Dowd, as his mistake didn’t stop Wolves from winning, although only because Larsson missed his own penalty. Maybe it was guilt from cheating, but the Swede couldn’t handle the pressure.

3 Shocking decisions in just over 24 hours, all of which have the power to change the game. It would be stupid to claim that the result would have been different if Cahill wasn’t sent off, or if Luiz was, as there is no knowing of that. But what we can say is that they change how the game is played. Suddenly Spurs can attack Bolton with as much width as possible, knowing the risk of being counter attacked is reduced. Newcastle should have been attacking Chelsea more than they did, and Sunderland could have put the game away if they weren’t thwarted by Wayne Hennessey. So how can we help Referees from wrongly changing the game?

The obvious start is to reduce the amount of diving, from players such as Seb Larsson. It is difficult enough for officials without the added strain of judging if the player was brought down, or if they are play acting. But is it really possible to remove simulation from the English game? Referees do need to be more strict or punishing a player when found guilty of diving, but what happens if the referee believes the act portrayed in front of him? Should the FA fine or even hand a one game suspension to a player who was awarded a penalty when he hadn’t been touched? Or should our governing body add a yellow card to the players’ name, which means they will have to play more honestly to avoid a suspension for five yellow cards?

However, we still have the issue of consistency from the officials. What one referee gives a red card, another gives a yellow for a worse offence. Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was quick to give his opinion on how we could improve the refereeing;

“The training for the referees is about £30,000 believe it or not. We’ve got assistant referees who aren’t full time. So we’re going to have this problem unless we make assistant referees professional. The referee then has a unit that’s trained – a unit that has trained together and work together and know eachother. Then they can deal with those situations because they’re dealing with them and training on them in the week. Unless we do something like that, it isn’t going to improve. “

He makes a good suggestion, as if the officials understood the game better, they may make more correct decisions. Or should we follow the footsteps of American Sport where there or more than one official on the field of play, allowing them to spot more, and discuss what they saw to come to the right conclusion? However, will this just mean we have more referees on the pitch to make mistakes? From the start of the 2009-2010 season, the Europa League has had 5 officials, instead of the standard 3. The extra 2 stand behind the goal and supposedly help the referee know what is happening in the penalty area. But it seems that the first time we have actually seen them do anything was during the Tottenham match at home to PAOK last week, where the 5^th official told the referee of a foul prior to a goal. So in 2 years of them being implemented they have barely changed the game, and if anything have angered fans more that there are more officials there and are still missing incidents.

So do we follow the footsteps of Rugby, where a TMO (Television Match Official) is in place. When a try is scored and the referee is unsure of the grounding of the ball or if the ball was over the try line, the referee can stop the clock and go to the TMO, who can study the numerous replays and give an accurate conclusion to the referee. So if football referees can find a plausible time to stop the game to check, this system may work.

After recent updates to its rules, the sport of Cricket may have the answer. Recent rule changes mean that in some test matches, a team has 3 referrals they can use to challenge the on field umpire’s decision. This then means the decision is sent upstairs to the TMO who views the replays. Interestingly, the decision of the on field umpire is only changed if there is clear evidence that the original decision was incorrect. A successful appeal means the team doesn’t lose that challenge they have, an unsuccessful challenge is taken away from your side. This system is similar to the challenge rules in NFL, with some differences on the quantity available. So could it be implemented in football? If a team are certain they were denied a penalty, the captain would have the authority to use one of their challenges and ask a TMO. This allows the on field referee to have the same authority as he does, and it means the team choose to use the TMO, not the referee himself, meaning his decision stands unless a referral is used.

The only thing that is certain is that the FA, UEFA, FIFA, whoever, need to look at what is happening and find a way to improve the game. Other sports are adapting with technology both here and across the world, and yet the most popular sport around the globe is becoming outdated and in need of some changes.

Follow Dan Eyre on Twitter @Dannye7

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A corruption watchdog that was advising FIFA after a series of bribery and corruption scandals, has cut its ties with world football’s governing body.

An official with Transparency International (TI) said two of its key recommendations had been ignored.

TI said FIFA paying an expert to oversee major reforms to how it is run would jeopardise his independence.

The expert, Mark Pieth, said he would not re-examine old scandals, another recommendation of TI.

Sylvia Schenk, TI’s sports adviser, said Mr Pieth could not remain independent of Fifa if he was being paid by the organisation.

“We believe that someone paid by Fifa cannot be a member of the independent commission [overseeing reforms],” Ms Schenk told the Press Association Sport news agency.

“He has a contract with Fifa so he is not independent in that sense.”

SOURCE: BBC Sport

So let’s re-cap. FIFA asks an anti-corruption watchdog to advise them on how to rid their organisation of bribery and corruption, that watchdog then advises them to not pay an expert to to head the reform process and they ask FIFA to re-examine past scandals. FIFA decides to not follow this advice, watchdog gives up.

Laughable really and about par for the course for Sepp Blatter and his cohorts who are simply paying lip service when it comes to calls to get their house in order whilst essentially running FIFA in much the same way as they have always been run.

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Former Brazil star striker Romario says he will increase his efforts to try and expose alleged irregularities involving FIFA and Brazilian football federation president Ricardo Teixeira.

The 45-year-old, now a congressman, says he is teaming up with other Brazilian legislators to investigate football’s governing body ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The former Barcelona star insists he will pressure Swiss authorities to release documents that prove bribery took place.

Papers allegedly show the head of the Brazilian FA, Ricardo Teixeira, was one of the FIFA members accused of taking kickbacks from a former FIFA marketing partner in the 1990s.

BBC’s Panorama programme reported the court file shows Teixeira and former FIFA president Joao Havelange received payments from ISL.

Romario says he wants to make sure there is transparency of those involved in the organization of the 2014 World Cup.

Teixeira is president of the tournament’s organizing committee.

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England players will be able to wear poppies on their black armbands on Saturday against Spain after FIFA agreed a compromise with the Football Association.

The compromise means that FIFA’s rules preventing symbols on shirts are still adhered to but will allow the poppies to be displayed.

The world’s governing body had turned down the FA’s request for players to wear shirts embroidered with a red poppy as a mark of remembrance.

An FA statement said: “The FA can confirm that FIFA has today agreed that the England team will now be permitted to wear a poppy on the black armbands the players will wear during Saturday’s match with Spain.

“While continuing to adhere to the laws of the game, wearing the poppy on the armband does ensure the poppy will be visible throughout the game.

“The FA welcomes FIFA’s decision and thanks them for agreeing to this.”

The announcement should bring an end to the dispute which led to both Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William, in his role as president of the FA, writing to FIFA to ask them to reconsider.

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The English Defence League stormed FIFA offices today over the banning of embroidered poppies on the England shirts for Saturday’s friendly with Spain.

Two members of the EDL, a far-right political group, climbed onto the roof of the governing body’s headquarters in Zurich with a banner protesting against the ban.

A FIFA spokesman confirmed the protest is ongoing and that Swiss police were in attendance.

The two protesters displayed a banner with two poppies on which read: “English Defence League. How dare FIFA disrespect our war dead and wounded. Support out troops.”

The incident will be an embarrassment to the Football Association given that the EDL founder Stephen Lennon was convicted in July of leading a street brawl with 100 football fans.

Lennon, a father of three from Luton, was sentenced to a 12-month community rehabilitation order, 150 hours of unpaid work and given a three-year football banning order.

A spokesman for ‘Hope not hate’, an anti-EDL campaign group, said: “It’s hypocritical of the EDL to be leading this protest given their leader Stephen Lennon is a convicted football hooligan.

“It is important that neither the symbol of the poppy nor the Three Lions of England are appropriated by extremists of the EDL.”

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Prime Minister David Cameron has condemned FIFA’s ban on England’s players wearing poppies on their kit as “outrageous”.

The PM called for the governing body to reverse the “absurd” decision that is stopping the team having the remembrance symbol embroidered on their shirts for this Saturday’s friendly against Spain at Wembley.

He stepped in amid growing fury after it emerged that officials turned down the special request, made by the Football Association, claiming it would “open the door to similar initiatives” across the world.

“This seems outrageous,” Mr Cameron said. ”The idea that wearing a poppy to remember those who have given their lives for our freedom is a political act is absurd.

“Wearing a poppy is an act of huge respect and national pride. I hope FIFA will reconsider.”

A letter from FIFA to the FA sent yesterday said: “We regret to inform you that accepting such initiatives would open the door to similar initiatives from all over the world, jeopardising the neutrality of football.

“Therefore, we confirm herewith that the suggested embroidery on the match shirt cannot be authorised.

“There are a variety of options where The FA can continue supporting the cause of Remembrance. One of them already was approved by FIFA, the Period of Silence.”

FIFA have allowed a minute’s silence to be held before the sell-out game, for the England players to wear poppies on their training kit at Wembley on Friday, and to stand for the traditional two minutes’ silence also on Friday.

There are rules prevent anything of a political nature being worn on shirts.

Despite the organisation not regarding poppies as political, they are concerned it would open the door to countries wanting to wear various different emblems on their shirts, some of which would be overtly political.

But Britain’s FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce was among those who yesterday called for the world governing body to permit England’s players to wear poppies on their shirts against Spain.

“Personally I think there has to be a bit of common sense used when requests like this come in,” he said.

“Armistice Day is a very important day in the FA calendar, as it is with other associations, and I don’t think it would offend anybody to have a poppy on the shirts.

“I am not involved in the decision and I do understand there have to be rules.

“But as this is a special request from a member of FIFA and is not of a political nature I believe common sense should prevail and that it should be looked at in a different light.”

Sports minister Hugh Robertson also wrote to FIFA yesterday urging them to reconsider.

Robertson’s letter said: “We fully understand, and respect, FIFA’s rules on its member nations not adorning their shirts with ‘commercial’, ‘political’, or ‘religious’ symbols or messages.

“The FA and FAW do not intend to contravene these rules.

“But the British public feel very strongly about this issue which is seen as an act of national remembrance to commemorate those who gave their lives in the service of their country.

“It is not religious or political in any way.”

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FIFA will not allow England players to wear poppies on their shirts as it contravenes their rules regarding what can be put on shirts.

The Football Association will once again write to the world’s governing body asking for special dispensation to remember the heroes that gave so much for this country.

But on a contradictory note, FIFA will allow a minute’s silence to be held before the sell-out game.

The England players will wear poppies on their training kit at Wembley on Friday, and will stand for the traditional two minutes’ silence to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11 month in an act of remembrance.

The FA have made it plain they have no wish to get embroiled in a row over the matter, and realise FIFA have overall responsibility for that matter.

Chief executive Alex Horne has been in contact with FIFA chiefs asking them to reconsider.

“I believe we have sent another letter to FIFA from Alex Horne, making a fresh request for this to be reconsidered,” said Club England managing director Adrian Bevington.

“We will see where we get to with that.

“Everyone is aware of our feelings on the importance of wearing the poppy.

“We wrote to FIFA three weeks ago now, setting out our request.

“We were advised by them that for various technical reasons around what you can wear on the shirt, they were declining our request.

“They have granted us the minute’s silence before the game against Spain. We are wearing poppies at training on Friday and are also having a two minutes’ silence.

“In addition, we will also have the armed forces on the pitch at the start of the game on Saturday and 500 servicemen and women in the stands, which is our continued standard contribution to the armed services.”

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