UEFA - will common sense ever prevail?

Arsenal fan Reuben Lewis highlights to The Football Front, the inconsistencies in UEFA which are rife.

If anyone needed confirmation that Uefa are unable to see the wood for the trees, so to speak, then here it is.

Following Arsenal's Champions League 2nd leg against AC Milan, Arsene Wenger criticised the Slovenian referee Damir Skomina, claiming he awarded Milan too many free kicks. He took this matter onto the pitch at full time, as well as in his post match conference - a heinous crime in the eyes of Uefa. What followed was perhaps inevitable, knowing Uefa: a three match ban and a ridiculous £33,000 fine. And we've been here before; in 2011, after Arsenal’s Champions League exit to Barcelona, Wenger confronted referee Massimo Busacca over some of his decisions. A one-match ban given, for 'inappropriate language'. What followed was nothing short of farcical, and was branded "a joke" by Wenger himself. Whilst sitting in the stands during the Gunners Champions League qualifier against Udinese, serving his ban, he was adjudged to have communicated illegally with the bench. Guess what happened next? A further two-match ban. Arsene had this to say:

"The first time was not justified. The second time was a joke because they told me what to do and afterwards they told me 'no, sorry, that was wrong'."

Any criticism these Uefa appointed referees receive is treated like a personal insult to the body's integrity. Arsene Wenger sums this up himself:

"I believe that they have transformed Uefa competition referees to be untouchable icons, where you cannot even have a word."

There is a big difference between a personal insult and a perfectly valid criticism. The latter is what Arsene is being punished for. If you ask me, this is hypocrisy at the highest level; Uefa can say what they please, yet Arsene Wenger - not your average man on the street - is punished for expressing his views.

Now surely, if anybody, one of the world's most respected managers should be allowed to voice his opinions without being at risk of reprisal. It reminds me of when I was 11 years old playing for a local Sunday League team, and my father was in charge of the match reports for the club website. Our keeper - who would make Gomes look like Casillas - had a shocker, and my dad told the truth in the report, that all twelve four of the oppositions' goals were goalkeeping errors. Uproar ensued among some of the other parents, and, to cut a long story short, I left the club.

They were shit anyway.

But in all seriousness, this anecdote is reminiscent of what Uefa are doing today. They seem to take everything as some kind of personal insult. What ever happened to freedom of speech? Let alone the benefit of the doubt.

It is no secret that Platini, was once friends with Wenger, now Platini has a barely disguised dislike of him. Platini, the head of Uefa, publicly stated his contempt for Arsene in an interview with a French newspaper a few years ago:

"I do not like the system of Arsene Wenger", "I like to talk about football, him (Wenger) about business".

This frankly bizarre outburst got even more sarcastic and personal when Platini went on to say:

"It would make me happy that Arsene Wenger never sees it (goal line technology)". Arsene is a known advocate for the introduction of technology in football, and Platini, to put it eloquently, takes the fucking piss.

And that's not all. Amidst all this, there have been various other incidents which were actually heinous, with consequences far softer than those meted out to Arsene Wenger.

Firstly, Porto were recently fined a meagre £16,000 after their fans racially abused Man City's Mario Balloteli. £16,000? For racial abuse? Really? I'd love to hear Uefa's justification for this.

Oh, but don't worry, there's more. Russian club Zenit St Petersburg were fined a total of just €50,000 for two separate incidents of crowd trouble, in last year's Champions League group stage. They brandished illicit banners, set off fireworks, and carried out a pitch invasion. A PITCH INVASION! And they were fined just €10,000 more than Wenger was for criticising a referee!

Celtic were fined just €15,000 after their Europa League match last year against Rennes, after illicit chanting from their fans. Shortly after, in their match away to Udinese, fans brandished a banner saying: 'Fuck Uefa'. Good on 'em, I say. However, as one would expect, this clearly offensive and personal message directed towards the body itself would result in a hefty fine for the Scottish club. Oh, according to Uefa.com, Celtic were fined just £21,000 for this? £12,000 less than what Wenger was fined? This must be some kind of mistake. Right?

I wish it was.

The above highlights the inexplicable inconsistency shown by Uefa in their disciplinary actions. Admittedly, nothing is ever 100%, or black and white, even the foolish and blinkered approach of Uefa. Moreover, I'm not saying they aren't allowed to punish Arsene for any offensive comments he may make, but when we see racial misconduct sanctioned to a lesser extent than that of perceived "inappropriate remarks", one must question the competence of those supposedly running the game.

At least now Wenger knows he can criticise the referee's performance, and racially abuse him whilst he's at it, and get fined half the usual amount. Sound system they have going on there, eh?

'Til next time, RL.

This Article was written by Reuben Lewis, you can find more of his work at The Wonder of Wenger. Reuben is on Twitter too: @Rlewisafc.

You can also find all of Reuben's work at The Football Front here

How Man City are getting away with Uefa’s Financial Fair Play Rules

Manchester City. The club everyone just loves to hate. They have financial backing to sign any player they want. They have money which some clubs could only dream of having.

But as this dream of challenging for trophies and having the best players becomes a reality, there is something which could stand in their way. The Uefa Financial Fair Play rules. There is absolutely no doubt Manchester City are fully aware of this too.

Some argue this is an explanation as to why the club have made a massive commercial deal with Etihad. As many are aware, Man City recently announced a 10 year Stadium naming rights deal with the Abu Dhabi based company. The deal is worth around a staggering £400million.

Indeed this deal looks odd and has been met with sceptism from City’s rivals. But a closer look at Man City’s main sponsors highlights even more murkier water.

Below are Man City’s eight main sponsors, these can also be found on their website.

Manchester City’s Main Sponsors (revealed on official website)

Etihad Airways

Umbro

Etisalat

ADTA

Aabar

Thomas Cook Sport

Jaguar Land Rover

Key103

The sponsors highlighted in yellow are all based in Abu –Dhabi. Now, on the surface this seems genuine. The Man City owner has every right to develop and create relations between his club and companies based in his country.

However, if one takes a finer look at the sponsors in yellow, it creates a different picture, one which seems far more ingenuine.

Firstly, Aabar, a global investment company which deals with buying and selling oil, is owned by the United Arab Emirates government, via subsidiary companies. While, ADTA (Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority), is yet again owned by the United Arab Emirates government. Then of course, telecoms giant, Etisalat are owned by, you know who..The United Arab Emirates government.

Indeed this seems a little odd that four out of eight of Man City’s sponsors are owned by the same institution. But here’s the most resounding aspect of the sponsorship issue.

The Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is one of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the United Arab Emirates government.

This rings massive alarm bells.

The City owner is a key player in the governing of the United Arab Emirates. In fact, he chaired the First Gulf Bank and many other imperative faculties of the UAE government. It’s fair to say, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has a massive political influence in UAE.

Coming back to Manchester, the owner’s political role explains vividly why four of Man City’s main sponsors are owned by the UAE government.

It’s transparent that City’s bizarre sponsorship dealings have become even more broadcasted after the club’s massive new naming rights deal. The fact Etihad Airways, a company, who since its existence in 2004 has reported a loss every year has agreed to stump up £400 million over 10 years is extremely dubious. You also have to consider Etihad Airways is a third of the size of British Airways, in terms of fleets.

There is no surprise that some football clubs have been muttering in frustration at City’s deal. After all, it’s clear the Manchester City Owner is in a position to dictate and have some means of control over Etihad Airways.

The simple fact Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is a man of great wealth its clear he can provide heavy backing to Ethiad Airways in order for them to facilitate dealings with Man City. This seems logical, especially since the Airline company are working at a loss. But not only this, his political influence can allow him the chance to make these types of dealings possible.

With Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan great position politically and financially in Etihad Airways, Arsene Wenger is completely correct when he states, ‘It raises the real question about the credibility of Financial Fair Play.’ However, Gary Cook, the Man City Chief Executive argues the substantial stadium sponsorship deal fits under the FFP rules.

One can easily see where Garry Cook is coming from. After all, the holdings of Etihad Airways isn’t directly under Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. This means his potential influence on the business is not official or visible to the public. This is yet another reason as to why Wenger argues this deal raises serious questions of the credibility of the FFP rules.

However, there is some hope for Football.

The Independent revealed that Uefa’s FFP will analyse family relationships between clubs and it’s sponsors. Many have stated this is where Man City’s massive sponsorship deal with Ethiad Airways could fail.

After all, the Chairmen of Ethiad Airways is Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Who incidentally is the half brother of the Man City owner.

Without a doubt the personal closeness between the two supreme heads of both companies symbolises the murky waters between Man City and Etihad Airways.

Surely, the FFP rules will instantly ring alarms bells when this is recognised.

However, it’s transparent City have tried to overcome this family relationship problem before the FFP rules fully kick into play. The beauty of doing this deal now means that the club can commercially make money before UEFA begin to crack down and analyse clubs accounts. Making money commercially now will be a lynchpin in assisting the club to work at a profit rather than at a loss. This will help the clubs credentials for being allowed participate in Europe in the following seasons.

The sad aspect of Manchester City’s massive sponsorship deal is that it foreshadows two certainties.

Firstly, if Man City are allowed to exploit the FFP rules, it will be all most certain that Man City will develop or gain new sponsors (most likely from Abu Dhabi based companies) who will sponsor the club for massive amounts.

Secondly, Man City, will be the litmus test for UEFA. Many owners such as Liverpool’s John Henry have argued, the FFP rules will only work if the rules are enforced properly. If teams like Man City can evade the FFP rules with their incestuous business relations, it surely is a bad sign for Football.

The last thing the game needs is for the rules to be there, but for them to be exploited by the super rich.


Things you may like to read

Edin Dzeko - How will he fit into Manchester City's catalog of players?

Just How Good is Gary Cahill?

Are some players given the captaincy for the wrong reasons?

Champions League 1/4 predictions

So the Champions League is back and our predictions for the competition are back as usual. This week’s set of predictors are Dominic Vieira, the senior writer for A Football Report. And Chris Mann of The Equaliser. Incidentally, Chris is top of our predictor table, so it will be even more interesting this week!

Fixture	Ibby Akkas Prediction		Chris Mann Prediction		Dominic Vieira Prediction		Actual Score
Inter v Schalke	2-1		2-0		1-2		2-5
Real Madrid v Tottenham	1-1		1-0		2-0		4-0
Barcelona v Shakhtar	3-1		2-1		2-1		5-1
Chelsea v Man United	2-0		1-1		0-1		0-1
Total correct scores	Correct results - 1	Perfect results - 0	Correct results - 2	Perfect results - 0	Correct Results - 4	Perfect results - 1

Points so far

Dominic Vieira - 7 points

Chris Mann - 2 points

Ibby Akkas - 1 point

In a very open Champions League first leg ties we have a clear winner! Dominic Vieira predicted every result correctly and he got one perfect result to round it all off! So well done to Dominic and thank you to Chris for participating!

Be sure to follow Chris on his twitter - @equaliserblog and check out his great site equaliserfootball.com which discusses the history and culture of football from across the globe.

Make sure you follow the senior writer of A Football Report Dominic Vieira on Twitter; @dominicvieira

Check out A Football Report too. It’s a great footballing site with some very good reads; afootballreport.com

Things you may like to read

England's new 4-3-3 system, is it the platform for English success? Part one - the positives - http://tiny.cc/6xe5d

Why Fabio Capello should be embarrassed of his handling of the Rio Ferdinand captaincy issue - http://tiny.cc/x1wdy

Jose Mourinho, the ultimate manager? Or the ultimate journey man? - http://tiny.cc/gkzsh

Ian Holloway's thoughts on England's youth team setups and goal line technology

Here is Ian Holloway's weekly press conference. This week he is asked about his thoughts on the Premier League, who are looking to manage players behaviours in a better way from next season. He then gives a pretty decent argument for why technology can improve the game.

For me, Ian Holloway talks a lot of sense. He sees the game and views the game without all the murky politics. The hierarchy of the game seriously need to remember that football is a sport, a sport which should be enjoyed. How can it be enjoyed if teams are getting hard done by poor decisions?

His press conference is rather refreshing, its a shame we don't look up to the leaders of Fifa or Uefa and think, 'oh, these guys are great ambassadors of the game we all love'.

Ian Holloway is a true ambassador of the game.



Things you may like to read

Premier League predictions for this weekend's matches - http://tiny.cc/lxog5

Why Fabio Capello should be embarrassed of his handling of the Rio Ferdinand captaincy issue - http://tiny.cc/x1wdy

Is there a right or wrong way to play football? - http://tiny.cc/wvo75