Football

Evening Standard

Image courtesy of Evening Standard

John Terry refused a plea from the Professional Footballers’ Association to step down as England captain until after his trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

Standard Sport can reveal that the players’ union approached the Chelsea skipper after his case was adjourned until July 9, eight days after the Euro 2012 Final.

The PFA made it clear to Terry – who denies the charge – that if he gave up the role they would issue a statement saying it was not an admission of guilt and that the defender was innocent until the court had reached a verdict.

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The Independent on Sunday

Harry Redknapp’s innocence was no surprise to his legal team, who had been saying for months the charges should never have been brought.

But while last week’s not guilty verdict was an obvious relief to Redknapp, the evidence presented at Southwark Crown Court raises questions about how football is run. For despite all the money in the game, it is still more like a cottage industry whose practices most other businesses would find unacceptable.

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Financial Times – Opinion

Fabio Capello’s departure goes beyond the all too familiar story of an England football manager failing to satisfy the country’s often unrealistic expectations of its national team. At the heart of this affair is the governance of the sport. Mr Capello, by publicly disagreeing with the Football Association’s decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy, was challenging the authority of his employers.

When Mr Capello went on television last Sunday to express his views, he might as well have said: “I govern English football, not the FA”. His air was that of a chief executive who had been surprised by an unforeseen board decision. Mr Capello may have been paid £6m per year, several times the salary Stephen Hester receives to run Royal Bank of Scotland, but he has nothing like Mr Hester’s powers. He was the head of the FA’s most important production unit, not its CEO….Read the full article

talkSPORT

This week George Galloway discusses the threat of civil war in Syria, the pending release of Abu Qatada from prison and Fabio Capello’s decision to resign as manager of the England national team.

Guest include Patrick Cockburn, the Independent’s Middle East correspondent, sports journalist Mihir Bose from the Evening Standard and Chris Hewitt from Empire Magazine.

Click here to listen to the show (Note: The interview with Mihir about Fabio Capello begins at 53:00)

BBC Radio 5Live – Tony Livesey Show

Breaking news that more than 70 people have died during riots at a football stadium in the Egyptian city of Port Said. We talk to people in Egypt. Tony gets reaction from one of the club’s spokespeople, as well as fans and journalists in Egypt and the UK.

The Government wants to attract “fewer but better” immigrants to the UK. Ahead of a speech, by the immigration minister Damian Green, we ask if the UK can attract the cream of the world’s professionals? Do they really want to come here and why?

Coppers is a fly on the wall documentary on Channel 4 with more than two million viewers. Some scenes are shocking, so we ask is policing the most difficult job in the country?

Tony talks to Ann Widdecombe. A survey and report says that older women are exploited on BBC Shows like Strictly Come Dancing. The report mentions Ann Widdecombe who was a hit on Strictly. She tells us that she doesn’t mind being a figure of fun.

Click here to listen to the programme (Note: This programme is only available until the 8th February 2012)