World Soccer thread III

[MikeH]

After England Colombia last night they showed the US commentary for Owen's goals.

Anyway good game again, kids are doing really well over there - even if the best players were clearly the established ones.

[reds4ever]

Now this is funny

http://spaces.msn.com/members/ManchesterBuccaneers/

[MikeH]

That is funny. Especially the Forlan thing

[MikeH]

OK kids, the Tapping Up verdict is in.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1497308,00.html

Chelsea - 3 points deducted (suspended) and £300,000 fine

Mourinho - £200,000 fine

Cole - £100,000 fine

I wonder if this represents the FA fine structure starting to come into line with the amounts of money these players etc. earn. It obviously means to show that it takes this tapping up very seriously. That said, a potential loss of points is obviously more of a punishment for Chelsea than the fine.

I still think that the entire thing is a bit of a farce. There was an article on the BBC yesterday about how everyone is 'tapping up' all the time and have been for years. People inside football seem to have been offended by Chelsea's arrogance in being so blatant about it more than the fact that it was going on.

[MikeH]

Also, Womens Euro 2005 starts soon. If anyone's interested there is a fantasy football here:

http://en.wocofantasy.uefa.com/

[Locutus]

The World Cup U21 is far more interesting

It's held in the Netherlands. Argentine, the US, Germany and Nigeria are some of the countries that will be playing in my home stadium

I'll be sure to go and see if all that American gushing about Freddy Adu is actually founded in reality

http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,WYC2005,00.html?comp=WYC&year=2005

[MikeH]

Nah, that's boring. No England.

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by MikeH
People inside football seem to have been offended by Chelsea's arrogance in being so blatant about it more than the fact that it was going on.

Yep, I think they've been hit 'hard' for the same reason Rio and United were. Both clubs gave out a 'F$%k you' attitude throughout proceedings.

The 3 points suspended is a clever one...

[MikeH]

Might give some other teams a chance though... nah would have to be more than 3 points.

[alva]

Ooh Reds...!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4598737.stm

[Imran Siddiqui]

Btw, with the tapping up. It seems Cole is going to follow through on the rumors and take the fine to court as a 'restraint on trade'. The argument being that other employees can talk to employers in order to switch job, the fact that football players cannot is a violation of EU law. They are going to go up the channels in England, but have said they'll take this to Europe if the fine still stands.

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by alva
Ooh Reds...!!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ol/4598737.stm

just 1 out of 15 on the commiteee

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Btw, with the tapping up. It seems Cole is going to follow through on the rumors and take the fine to court as a 'restraint on trade'. The argument being that other employees can talk to employers in order to switch job, the fact that football players cannot is a violation of EU law. They are going to go up the channels in England, but have said they'll take this to Europe if the fine still stands.

Yeah, I think if it goes to court it'll be found in violation.

But to be fair all this tapping up happens all the time anyway, it's just bad form to get caught. I don't think it'll change much.

[reds4ever]

They gave Liverpool £20,000 for tapping up Ziega, bit of a joke really. If they really want to stamp it out points is the only way.

If Cole goes to court I can't see him losing, I can't see how this is any different to Bosmans case (in principle, obviously)

[reds4ever]

Mike, check out this thread on a Chelsea site. The transcript is from the message boards of CFCnet, "the intelligent forum" for fans of the Champions, Chelsea FC".

http://www.cfc-net.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7761&whichpage=1

Bitter blues or what?