football

The Irish take on "Thievery" Henry

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:21:58 +0100

The Web is ablaze over France's controversial qualification for the World Cup, or to be precise, Thierry Henry's handball, which shattered Ireland's chances of taking part in the 2010 tournament.

Facebook and YouTube have been bombarded with cries of injustice from Irish users (most of them in the most humorous of manners, as is the Irish way). Twitter too, where the tag #thierryhenry has proved a huge hit, even attracting French fans looking to apologise for the striker's blatant misdemeanour.

Posted onTwitpic.

Posted on "Antoine’s mouth"

Algeria vs Egypt – a bitter battle before it’s begun

Team Observers — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:18:48 +0100

Image by Nadjib Bouzera.

UPDATE (13/11/09 - 10.30pm): shortly after the Algerian team bus arrived in Cairo on Thursday, it was attacked by stone throwing home fans. The Algerian authorities say five players were injured, including defender Rafik Halliche and midfielder Khaled Lemmouchia.

Talk over Saturday's qualifier between Egypt and Algeria has long gone off topic. Football itself forgotten, web users have jumped at the chance to use the match as an excuse for a bitter quarrel, where no subject is off-limits.

Images of burning flags, nasty comments and jeers - the insults are flying, and have been for some weeks now. Algerian web users have even managed to involve the 1967 Six-Day War, gleefully asserting that Egypt took a battering. Egypt's response - at least they know how to speak Arabic...

Last week, the ministers for Foreign Affairs from both countries called on their respective media to "calm down".

Egypt vs. Algeria – the “hate match” has already kicked off online

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:29:18 +0100

Illustration from the Lounis blog

The Algerian Fennecs take on the Egyptian Pharaohs for a place in the 2010 World Cup on November 14. With a week still to go before the game, things have already turned nasty, both countries accusing the other of corruption.

The qualifier is crucial. For the moment, Algeria have the higher ground - a draw or even a 1-0 defeat would still leave them on their way to South Africa. Egypt, who need to win by a margin of at least three goals to qualify, are hoping the home advantage will give them a helping hand.

For the fans, the battle has already begun. Insults, aggro and accusations of corruption abound on the Net. Several Facebook groups have urged FIFA, the football governing body, to choose an impartial, European, referee for the match, after the Egyptians were accused of wanting to buy their choice of a suitable candidate.

Millwall vs West Ham carnage - “The police shouldn't have let it happen”

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:02:41 +0200

For the first time in four years, bitter football rivals West Ham and Millwall FC met for "England's most violent derby" on Tuesday. The result: ten arrests, one stabbing, and three invasions of the pitch. Two West Ham fans tell us why they think the police are at fault.

Violent outbursts erupted before, during, and after the Carling Cup match between the East End teams. Held at West Ham's modern Upton Park stadium, 25,000 people turned up for the 7.45pm kick-off. Fights broke out outside the stadium at 6pm and continued until midnight, leading to clashes with riot police, fires being lit and the hurling of bricks and bottles. Meanwhile, fans fought with security stewards inside the stadium and West Ham supporters stormed the pitch for each of the three goals scored by their team. (The end result was 3-1 to West Ham).

An investigation into the violence was launched by the Football Association today. The Football Supporters' Federation however, says that "hysterical reactions" should be avoided.

Vuvuzela: the trumpet of discontent

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:09:06 +0200

Photo posted on Flickr by "El Argentinito".

Around a metre long and able to produce a bellowing and enduring screech, the plastic horn that can be heard at every football match in South Africa is facing extinction after the emergence of a movement to ban it at the 2010 World Cup.

The vuvuleza debate is causing quite a storm both in and outside the football world. FIFA President Sepp Blater has publicly attempted to blow the instrument as a way of showing his support for South Africa's favourite noise-maker. British daily The Guardian however denounced it in publishing Spanish player Xabi Alonso's description of the "trumpet noise" as "unbearable".

The dispute is hotting up online too with both pro and anti groups already on Facebook, one of the latter calling for members to write to FIFA and demand that the horns be banned.

A site has been set up to keep an eye on the developing teams. When the Observers went to press, those voting not to ban the instrument outnumbered their foes by four to one.

A South African fan plays the vuvuzela. Posted on Youtube by "Sebafsud".

19 trampled to death in Abidjan stadium – 'because of corruption'

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:04:55 +0200

Nineteen people were killed in a stampede outside a stadium in the capital of the Ivory Coast on Sunday. One of our Observers in the country, who was at the scene with his camera, told us that corrupt police forces and stadium staff are at fault for the catastrophe.

UPDATE (3.04.09) : The figure originally given out by news agencies has been amended. Nineteen people died, not 22.

Christian is an Ivorian film-maker who works in New Delhi. He was on a return visit to Abidjan.

I went to the game between Malawi and the Ivory Coast with friends. The stadium's got a capacity of 35,000, but I'd say there was almost double that number inside. This happened because of corruption. Let me explain. The police and stadium staff stop you at the entrance, only letting those through who hand over a bribe. Even if you have a ticket it's impossible to go through. You need to give between 100 and 300 CFA [West African] francs [15 - 45 euro centimes] to get in.

Tickets for the match were supposed to be pre-booked only so that the audience number would be capped. But people came anyway because they knew they'd be able to offer a bribe at the entrance. The fact that there was only one barrier 200km from the stadium supposedly keeping non-ticket holders out, is proof enough. Nobody was turned away.

Those who did have tickets were really annoyed. They saw people getting in easily and started pushing against the stadium railings, which subsequently collapsed. People were getting trampled on but the situation was still under control. It was after when the police let of smoke bombs [1:05 into the video] that it deteriorated. I was just next to them when they let them off. I ran away so that I could carry on filming. A policeman tried to take my camera but I refused.

What shocked me was that when I watched the news that evening, the national TV barely mentioned the incident. Here, everyone's talking about the responsibility of the police and the Ivorian Federation for Football. We're waiting for the results from the investigation."

Russian football hooligans - worse than the English?

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:51:35 +0100

This was the result of a 1-1 draw between rival Russian football teams Spartak Moscow and UEFA cup holders Zenit St. Petersburg at Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on Sunday. The game was one of the opening matches of the new season. Our Observer Vladimir Pesnya was there.

Is seven-year-old Madin the next Zinedine Zidane?

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:50:59 +0100

After this article was published we were contacted by Madin's mother, who wanted to precise some of the details given, which have now been modified. She stressed that her and her husband take great care in protecting their son and that they are not planning to throw him to the lions by signing him up with an agent.

A seven-year-old French boy hit the headlines in Britain this week after videos of his fancy footwork became a massive online hit with over a million views. The UK tabloid press hailed him as the next Zinedine Zidane and reported various tall tales about the schoolboy, who was only six when the video was filmed.

Both the British and the Spanish press were in raptures over the boy, even reporting that he'd received calls from football clubs Real Madrid and Chelsea.

But with a bit of research, they would have found out that the video was over a year old. Madin Koroghli (not Mohammed), from northern French town Roubaix, is seven-years-old, not six as was said in the British papers. He'd already had his 15 minutes of fame in his home country after appearing on French channel TF1's Téléfoot programme. And yet he hadn't been headhunted by any foreign clubs. In fact this season he's playing at... Lille OSC, for free.

Two people who've seen this young footballer play tell us what they think about the Madin phenomenon - is he the next Zidane or just a kid with fancy footwork?

Do you follow football? What do you think - is Madin the next Zidane?

Jailed for liking FC Barcelona more than the king

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:56:07 +0100

Yassine Belassal (right) and his father, Mohamed Belassal.

For replacing "God, The Nation, The King" with "God, The Nation, Barcelona" on the blackboard at school, a Moroccan football fan was condemned to 18 months in prison. His father tells us that after calling for an appeal, his son has now been released on bail but faces retrial on November 5.

Yassine Belassal risked paying a high price for his passion for FC Barcelona. The 18-year-old student thought it would be funny to rub out the end of the country's national slogan "Allah, Al Watan, Al Malik", (God, The Nation, The King) and replace it with "Barca" (God, The Nation, Barcelona); his favourite football club. His teacher didn't find it quite so funny. Reported and then arrested, Yassine was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in a closed jail for insulting the king. On Wednesday, his father, Mohamed Belassal, told us that his son had managed to win the right to appeal and was to be released on bail until November 5. Until then, human rights groups, the Moroccan blogosphere, and even FC Barcelona, are campaigning for his acquittal.

Marseille fans save up €28m to buy back Drogba

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:44:21 +0200

The website reads: "Impossible is not a word that exists for the Marseillais", "All together, we can do it" and "Didier we're telling you, you will return".

A Marseille football fan has set up an online piggy bank for the penniless club in the hope of saving up enough money to buy back Ivorian star player Didier Drogba. "Come back Didier" was only launched only a few days ago but has already attracted over 25,000 donors.

Currently a striker for Chelsea, Drogba only spent a year playing for the Olympique de Marseille team during the 2003 - 2004 season. But his absence is all too evident at the Vélodrome stadium, where supporters are hoping to put together €28m for his return.

However, even if they succeed in gathering together the enormous sum, don't expect to see Drogba appearing in OM's blue and white strip any time in the near future. After getting wind of the operation, club chairman Pape Diouf had to announce that the fans' plans would not be followed through. "I've got an idea of what Drogba earns, and I can assure you it's beyond the norm in France - and would be impossible for us to pay".