Tag Archives: uefa

The CIS League: Political Football in the Soviet Union

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Think Russia has given up on all to do with the USSR? Think again. False Nine Russian correspondent, Andy Shenk, assesses the aims and implications of a proposed CIS league gaining popular support from leading Russian clubs and courting controversy with the RFS, most of Ukraine and a certain Sepp Blatter…

FIFA President Sepp Blatter dealt potential breakaway Russian clubs and their plans for a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) football league a harsh blow on January 20: “FIFA is not interested at all in this competition… Competitions between them [clubs] take place within the framework and under the control of the national associations, within the borders of their country and association. That is the fundamental principle.” Continue reading →

Blatter Blathering Not Solving Racism in Football

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After the notable incident involving Kevin Prince-Boateng in Italy last week False Nine editor, Andrew Belt, finds Sepp Blatter guilty of saying one thing and doing another in the fight against racism…

“There should be very strong, harsh punishment when it comes to discrimination and racism.”

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Euro 2012: The Last of Its Kind

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In the first of a series of reviews of the 2012 football calendar, editor James Dutton looks back at that thrilling June in Poland and Ukraine and a tournament likely to be fondly remembered as the last of its kind…

Viva España

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Why The False Nine is Backing Euro 2020

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Michel Platini courts controversy with every whimsical decision he makes.

In the wake of the controversy that surrounded UEFA’s decision to hold the European Championships of 2020 across the continent, The False Nine’s Joe Bookbinder, Hugo Greenhalgh and James Dutton discuss why it’s not such a bad idea after all…

Could anyone imagine the final of the European Championships taking place along the coast of the Caspian Sea, directly north of Iraq and north-east of Iran and Syria, in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku? As far-fetched, phantasmagorical and downright ludicrous as it may sound it could so easily have been reality – until the intervention of one man. A Frenchman. Continue reading →

Why a 64-Team Champions League is a Good Idea

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UEFA+President+Michel+PlatiniThe False Nine’s Ethan Meade presents the case for expanding the Champions League to 64 teams…

Michel Platini’s announcement that UEFA were considering scrapping the Europa League and doubling the size of the Champions League was met with uproar from many corners, and perhaps understandably so. Many people have taken the view that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ – an understandable view given the year on year entertainment which the Champions League delivers. But delve deeper into the idea and there are a number of positives to an expanded Champions League. Continue reading →

Time for Balotelli to Reclaim the Spotlight

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Ahead of tomorrow’s Manchester derby, False Nine editor, Andrew Belt, calls for one of the current Premier League champions’ stars to emerge from the shadows and take centre stage again…

Admit it.

You thought Mario Balotelli was the best striker at Euro 2012.

One Fernando was being touted for great things but Llorente was consigned to a watching brief as Spain slay all before them playing the much-lauded ‘false 9’ formation, in which the other Fernando, Torres, managed to bag three goals and restore some much-needed confidence. Continue reading →

No Clear-Cut Way to ‘Kick it Out’

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False Nine editor James Dutton dissects another controversial weekend in the Barclay’s Premier League and its implications on the wider world…

Rio Ferdinand is conspicuous without the ‘One Game, One Community’ logo t-shirt

An issue that had lay dormant in English football since the mid-1980s has reared its ugly head in the last twelve months, causing the game’s governing body to seemingly lurch from one crisis to another. It just won’t go away. Continue reading →