UEFA President Michel Platini got a close-up view of the ugly side of Israeli soccer in Tel Aviv on Tuesday when a small band of angry young men who support Beitar Jerusalem briefly disrupted a news conference he attended with Israel FA chairman Avi Luzon.

The half-dozen irate supporters, including one in military uniform, sneaked in with the media throng to one of Tel Aviv’s top hotels and sat to one side. Security guards were nowhere to be seen.

After a few minutes, the men began making expletive-filled chants against Luzon, as Platini, who did not understand what was being said, looked on bemused.

One of the supporters approached Platini and attempted to place a Beitar scarf around his neck but he was easily thwarted by Luzon who plucked the scarf away. Once the protesters had made their point they began to exit, shouting more abuse on the way. You can see a clip of it here on the sport5 website.

There is little love lost between the often outspoken Luzon, who has boasted big plans and a bright future for Israeli soccer that many critics say are unrealistic, and Beitar, the club seen as a bastion of Israel’s right-wing. Beitar are one of Israel’s most popular soccer clubs with huge support but they probably also elicit more deep hatred from rival supporters than any other outfit.

Luzon called on the police to arrest the hecklers and clearly, far more stringent security measures will be in place when UEFA holds its annual congress in Tel Aviv next March.

It must have been an embarrassment for Luzon and the Israeli FA, who have always touted their ability to guarantee total security for  visiting sides. It was a no-brainer that the main dailies would mention the incident on their front pages — and they did, with the word “disgrace” most prominent.

PHOTO: UEFA President Michel Platini (L) attends a news conference in Tel Aviv October 6, 2009. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

UEFA’s decision to hand Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva a two-match ban for diving has infuriated the Croatian media, many fans and national team coach Slaven Bilic.

“It is a shameful decision, especially in view of the fact that Eduardo personifies everything that’s decent in professional sport,” Bilic told Zagreb daily Vecernji List after learning the verdict.

Fans and media have gone to even greater length in defending the Brazilian-born Croatia striker, who has won the hearts and sympathy of his adopted country after recovering from a horrific leg break he suffered in Arsenal’s Premier League match at Birmingham in February 2008.

The sense of injustice in Croatia wasn’t helped by last weekend’s injury suffered by Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric, who faces up to six weeks on the sidelines after breaking his leg in a league match with Birmingham (again).

Croatia’s leading sports website, www.sportnet.hr, had harsh words.

“Eduardo has been punished in a most detestable manner, supposedly so that justice is done, while justice was deaf, dumb and blind only 18 months earlier when he was in bed with his ankle shattered and his career hanging by a thread,” the website said.

Is Eduardo a victim of double standards, or simply his own ill-judged decision to go down rather easily after minimum or no contact with the goalkeeper?

PHOTO: Croatia manager Slaven Bilic speaks with Luka Modric (L) and Eduardo Da Silva (R) during a training session at Poljud stadium in Split, February 5, 2008. Reuters stringer photo.

The draw for the Champions League final qualifying round raises the question whether Michel Platini and UEFA have done the right thing by giving teams from Europe’s less heralded leagues a better chance of reaching the money-spinning group stage.

On one hand, restructuring the qualifying campaign has opened the group stage doors to Latvian champions Venstpils, Cypriots APOEL Nicosia, Hungarian title holders Debrecen and Moldovans Sheriff Tiraspol.

On the other, it has pitted former European Cup winners Celtic against 2006 finalists Arsenal, with the loser confined to taking part in the Europa Liga, the continent’s second tier competition.

The new formula means the Champions League lucrative group stage will now have more champions from obscure countries on Europe’s soccer map at the expense of third and fourth-placed teams from the top leagues.

It gives unfancied teams a chance to boost their finances and close the gap on wealthier rivals, but it also runs the risk of depriving Europe’s premier club competition of some of its glamour.

Would you rather watch both Celtic and Arsenal in the Champions league proper or draw pleasure from seeing a pack of underdogs take centre stage instead?

And crucially, will the new qualifying format last long enough for the new arrivals to establish themselves as regular campaigners?

Give us your thoughts.

PHOTO: UEFA President Michel Platini gestures during a news conference at the end of the organisation’s executive committee meeting in Bucharest May 13, 2009. REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel

Giorgi Megreladze - remember the name, it may well earn you some money in later life.

Why, I hear you ask. Well, the FC Olimpi forward has become the first man to score a goal in the newly revamped UEFA Europa League.

Yes UEFA’s second tier competition is underway on the second day of July, with Wimbledon still being played, the British Open yet to tee-off and England and Australia still preparing for their Ashes series to start.

Formally known as the UEFA Cup, the competition has undergone a major overhaul in a bid to boost its appeal.

We’ll see about that. Extending the amount of teams competing and the number of matches played may prove counter-productive as fans are likely to demand quality not quantity, especially in a global economic downturn.

Still, I’m sure Megreladze is not bothered by that!

Now, who was the first man to score in the revamped Champions League in 1992?

STARTER FOR 10, NO CONFERRING: UEFA President Michel Platini attends the UEFA Executive committee meeting in Bordeaux, in September 26, 2008, when the new Europa League format was announced. REUTERS/Olivier Pon

Yet again I find myself asking the question: why did UEFA award Euro 2012 to Poland and Ukraine?

Questions marks have again been raised over the decision by European soccer’s governing body after it was yet again forced to set another deadline for Ukraine to meet is criteria for a number of its venues.

So has anything changed since I wrote a blog from the UEFA crunch meeting in Bordeaux last September when both countries were given a final warning over their lacklustre preparations for European soccer’s top event?

Poland seems to have made steady progress on its stadiums at least but UEFA sources say the related infastructure such as transport links and accommodation are still questionable.

Ukraine, reeling from the impact of the worst financial crisis in nearly 80 years, is still way behind and has been warned they risk losing the right to stage the final in Kiev if they don’t get their act together before November 30.

How many warnings does a country need before delivering upon its promises? Does UEFA have a plan B if the Kiev government fails to meet the deadline?

Or as some cynical analysts suggest, is this a neat exit strategy for Ukraine? It has been one of the countries hardest hit by the global economic slump, having had to ask for a huge loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Some commentators say if UEFA takes away the final or there is a major imbalance between the number of games played in Ukraine compared to neighbouring Poland, Kiev may use it as an excuse to withdraw and save face by blaming the governing body and its co-host.

Ukrainian officials have played down any worries and say they expect four cities from each nation to host matches.

Whatever happens — even if Ukraine and Poland manage to satisfy UEFA in November — the decision to allow the two to stage the event will haunt the governig body and its president Michel Platini for some time to come.

PHOTO: UEFA President Michel Platini speaks to the media during a news conference in Warsaw April 16, 2009. REUTERS/Peter Andrews

If you don’t mind the sight of St Etienne glued near the bottom of the Ligue 1 table, you did not grow up in France in the 1970s.

Everybody there then had two teams, their own and Les Verts (The Greens). Even today, many fans of other sides have a soft spot for the team from a small industrial town near Lyon.

Why? Simply because France, where football is not part of the popular culture, fell in love with the beautiful game courtesy of St Etienne’s European Cup saga in 1976.

An unglamorous outfit featuring players who had worked in the city’s factories, they went all the way to the final, losing to Bayern Munich in Glasgow. And many people will tell you they only lost because Hampden Park was the only place in the world at that time, apart from maybe some pitch in Kazakhstan, to still have square, wooden posts instead of round, metal ones.

The St Etienne players hit that archaic woodwork twice and the ball bounced off it. Had the posts been round, like at every civilised stadium outside Scotland, they would have gone in. No doubt.

That year, green fever was everywhere, with Les Verts’ stupid fan song playing on the radio all the time. But St Etienne are not just about that.

They have won a record 10 French titles, were graced by such great players as Michel Platini, Johnny Rep and Dominique Bathenay (don’ t say who?, he was my favourite). And the stadium, called Geoffroy-Guichard but only known as the Cauldron, was like no other place on earth. It could really burn in there.
 
Then came a financial scandal, spells in the second division and the rise of neighbours and arch-rivals Olympique Lyon, now the measure of all things in France, just to make matters worse.

Football has entered another era and moved away from its working-class roots, not to mention tight, shiny shirts and tiny shorts.

St Etienne today have two chairmen, who occasionally argue and have just posted a statement on the club’s website saying coach Laurent Roussey’s fate depends on the outcome of the side’s next two home matches.

“We’re not stupid and we can read,” midfielder Geoffrey Dernis told reporters. “We all know what’s going on and it’s not easy. The toughest part will be not being afraid when we enter the pitch.”

Once upon a time, Les Verts did not fear anyone in their Cauldron and their only feeling when playing there was pride.

PHOTO: Bafetimbi Gomis (C) of St Etienne celebrates with Geoffrey Dernis (L) and Blaise Matuidi (R) after scoring against Hapoel Tel Aviv during their UEFA Cup soccer match at the Geoffroy Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne Oct 2, 2008. REUTERS/Robert Pratta

Michel Platini makes a perfectly reasonable point about the transfer system when he points out the absurdity of a player scoring against a team one week and for them the next.

It is patently daft that a club can buy a player from one of their rivals halfway through the season and put him to work for them. It distorts the competition in several ways and is clearly unfair.

And yet… I think it would be a shame if we threw out the current system entirely, or failed to come up with another version that would still give clubs the option of buying a ‘get out of jail free’ card once it’s clear things are going wrong.

There’s just something immensely comforting for fans at the thought of your whole season changing if you make the right signing during the transfer window (or before deadline day in the old money).

More often than not the clubs get it wrong — think Real Madrid spending five million euros on Antonio Cassano in 2006 – but Liverpool fans will remember Ronny Rosenthal coming in to inspire a title charge in 1990 and more recently Henrik Larsson, Emmanuel Adebayor and Patrice Evra have done well after arriving in the January transfer window.

If we do away with the transfer window clubs will still have the lifeline of their youth teams as the season reaches its climax; indeed, it may even give homegrown talent more of a chance.

I still think it would be a shame, though. If your team is bottom of the league with half the season gone at least there’s a chance, however small, that a couple of astute signings could make all the difference.

And that feeling that there is still hope is a large part of what being a football fan is all about. Don’t you reckon?

PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Antonio Cassano reacts after missing a chance against Real Betis at the go Bernabeu, March 19, 2006. REUTERS/Felix Ordonez