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from Left field:
Spain’s sporting state of grace
Pau Gasol's triumph with the LA Lakers has prompted more articles in the Spanish media celebrating the country's incredible run of sporting success.
Gasol was a vital cog in the Lakers machine this season and joins a long list of Spanish champions in individual and team sports.
Spain's soccer team, after winning Euro 2008, has cemented its hold on the number one ranking by extending its unbeaten run to 33 matches, Barcelona strolled to the Champions League title last month with a humbling of holders Manchester United, Rafael Nadal is the top-ranked men's tennis player and Spain Davis Cup champions, Jorge Lorenzo is joint leader in the MotoGP world championships and Carlos Sastre won the 2008 Tour de France, the third Spanish victory in a row.
"Another success for Spanish sport," Nadal wrote of Gasol on his website on Tuesday. "It's hard to take in everything that we are achieving," he added. "We should be very proud."
"Gasol has passed a new milestone for Spanish sport, even if there are not that many goals left to achieve," said sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky.
Writing in Marca newspaper on Tuesday, columnist Santiago Segurola said the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 were a turning point for the country, changing the way people outside Spain viewed the nation and laying the foundations for today's sporting achievements.
While Spain might not be the strongest sporting nation overall, it was among those that produced the widest variety of champions, almost all in sports with huge media impact, he added.
British Olympic soccer team becomes right royal farce
There has not been one since 1960, the Scottish don’t want its return, neither do the Welsh, nor the Northern Irish and yet the prospect of a British soccer team at the 2012 London Olympics remains.
The English Football Association is refusing to relinquish an idea that nobody else seems to care about.
The other home nations’ standpoint, which centres on protecting their independent status within world governing body FIFA, means any British team in London could be made up entirely of English players, or more accurately, the majority of the England under-21 team.
“What a farce it would be to have those qualification games in Wales and Scotland without the possibility of British participation,” UK Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said this week, before stating that English players will be used if the issue is not resolved.
‘Farce’ or words like it have been used a lot in this debate.
The idea is struggling for credibility and the general reticence does not fit the image of the Olympics as a celebration of the coming together of different countries. Not a good look for a host nation.
Britain’s Beijing heroes can teach soccer a thing or two
Standing in the reception of a Heathrow hotel watching a roll call of British gold-medal winners file past, the overriding impression was just how normal they all seemed.
There was something wonderfully natural and down-to-earth about these luminaries of Britain’s finest Olympic effort in a century.
Hearing them articulate their thoughts about the last few weeks in Beijing, it was hard to avoid making comparisons with Premier League footballers.
Of course, these Olympians were relishing their moment in the sun — whereas top-level footballers facing the media spotlight day in, day out may become understandably more guarded.
One Times writer made the point that if the rowers received “120,000 pounds a week, a team of flunkies, a 10-page spread in Hello! and more groupies than they know what to do with”, they too might find their priorities blurred.
It is evident that the massive earnings of top soccer players have set them apart — and ensured they are considered fair game for criticism by both media and fans. Yet their own behaviour — be it snarling indiscipline on the field or excessive salary demands off it — does not help their image either.
Some are also guilty of believing their own hype — as evidenced by the sight of ears glittering with expensive jewellery when they pass through mixed zones after matches.
Sorry, but whilst football may be the most popular game in England and I accept that they should be well paid athletes how can anyone really justify saleries between £10,000 – £100,000 per week???
According to a survey carried out in April 2006 the average top flight player earns £676,000 per annum (thats £13,000 per week). That surely has increased since once you take into inflation and player demand.
Yes i know there will be claims that players only have a shelf life of 10 years, but thats still a staggering £6.76m over 10 years and i am certain that excludes any advertising contracts, interviews with Hello/OK magazine, let alone any interest earned on the income!!!
Christ for that salery you would have thought they could at least manage to attend a course on manners, etiquette and public relations….
View from the Bird’s Nest
It’s been a little quiet around here lately. That’s because I’m in Beijing covering the Olympics, and I hope you won’t mind a shameless plug for the relaunched Reuters Olympic blog — View from the Bird’s Nest.
From August 8-24 the focus will be on the Beijing Games rather than the football world, although we will of course have plenty to say about the soccer tournament at the Olympics, which Argentina, Brazil and the rest will be taking very seriously indeed.
That coverage will be cross-posted back here but if you’re at all interested in other sports please pop over to blogs.reuters.com/china and give us your views on the great gold rush. There is life outside football!
Kevin Fylan, Beijing
Pic by Ceerwan Aziz, Reuters
I am glad you are covering the Olympics. I hope that you will post all the scores for everyone to see.
Messi takes a step closer to Beijing
Barcelona’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi took a step closer to Beijing on Wednesday when FIFA ruled that clubs are obliged to release players aged 23 or under to play at the Olympics.
Barcelona and Bundesliga clubs Werder Bremen and Schalke, who want to keep Diego and Rafinha out of the Games, will probably fight on in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but for now FIFA has made the right decision, one that’s for the good of the game as well as the Games.
Seeing Bremen and Schalke threaten legal action against their young Brazilian internationals earlier this month was a sad sight not only for the Olympics but for soccer.
Diego and Rafinha decided (quite nobly, if you ask me) to put their country and the Olympics temporarily ahead of their club careers and defied the orders of their employers — going AWOL in the process and putting themselves in line for large fines and other disciplinary problems on their return.
Barcelona and Schalke have Champions League qualifiers coming up, so it’s easy to see why they in particular want their players back home, but the long-term consequences could be more damaging than the short-term loss.
How can anyone expect a brilliant player like Diego to get excited about playing in Bremen ever again if he is forced to miss the Olympics in order to take part in a pre-season Bundesliga training camp on the North Sea island of Norderney?
Could we expect Rafinha to have his heart in the Bundesliga’s first two matches when his compatriots were trying to win a first gold medal in China?
they don’t want to lose him but you’re right, athletes who are eligible to be in the Olympics should be able to go..
Diego the latest to be blocked from Games
Werder Bremen have dashed the Olympic hopes of Brazil playmaker Diego, telling the 23-year-old they will not release him and thus depriving the Games of perhaps one of the world’s most exciting young players
Werder sporting director Klaus Allofs said there was no legal reason for clubs to release their players because, he said, the Olympics are not part of world soccer’s governing body FIFA.
“So I’m not expecting any reaction from FIFA,” Allofs said.
Just last week FIFA said that even though clubs are not obliged to release overage players they must release any players younger than 23. Diego turned 23 on Feb. 28 and he was nominated for Brazil’s Olympic team on July 8 by coach Dunga.
Diego got his first cap for Brazil in April 2003 as a 19-year-old so how are Werder getting away with this? Why will Diego be spending August training with his club on Germany’s North Sea island of Nordeney instead of playing for Brazil in China?
Clement, the rule in question – http://www.sportinglife.com/football/ove rseas/germany/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_N AME=soccer/08/07/10/SOCCER_FIFA.html&TEA MHD=germany
FIFA have released a statement saying: “In view of the importance of the Olympic Tournament for the entire sporting movement in general and football in particular, as well as on the basis of customary law, the release of players younger than 23 has always been mandatory for all clubs. For Beijing 2008 the same principle shall apply.
Clubs are not obligated to release players over the age of 23 – of which three are allowed per nation under Olympics rules – for the tournament.
“This is not a new position and the regulations have not changed.”
“Regarding the three players who are over 23 and selected by their member associations, the release of these players is not compulsory according to the FIFA regulations.
“However, the FIFA executive committee, during its meeting of 14 March, made an appeal to the solidarity of the clubs in order to release these players.”
I had lifted the rule from the link actually. It was first published from like almost two weeks ago. Regarding Diego’s case, it seemed that he was off to the airport to join his fellow Brazilian team-mates following talks with his club today. But then Diego had been a vital member of his club and the club could still challenge the fact that they are not obliged to release him for the Olympics. That is the sticky situation. By the way, he is 23 this year.
Diego’s team-mate on the Brazilian Olympic squad Schalke’s 22-year old Rafinha chose to walk out of the club on his own yesterday and didn’t join in the club’s pre-season training in Austria. Schalke had said that they will take action against him and the thing is, they also have the backing of the German FA (or the DFB) and the DFL (German Football League). Schalke, the DFB and the DFL are challenging on the fact that since it is not part of the FIFA’s international footballing schedule, the clubs have the final say in whether their players are allowed for the Olympics.
Mike, I have to agree with you. Together with the fact that Brazil has never won an Olympic gold medal yet and Dunga’s future as the national coach of Brazil (he is both the coach of the senior national team and the Olympic squad as well) is uncertain as the country is already struggling to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, some had said that an Olympic gold in Beijing next month will be the only thing to still keep him on the job. It’s precisely because of no gold medal to show for when it comes to Olympic football at the moment, the Olympic football tournament is also viewed equally important as the World Cup in Brazil.
I am final, I am sorry, but, in my opinion, it is obvious.