Not the time to Sepp up, Gianni
IF YOU thought Gianni Infantino was going to be any different from his predecessor, take a look at any online photo gallery of the FIFA president.
Chances are you will see pictures of him with the so-called FIFA Legends – former players who are paid handsomely to pitch up at big events and occasionally have a kick around. Strangely enough, Infantino often gets a game alongside them.
If not, he is often rubbing shoulders with the big names of yesteryear, the Ronaldos and Maradonas (with Infantino, below) of this world. When Vladimir Putin and Infantino hosted a match between local youngsters and FIFA Legends such as Carlos Puyol and Lothar Matthaus, football’s world governing body’s website referred to the pair as simply ‘the two Presidents’.
Which, technically and pedantically, is true but bracketing the leader of one of the world’s most powerful nations with the leader of a football organisation typifies how this FIFA bigwig, or any before him, see themselves. Seriously, they see FIFA as some sort of world power.
Infantino’s latest wheeze is to suggest the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 could yet be expanded from 32 nations to 48.
But Infantino hints that it could be expanded beyond Qatar. The only problem is that Qatar does not have many other friends in the region.
“THERE was an effigy at Tynecastle saying ‘hang Neil Lennon’. Did I bring that on myself?” Whatever your take on the events during the Edinburgh derby last Wednesday, Neil Lennon (right) has a point. Forget the coin-throwing, Scottish football still has severe sectarian issues to deal with and if Lennon returned to England, few reasonably minded people could blame him.
Early estimates suggest an income of £80million over five years.
Divide that into how much per hour, per minute, per goal, per assist, per tattoo, per dive, per whatever, it is a lot of money.
And then there is the routine comparison game.
It is not long since Liverpool tied up Mo Salah for five years on two-thirds of Sterling’s projected wage.
On the other hand, Alexis Sanchez is earning, by conservative, educated guesses, half as much again compared to Sterling’s WHEN someone appears before an independent disciplinary commission after being charged with some misdemeanour by the FA, their chances of getting off are similar to those of Captain Blackadder, up on a court martial for allegedly shooting a carrier pigeon.
“The court is now in session, General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett (right) in the chair. The case before us is that of the Crown versus Captain Edmund Blackadder, the Flanders pigeon murderer. Hand me the black cap, I’ll be needing that.”
It is an independent commission but the FA do not lose many.
In fact, they lose hardly any. Which is why it would be no surprise if they appeal the decision to clear Jose Mourinho of misconduct after, according to the experts drafted in by the FA, the Manchester United boss appeared to mouth an obscenity into a TV camera after a win over Newcastle United at Old Trafford. Popular opinion seems to be with Mourinho on this one, with many pointing out you had to be fluent in Portuguese to catch the meaning.
So what? Portuguese, Spanish, German, Mandarin, it does not matter.
If the FA believe shouting abuse into a camera is a misconduct offence and if they still believe Mourinho is guilty of it, they should pursue an appeal.