The Beautiful Game

When FIFA’s chairman of the Ethics Committee Hans-Joachim Eckert released the 42 page summary of Michael Garcia’s investigation into the bidding of the 2018 & 2022 World Cups it was no shock to anyone that Russia and Qatar hosts of the 2018 and 2022 editions of the World Cup were cleared of any wrongdoing. Eckert’s summary stated that Russia “made only a limited amount of documents available for review” as the computers which had been leased to the Russia Bid Committee had been returned to their original owner and subsequently destroyed in the meantime. The report cleared Russia of any wrongdoing stating “the evidence available is not sufficient to support any findings of misconduct by the Russia 2018 bid team”. However, the summary report attributed blame to the English and Australian bids stating both had “potentially problematic facts and circumstances" in their bids and stating that they had undermined the integrity of the bidding. Australia was heavily crit...

We all know of the many hardships football has had to face in this country and we will not dwell on the past in this post as we have in others. Needless to say Australia's national football team wasn't always as successful and well run as today. Few football fans truly appreciate the quality of the Socceroos on and off the pitch and following the recent 3-0 win against Oman in front of nearly 25,000 people in Sydney we thought it was about time we recognised and appreciated out national team for all that it is worth. On the field the Socceroos' results speak for themselves and despite the lesser caliber of opposition on should not discredit the hard work applied by the Aussies to keep a consistent record. People often forget how easy it is to lose a game of football, its what makes the game so exciting, knowing that both teams have a chance at the start of the game. The Socceroos haven't lost a game this year, and in a country that prides itself on sp...