Football (Soccer) Thread

[Josquius]

2-0 over Norway, both goals by Bendtner.

Anything but a win seemed impossible judging from the tabloids, but I actually expected the Norwegians to pull home a draw like they usually do.

Hope he does so well in the domestic league. God knows we need it.

[Duque de Bragança]

You still need to beat Iceland!

Better call back Ricardo Carvalho then 

[clandestino]

Better call back Ricardo Carvalho then 

Not gonna hapen. He's out for good.

[mongers]

England beat Wales 1-0 in a very lacklustre performance, I'm conflicted. 

[FunkMonk]

So I guess Fernando Torres won't be playing much longer?

http://youtu.be/Nyt0HKjINno

[Tamas]

So I guess Fernando Torres won't be playing much longer?

http://youtu.be/Nyt0HKjINno

Nah, it's really sad. He had a good game, he gave both assists in this week's CL game, and he scored the team's only goal against Manure.

[Warspite]

APart from that miss, Torres had an outstanding game. And everyone has already forgotten the sitter missed by Rameires.

[Zanza]

There is currently an interesting case in Swiss courts: FC Sion v UEFA

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15008765.stm

Uefa's 53 national member associations have given their unanimous backing to the governing body over its decision to expel Sion from the Europa League.

Celtic were reinstated to the group stages when Sion were thrown out for naming five ineligible players in their play-off win over Neil Lennon's side.

The Swiss side have since been to their country's courts to argue their case.

But Uefa's members say a club refusing to accept the rules of the competition "should not participate in it".

Sion's legal challenge to Uefa's ruling is being viewed as a threat to its authority and that of the world governing body, Fifa.

Uefa's emergency panel last Tuesday dismissed a ruling from the district court in Vaud that Sion should be allowed back in the competition, from which they were thrown out on 2 September.

Two days later the same court ruled that the opening round of Europa League Group I fixtures, including a 2-0 defeat for Celtic at Atletico Madrid, were invalid.

But in a statement released on Wednesday called "Declaration of the 53 Uefa member associations regarding the FC Sion case", the members have hit back at the Swiss club.

The statement said: "The 53 national associations of Uefa have today unanimously declared their support for Uefa president Michel Platini, the Uefa executive committee, the Uefa general secretary, the Uefa disciplinary bodies and the Uefa administration for their determination to uphold the statutes and regulations of football.

"The European national associations call upon both Fifa and the Swiss FA to urgently take concrete steps to uphold the statutes and regulations of Fifa, as Uefa has done.

"The independent sports justice system is the best guarantor of equality and fairness for all participants in sports.

"The European national associations declare that any member of the football family which refuses to accept the rules of the competition should not participate in it."

After Uefa's disciplinary body threw out Sion's initial appeal last week, the club announced it would initially seek compensation from Uefa of more than 4m euros and potentially tens of millions in the long term.

"Uefa believes that it rules the world," a Sion spokesman said at the time.

The UEFA operates under Swiss civil law so just outright ignoring a Swiss court order could really backfire. This has the potential to be another Bosman case. As football is no longer really an amateur sport but rather a business and UEFA has a monopoly on that business, they have to tread rather carefully here. If they lose their exclusive jurisdiction that would revolutionize professional sports in Europe as we know it, much more than Bosman.

[Warspite]

Won't UEFA just pack up its bags and go somewhere else? After all, like with the IOC, national governments are quite happy to bend over with £££ and bespoke legislation everytime a major sporting event or body comes knocking on the door.

[HVC]

how can you bitch about being kicked out of a tournament when you don't follwo the rules? it's like a player picking about the ball and rushing into the net to score a goal.

[PDH]

how can you bitch about being kicked out of a tournament when you don't follwo the rules? it's like a player picking about the ball and rushing into the net to score a goal.

And thus American football was born!

[Josephus]

Danes in the throes of upsetting the Portuguese 
France might capitulate in a key match to Bosnia.

[HVC]

why is it always the damn danes.

[Jacob]

Well that was encouraging

[FunkMonk]

Nice goal by Slovenia.

http://youtu.be/CC6KXL3gsMY