The final straw in their minds appears to be the forthcoming broadcast of a documentary on the BBC that will look at corruption surrounding the 2018 bidding process and ask “Is this a fair vote for England?”.

The English bid team are reportedly so worried that they met with Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, in a bid to persuade him to cancel the Panorama programme. One of the bid team, described in the Guardian as a “senior bid source” said that:

“It is a fact that England’s chances have been damaged among Fifa executive committee members. If the Panorama is broadcast that will damage our chances further.”

By all accounts, they were told where to go by Thompson, who would have viewed it as an attempt to undermine the BBC’s editorial independence.

All of this is good news for the Russian bid – they’re increasingly becoming viewed as favourites to host the 2018 World Cup. No comment from the Russian side, who seem to have wisely decided to let the English stew in a mire of their own making. The only possible worry for Russia is that votes that would have gone to England might be diverted to a joint Spain/Portugal bid, which is reportedly looking increasingly strong.

Update: The votes are in, and Russia will host the 2018 World Cup – see my post Russia World Cup Hosts

Has Russia ‘won’ right to host 2018 World Cup is a post from: Siberian Light

“…with three months to go until Fifa’s secret ballot, the Russians appear quietly certain that they and not England will emerge victorious. Mutko’s optimism stems from a single powerful idea – that a Russian World Cup would be a more dynamic, more compelling, and more nation-transforming event than a ‘safe’, and possibly dull, English one. It would, in short, be a moment in history.”

I have to say (speaking as an Englishman who would love to be able to watch a live World Cup match just down the road from my house) I agree with Vitaly Mutko. If the World Cup were to be hosted in England it would be well-organized, without a doubt, and the facilities would be excellent. But it would also be a tremendously dull affair. The awarding of a major tournament to a country like England would be nice enough, but no-one in England would be excited about the event, except perhaps the citizens of participating countries who already live in England (mainly in London).

Awarding the event to Russia, on the other hand, would mean a great deal more to people there, and would be much more of a “statement” from FIFA. Regardless of what you think about democracy in Russia, following on from the Sochi Olympics in 2014, a Russian World Cup would demonstrate that Russia is a major country again, a country capable of successfully hosting the world’s most prestigious events. Like the decision to host the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, it would demonstrate to the world that Russia is once again an integral part of the international system, after the chaos of the past few decades, and that Russia is a dynamic country to be watched.

And, I have to say, the Russian bid looks pretty impressive. The Russian Government and Russian Football Federation plan to pump a lot of money into either regenerating existing stadiums or (more frequently) building entirely new stadiums around the country. As the Guardian points out, British stadiums are regularly renewed, and would be regularly renewed regardless of whether or not a World Cup was approaching. Renewal of Russian stadiums, on the other hand, is a “once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure, which would transform sport across the world’s largest country”.

Although I like the plan to host matches across five different “clusters” of stadiums spread across Western Russia, I am disappointed that all of the host cities are in European Russia. I can see that, from a practical perspective, this is a sensible approach – football is strongest in the West of Russia, and infrastructure is stronger in the West as well. But I can’t help but feel that the bid’s organisers have missed a wonderful opportunity to be host to the first ever World Cup Finals to be held on two continents – Europe and Asia.

It will be interesting to see which way the decision goes in a few months time. The British bid definitely looks slicker, and would probably be a more professional event. But the British bid team have really slipped up by accusing the Russian team of bribery, and accusing Russian fans of being racist (which is a risky allegation to make when you consider how badly behaved British fans are when they travel abroad).

If I were a betting man, I’d probably put a few quid on a Russian victory…

Russia’s 2018 World Cup Bid looks strong is a post from: Siberian Light

If you haven’t got a broadband connection, then you can always watch England vs Germany live commentary – BBC and ITV again offer this interesting way to watch England live, but there are also many other competitors – all the main newspapers – the Guardian, Times, Sun, etc have an online commentary throughout the match.

Once you’ve had the opportunity to watch England v Germany, you will hopefully get the chance to see England play in the World Cup quarter finals – either watch England vs Argentina live online, or watch England vs Mexico live online.

For background on the history to watching England live online, you can read this article about how England’s match with Ukraine last year was broadcast only on the internet.

For the first time in history, an England football game will not be shown on British TV. Instead, football fans will this weekend either be forced to pay to watch England v Ukraine live online, or to take a trip to their local Odeon cinema, where the game will also be broadcast live.

The ground breaking decision to broadcast the match live on the internet was taken by rights owner Kentaro after Irish-owned TV company Setanta, who had previously owned the rights to broadcast this match, went bust. Kentaro tried to sell the rights to another British broadcaster, such as BBC, ITV or Sky Sports but, as England have already qualified for this summer’s football World Cup in South Africa, nobody was interested in paying the high asking price for a match that would effectively be a friendly match, and which the England manager Fabio Capello will probably use to test a number of fringe players.

Therefore, Kentaro decided to take the brave step of partnering with online sports broadcaster Perform for a very publicly trialing pay per view online football viewing. They’ve set up a website – ukrainevengland.com – and are offering exclusive access to the match via a live internet stream.  Prices for the game have been set on a rising scale depending on how late in the day you book your access.

• £4.99 – Book by the end of Wednesday
• £9.99 – Book on Thursday or Friday
• £11.99 – Book on Saturday

The low cost obviously gives an incentive to book early.  But to add another incentive, Perform have announced that they will cap the number of people who can register to watch the game at 1 million.  This is to ensure that they don’t overload their servers.

Still, even if every single one of those million subscribers watches England play pays a mere £4.99, the match will net a cool £5 million.

In another interesting development, Perform seem to have set up some further partnership deals (presumably on the affiliate model) with top British newspapers. There are Times Online and Telegraph versions of the site that presumably take a cut of the profits when you book. These newspapers are also offering an additional way of watching the Ukraine vs England match – if you set up an account at UK online bookmaker Bet365, and ensure that your account is in credit, you get to watch England vs Ukraine live online for free.

Personally I think this is a great experiment, and I’ll be fascinated to see how it turns out.  Fans on the other hand aren’t all that keen – they’ve been grumbling about the game not being shown on terrestrial, free to air tv.  What do you think?  Will you be watching England vs Ukraine live online?  Or will you wait until to see the match highlights online later, when they are shown for free?

Watch England Live Free Online is a post from: Siberian Light

In front of tens of thousands of Russian fans who had travelled to Manchester for the game, Zenit were clearly the better side. But, although dominating the early exchanges, Zenit were unable to pierce Rangers’ well organised defence – the bedrock of their UEFA Cup campaign so far – during the first half.

But on 72 minutes, a wonderful goal from Igor Denisov, who burst through the Rangers defence, turned the final decisively in Zenit’s favour.

Rangers tried to push for the extra goal, but all of their desperate attacks were repulsed by Zenit and even a Rangers penalty claim was turned down by the referee.

Konstantin Zyrinaov sealed victory, and the title, for Zenit wth a cool side-foot into the net four minutes into stoppage time.

Russia is, as you would imagine, ecstatic – the victory was important enough that Prime Minister Putin called manager Dick Advocaat after the match to congratulate him. (No word, though, of whether new President Dmitry Medvedev, who is apparently a Zenit supporter, made a congratulatory call).

Victory in the UEFA Cup will be a wonderful boost for football in Russia, and for St Petersburg in particular. They’ll be especially pleased that CSKA Moscow, who won this tournament back in 2005 can no longer lord it over them.  Although they will worry slightly that victory will attract the attention of Europe’s biggest clubs, who will be keen to poach Zenit’s best players, and their world renowned coach Dick Advocaat.

The only downside to the match was the news that one Russian fan was stabbed by Rangers fans during the match. He’s reported to be in stable condition, and out of danger, but this can only heighten tension ahead of the Champions League FInal in Moscow next week. Two English teams will be playing in Moscow, but there will be a segment of Russian fans who want revenge, and who may not make the distinction between English and Scottish fans.

Zenit St Petersburg, UEFA Cup Champions is a post from: Siberian Light

Tonight, for the first time in more than a decade, top-flight Russian football will be played in Grozny, capital of war-torn Chechnya.

Terek Grozny, the city’s professional football team won promotion to the Russian Premier League last year and, after years of playing in exile, have finally been granted permission to play their home games inside of Chechnya.

The match between hosts Terek Grozny and visitors Krylya Sovietov Samara has attracted so much attention that the match will even overshadow this weekend’s match between last year champions Zenit St Petersburg and runners up Spartak Moscow.

Excitement

To celebrate, Chechnya’s Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov has announced that tickets for the match will be free to home fans, who will be able to take their first look at the inside of Grozny’s rebuilt 10,300 seater stadium. He’s also promised that Chechen fans will show “the real meaning of Chechen hospitality.”

Terek fans might be celebrating, but Leonid Slutsky, the Samara coach doesn’t sound entirely convinced the decision to host games in Grozny was a good one, though.

“If the FA decided that Terek should play their home games in Grozny, then so be it. I just hope they don’t change their mind a few weeks later and we would be the only ones who had played in Grozny.”

Chechnya is safe

Samara’s travelling fans will understandably be nervous ahead of tonight’s game – two wars in 15 years and an ongoing low-level insurgency aren’t exactly reassuring.

But Vladimir Putin, Russia’s outgoing President, has a lot riding on this game, as bringing Chechnya back into Russian society has been one of the key promises underpinning his eight years at the top. Any trouble tonight would reflect badly on him.

The Guardian newspaper reports that the Kremlin put heavy pressure on the Russian FA to allow Terek to host home games in Grozny, and demonstate that peace and stability has returned to the one time rebel capital.

You can bet that the police and army will be out in force today, and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is confident that the game will go well.

“I can give a 100-percent guarantee that there are no terrorist threats here. I’m confident that the ability to see Premier League matches will be the most precious gift for our people.”

Terek’s Troubled History

Formed in 1946, disbanded in 1994, and re-formed in 2001, Terek Grozny have had a troubled history. But not a history entirely without success.

For much of the past two decades, Terek have been forced to play their home matches in exile, in Pyatigorsk. But since reforming in 2001, Terek have gone from strength to strength.

The high point of the club’s history surely came in 2004, when Terek Grozny stunned Samara to win the Russian Cup. The victory gave them a slot in European football’s prestigeous UEFA Cup. Sadly, after a qualifying round victory against Polish club Lech Poznan, Terek found the Swiss team FC Basel too strong for them in the first round.

2004 also saw Terek promoted to the Russian Premier League for the first time – an astounding feat for a club that was only in its fourth season since re-forming. Sadly the Premier League proved too tough for Terek during 2005, and they were relegated.

But two more seasons in the Russian First Division have given them the opportunity to build a solid, competitive side who, especially in front of their own fans, will be hoping to do stick around in the Premier League for quite some time.

Top flight football returns to Chechnya is a post from: Siberian Light