MATCH FIXING ALLEGATIONS AT CAN 2008

This year's Nations cup has been one of the most competitive in recent memory especially looking at the pedigrees of the teams and stars involved in this prestigious completion.
The African game has become increasingly globalised given the television numbers that have been reported since it began. The competition has been very fierce and the quality of football has been very exciting. All these bode well for the future of the game on this old and resilient continent. Even teams that were considered minnows have surprised everyone including the bookmakers and the pundits to put up very impressive performances. Teams who were thought to sail through the preliminary without sweat have stumbled in face of the supposedly minnows. The quality of football and goal scoring rate has been staggering and this competitions threatens to go down in history as the best in footballing terms. The stars on parade are recognized global brands in themselves and contrary to the views of the skeptics and naysayers, the hunger for success

THE GROWING COMMERCIALISATION OF AFRICAN FOOTBALL

Opportunities and Challenges

The big tournament is almost here and there are massive expectations all over the continent and beyond. This tournament will be the biggest in terms of international interest and coverage. Over 2bn global audience is expected to tune in to watch the CAN 2008. This brings with it an opportunity for commercial exploitation of this great tournament. First the tournament has a title sponsor in MTN, the pan African telecom giant which is pumping a lot of money into the game. CAF has also secured a TV deal with TV5 worth hundreds of millions Euros. In addition there are other major sponsors putting significant funds into the tournament. The local organizing committee has also taken steps to cash in on the commercial side of the tournament. They have licensed merchandise and paraphernalia rights to corporate entities while strictly enforcing any breaches of such licenses.
These major commercial developments in as much as it helps the game to grow is also posing some major challenges to FA’s who desire to see mass participation from ordinary fan in the game. For starters the TV rights issues have threatened to exclude many poor Africans from enjoy African football at its very best. TV5 insist on selling the rights at very high cost and this has excluded many national broadcasters from subscribing. The TV networks in Nigeria Africa biggest TV audience have complained about the price tag of 4 million Euros being demanded by TV5 and have expressed their inability to afford. This problem is also being experienced by other countries on the continent.

WHY THE CHRISMAS FIXTURES WILL NOT ABOLISHED BY THE ENGLISH LEAGUE

The footballing world has come to accept that the christnmas fixturewhich is part of the English football teradition is here to stay and will never be changed in the near future.
This is a tradition steeped in the englissh football culture since the beggining of the game.
Its a tradition that most people would like to see its back including the most active footballers and people working in high position in english football.
Compelling reasons acc