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M.L.S. to Open Season With Replacement Referees Amid Lockout

Major League Soccer (M.L.S) has recently been facing the need for replacement of referees. The reason revolves around a labor dispute. Professional Referee Organization (P.R.O) has retained its referees until the dispute is settled resulting in a stalemate due to the duration of time the dispute has been under review. The financial negotiations have been underway with the Professional Soccer Referees Association since last summer and yet to come to a resolution. Tension over the issue has risen. The union has filed complaints against with the National Labor Relations Board. The union voted with an overwhelming tally of sixty-four to one in favor of authorizing strikes when warranted. The underlying issues behind the negotiations are the salaries and game fees for the referees. The amount the negotiator quoted was $440,000 to settle the P.R.O’s unrest. The amount was not agreed upon and has caused the officials to retaliate with a lockout, strike approach to their discontentment. The lockout took place Friday at 11 A.M. The referees that that are officiating the games are being chosen randomly and are not all experienced. This has caused much fear that future World Cup participants might be negatively affected by the inexperienced referees.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/sports/soccer/mls-to-open-season-with-replacement-referees.html?ref=soccer&_r=0

The Alan Pardew paradox: his position is stronger since the head-butt

The forefront of Newcastle United’s leading headlines is Alan Pardew’s (manager) player head-butting an opposing player. The situation has become to known as a paradox because though the team had to pay a 100,000 pound fine for the aggressive play they were not given a stadium ban by the Football Association. Instead Pardew’s position lately has elevated and increasingly rebounded. Mike Ashley’s (the club’s owner) reaction has also varied greatly than anticipated. Ashley’s response has been to retain the Pardew. One of the reasons for the decision has been that even though there was a failure to replace Yohan Cabaye in January, he has brought in a profit of 10 million pounds.  So though the head-butt was a major ordeal, the team is continuing to do well. Ashley aspires for the team to rebound and revisit their loss from two years prior ending in fifth place in the campaign. Pardew has repaired his relationship with the club owner and even though he is very boisterous and outspoken about his opinions. Pardew has gained job security due to t the owner’s unwillingness to invest the energy needed to find a new, more expensive manager because he is planning on selling his team in the near future.

Mogi Mirim’s stadium closed after Arouca abuse

The Santos’ win over Mogi Mirim Thursday was the focus of much drama. Santos player Arouca after contributing to the teams win was verbally abused after the match by a Mogi Mirim fan. The fan made racist comments, call him names such as monkey and making monkey calls at the player. The fan continued by insulting the player. The result of the abuse has been the closure of the Mogi Mirim Stadium. The disciplinary and the Paulista Football Federation are both looking into the appropriate measures that should be taken. The Paulista Federation states that it is completely necessary to take actions against this type of behavior. Occurrences like these tarnish the game and leaves the players distained to complete. Arouca made a statement saying he did not personally hear the comments, but with the knowledge that the comments were made him discontented with the crowds. He was amazed that people still do these outlandish displays of undesirable actions today. The comments occurred further with fans telling the referee that he belongs in the jungle and more targeted monkey comments. Brazilian players, the host country’s team of the upcoming World Cup has currently been under so much racist attack that the Brazilian President has even tweeted condolences for the team.  Hopefully the arrival of the World Cup will lessen tensions and remind fans to display more respect than what has been expressed recently. http://www.theguardian.com/football/feedarticle/11235967

Brazil will be ready for the World Cup – but only just

There are less than one hundred days left before the beginning of the 2014 Brazilian World Cup. Brazil as a whole is striving to complete uncompleted projects and be ready for the start date. Jerome Valcke, the French secretary-general of FIFA, discusses his involvement in the organization of the preparation for the World Cup. He explains that the organizers have quite a challenge ahead of them to complete all the preparations for the cup. The cup has many facets which require attention such as IT, hospitality and media which all require much attention and energy. A major struggle is Valcke does not have the best reputation for completing tasks on the intended deadlines. This has caused for some skepticism in terms of the supporters. The organizers have been gifted with the full backing from President Dilma Rouseff and the organization committee and from all cities. The biggest challenge for the organizers is the race against the clock.

http://www.worldsoccer.com/columnists/keir-radnedge/brazil-will-ready-world-cup-just

FIFA aids Philippines’ football renewal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nwRRn4bJeQg

 

FIFA organized the annual Match against Poverty. The funds raised this year go towards the Typhoon relief in the Philippines. FIFA is striving to rebuild the football infrastructure in the area after Typhoon Haiyan.   The FIFA Finance Committee was able to acquire a million American dollar grant going towards their desired reconstruction purposes. The Philippine island of Leyte formerly housed the local association Leyte FA. Leyte FA currently desires to rehabilitate the island’s football culture. The most supported idea to best aid Leyte is to use a portion of FIFA’s financial support to establish a Training Centre Project. FIFA has agreed to work with the Philippine Football Federation to supply the affected areas with supplies to reincorporate football and create a state of normalization for the locals. FIFA has stayed true to their mission statement of ‘For the Game. For the World’ once again.  http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/socialresponsibility/news/newsid=2292654/index.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_about_fifa

USA vs. Japan Women’s Soccer: Preview and Prediction for 2014 Algarve Cup

Returning rivals of the 2011 World Cup, Japan and the United States, are coming head-to-head again to compete in the Algarve Cup.  The tension between the two teams began after Japan’s win at the 2011 World Cup. The following year the United States rebounded winning the Summer Olympics. Now the United States having won 72% of the last titles at the cup. They predicted are to win but have to work through the pressures of a large jump in competition. The United States has won all three of their games but their wins have greatly been one-sided against Russia and Canada.  The United States’ existing struggles are the other teams aggressively pursuing wins and the team’s major player who has been injured (Alex Morgan). The team continues to stay focused on future victories by reminding themselves of the present skilled players on the team such as Megan Rapinoe, Abby Wambach and Sydney Leroux and Tobin Heath. The talent found on the United States’ team will have a tight game ahead of them playing against the offensively savvy Japanese team. The United States is still predicted to win against the Japanese with their reputation, skill and returning experience as champions of the Algarve Cup.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1980818-usa-vs-japan-womens-soccer-preview-and-prediction-for-2014-algarve-cuphttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/1980818-usa-vs-japan-womens-soccer-preview-and-prediction-for-2014-algarve-cup