Football Today

Latest Episodes:

How Feasible is the Bundesliga's Plan for a Return for Football? Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

On March the 11th, a historic Bundesliga game was played: Borussia Mönchengladbach beat Köln 2-1 behind closed doors in a bid to avoid infection from the coronavirus.

But as the virus continued its relentless march across the globe, these Geisterspiele - or ghost games - were themselves judged to be too risky.

Last week, the Bundesliga’s CEO, Christian Seifert, gave a press conference. In the course of his statement, he revealed a 41-page plan that the league was presenting to the German government proposing a potential return for football in May.

Not everyone is happy though. One fan association, Unsere Kurve, released a statement noting their displeasure.

In this episode, we ask: how feasible are the Bundesliga’s plans for a return?

Guests:

Ronan Murphy (@swearimnotpaul) is a social producer and football journalist for Goal.com covering the Bundesliga amongst other things

Matt Ford (@matt_4d) is a freelance journalist whose work regularly appears on DW Sports.

Derek Rae (@RaeComm) is a commentator and covers German football for Bundesliga Intl, Prime Video, NBC, ESPN and Fox.

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Coronavirus, Football and the Death of British Pubs? Apr 27, 2020

Show notes

On March 20th, Boris Johnson announced all pubs, bars and restaurants in the UK would be closed. More than a month later, the pubs remain closed. However, despite their forced closure many pub tenants are being forced to pay their full rent.

Today we look at how coronavirus is affecting British pubs and see how that might affect football's relationship with pubs.

Guests:

Greg Mulholland, Chair of British Pub Confederation

Martin Whelan, Owner of The Tollington pub

Support Us:

https://www.patreon.com/FootballToday

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Mohammed bin Salman: Human Rights Abuser or Newcastle's Saviour? Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

One day in October 2018, a journalist - Jamal Khashoggi - went into the Saudi Arabian consulate in Instanbul. He would never come out.

Although Saudi Arabia rigorously denied it, it soon became evident that Khashoggi had been killed in an assassination most likely sanctioned by the crown prince - Mohammed bin Salman.

Less than two years later, Mohammed bin Salman is back in the news.

Heading up a consortium to buy Newcastle United off Mike Ashley, the man known more colloquially as MBS finds himself following the footsteps of his mentor MBZ - Mohammed bin Zayed, the owner of Manchester City.

In this episode, we ask: who is Mohammed bin Salman? And why is he buying Newcastle United?

Guest:

Nicholas McGeehan (@NcGeehan) is a human rights activist and researcher

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Barçagate: Chaos in the Barcelona Boardroom Apr 20, 2020

Show notes

Barcelona's board is in chaos. Six Barcelona board members have resigned and there has been an allegation of corruption. Josep Maria Bartomeu's presidency is coming under increased pressure by fans, players and board members.

Today we ask: what is 'Barcagate' and why is there chaos on the Barca board?

Guest:

Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) covers La Liga for ESPN.com and the Guardian. He is also the co-host of the podcast, The Spanish Football Podcast.

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Why are FIFA Back in the Courts? Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

Early in the morning on May 27th, 2015, plainclothes policemen started visiting hotels in Zurich, Switzerland and systematically rounding people up.

For years previously, an investigation carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service had been tracking financial irregularities at FIFA, the governing body of world football.

Following this momentous occasion, a stream of indictments had been handed out to individuals involved with FIFA. But slowly, the indictments dried up. It seemed like the trail had gone cold.

Then, last week, a new indictment was unsealed at a District Court in New York. The FIFA corruption trials were back.

In this episode, we ask: what has been happening with FIFA’s corruption charges over the last five years? And why are they suddenly back on the agenda?

Guest:

Ken Bensinger (@kenbensinger ) is an investigative journalist at Buzzfeed and the author of the book, Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World's Biggest Sports Scandal

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

FIFA's New Political Weapon Apr 13, 2020

Show notes

On November 18th, 2019, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president David John-Williams opening the country's new football stadium and complex.

The same day of the unveiling, FIFA president Gianni Infantino lauded the work of the T&T Football Association and John-Williams. John-Williams would lose his bid for re-election just 6 days later.

Now less than 6 months later, FIFA is declaring that Trinidad and Tobago's football association is not fit for purpose and has appointed a normalisation committee to run football operations in the country.

Today we look at why Infantino and FIFA made such a drastic u-turn and why might this be a dangerous precedent for football associations around the world.

Guest:

Lasana Liburd (@Lasanaliburd) is the CEO and editor of the website wired868.com, which is where you can find ongoing coverage of this story and other Caribbean football news

Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) is a writer and broadcaster and you can read his exclusive interview with Keith Lok Loy on Josimar.com

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

When Football Becomes a Political Football Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

In the last few weeks, it feels like everybody is talking about wages in football.

It’s not just footballer’s wages that have come under scrutiny; across the Premier League, clubs have been coming under criticism for making use of a government furloughing scheme to save imbursing their lower-paid staff.

With more money than ever in football and less money than ever in the economy, people are asking questions about football’s relationship to wealth.

In this episode, we ask: why is everyone talking about wages in football? And how is football being used as… well... a political football.

Guests:

Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) is a freelance journalist whose work can be found in the i paper, BBC Sport and the Totally Football Show amongst others

Will Davies (@davies_will) is Professor in Political Economy at Goldsmiths, University of London.

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Ecuador Takes a Gamble on Jordi Cruyff Apr 06, 2020

Show notes

Ecuador won their first four games of South American qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, yet they would fail to qualify. They are hoping to get to the world's biggest stage.

In January, Ecuador signed Jordi Cruyff on a 3-year contract. The hiring is just one part of a larger strategy by the Ecuadorian Football Federation to rebrand and modernize the national team.

Today we examine the Jordi Cruyff signing and ask: can he lead Ecuador back to the World Cup?

Guest:

Xavier Zavala (@Zavxav) is a youth development football coach and covers Ecuadorian football for World Football Index and the Futbolgrad Network

Support us:

https://www.patreon.com/FootballToday

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Escaping the Coronavirus Through Esports Apr 03, 2020

Show notes

As the football industry slumbers in quarantine, players, coaches, and fans are flocking to FIFA, videogames and esports to escape the cold reality.

Today we ask, how are leagues and clubs leveraging videogames and esports to fill the footballing void?

Guests:

Noah Davis (@noahedavis) is a freelance football writer and regularly covers MLS and the US Men's National Team.

Alastair Pusinelli (@pusi11) is the editor-in-chief of RealSport101.com.

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com

Everything or Nothing: Streatham Rovers Apr 01, 2020

Show notes

With all the upheavals in global football occasioned by life within a world beset by pandemic, a remarkable story of online abuse and a career ruined has gone somewhat under the radar.

Streatham Rovers (@StreathamRovers) are a non-league side in South London.

Playing in the Xterminate Rat Poison Football League, their fans dream of one day reaching the dizzying heights of neighbouring media darlings, Dulwich Hamlet.

All that changed this year when their manager Taff Goose (@TaffGoose) resigned from his position at the club with immediate effect.

In this episode, we ask: who are Streatham Rovers? And what happened with their manager?

Guests:

Roger Parsnip is a long-standing fan of Streatham Rovers and community, schools & youth engagement officer at the club.

Chris Legarde is Rovers' striker and plays at Number 10, 11 and -1.

Kevin Splash is a fitness coach at Rovers.

Special thanks to Robert Vaughan, Jonathan Turner and Joel Whitall.

@FT_Podcast

www.FootballTodayPodcast.com