DRUG ABUSE, toad-infested football pitches and almost non-existent funding: the conditions outlined above might not be considered the most suitable for starting a national football team with aspirations of joining FIFA –…
Tag: fifa
IN TEXAS, football only means one thing: gridiron. So when I was travelling around the land of Friday Night Lights, I couldn’t pass up the chance to watch a game. The noise and…
How did football become the technology-driven, all-encompassing beast it is today? Through Africa’s support of João Havelange and FIFA, of course
One of the great criticisms aimed at football’s governing bodies, in particular UEFA, is the Association’s willingness to expand their number of member teams and lengthen competitions. As part of its growth…
From the depths of a 31-0 defeat, we look back at the remarkable redemption of American Samoa and their first competitve victory despite being FIFA’s lowest ranked side.
It is the smallest member of the Asian Football Confederation; just 165,000 inhabitants scattered across a tropical island in the north Pacific. Owing to the fact that it is indeed an American territory, like…
THE BAGS AROUND HIS EYES droop like a weary basset hound. Liver spots creep steadily across his brow and cheeks. Although there are still some wispy strands of silver atop his head,…
WHEN FIFA WAS FORMED IN 1904 its membership was comprised of only seven teams, all from Europe. Over the next two decades more and more national sides joined FIFA, and the 1924 Olympic…