Football Today

When you think of nations with a storied footballing history, you might not immediately think of Haiti.

But in 1974, the small island state became the first Caribbean country to represent at a World Cup.

Since then, the history of the country has been rocked with tragedy and scandal.

Football hasn’t been immune from this. Earlier this year, allegations were made that the country’s President of the Football Federation, Yves Jean-Bart, had sexually abused young female footballers.

In this episode, we trace this harrowing case through the words of one of the journalists who uncovered it.

Guest:

Romain Molina (@Romain_Molina) is an investigative journalist with bylines in The Guardian, CNN, BBC, The New York Times and Le Temps.

According to recent reports in the Financial Times CVC Capital is in talks to acquire 20% of Serie A. We examine the potential deal and what it would mean for Serie A. Plus we tell you why it is so difficult to build stadiums in Italy.

Guests:
Murad Ahmed (@muradahmed) is a sports editor for the Financial Times.

Alasdair Mackenzie (@aksmackenzie) is a freelance journalist and Serie A expert. He is also a co-host of the Lazio Lounge podcast.

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Going into this season, the Bundesliga’s media tagline was "Football as it’s meant to be".

On Saturday, the Bundesliga resumed after taking a long break due to the emergence of coronavirus. Whatever else it was, this wasn’t how it was meant to be.

In the Revierderby, Borussia Dortmund romped home to a 4-0 victory over their rivals Schalke. But not everyone was happy...

In this episode, we ask: was the Bundesliga’s return a success? Or will the shine soon wear off?

Guests:

Sebastian Wessling (@fluestertweets) is a football journalist for Funkesport

Abel Meszaros (@BundesPL) is a Bundesliga Analyst who works for Sport TV Hungary and who writes a regular Bundesliga Bulletin

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France exports more players than any other country except Brazil according to the CIES Observatory.

Yet, Zinedine Zidane is the only French manager in one of Europe's top 5 leagues outside of Ligue 1. Why and what does it tell us about French managers in 2020? 

Guest:

Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) is a football writer and broadcaster and contributes to ESPN.com, Bleacher Report and The Totally Football Show. 

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If you’re anything like me, you probably haven’t ever given much attention to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee: the government select committee that deals with football.

Last week, the committee interviewed Rick Parry, the chairman of the English Football League to talk to him about the impact of COVID-19 on the lower tiers of English football.

Parry was bullish, attacking the financial structures underpinning the game in Britain.

Having eviscerated the whole system, he took more careful aim.

If you wanted a culprit for the swingeing inequalities in English football, Parry seemed to be saying, then you could look no further than parachute payments.

But what are parachute payments? And why are they so bad?

In this episode, we ask: Are parachute payments holding British football back?

Guest:

Dr Rob Wilson (@DrRob_Wilson), a Football Finance Expert at Sheffield Hallam University.

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On April 30th 2018, Celtic beat rivals Rangers 5-0 to clinch their 7th straight Scottish Premiership title. The loss meant Rangers would stay below Aberdeen and in 3rd place, a worrying sign for one of Scotland's two biggest clubs. 

Within five days Rangers would fire their manager, Graeme Murty, and sign Steven Gerrard to a 4-year contract. 

Now two years later Rangers are in the last 16 of the Europa League and are the second-best team in Scotland. Today, we examine Steven Gerrard's two years as a manager. 

Guest: 

Stefan Bienkowski (@SBienkowski) is a journalist for BBC Sport Scotland 

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On the 15th April 1989, Hillsborough was the scene of the worst disaster in British football history.

That day, 96 people tragically lost their lives, crushed in two small standing areas in the stadium.

Thirty years later and the issue of standing at football remains contentious. 

The Taylor Report, an inquiry into the question of safe spectating at football matches concluded in part that, “Whilst standing accommodation is not intrinsically unsafe, all-seater stadia bring benefits to spectator comfort, safety and crowd control”.

To this day, there are no standing terraces in the top tiers of English football. But this could be about to change.

In this episode, we ask: what impact will Manchester United’s stadium plans have on safe standing in English football?

Guests:

Ian Stirling (@Stirling061) is Vice-Chair of Manchester United Supporters’ Trust and Fans' Forum Rep.

Jon Darch (@SafeStandingRS) runs the Safe Standing Roadshow and has spent the last decade lobbying clubs, politicians and fans about the benefits of safe standing in football.

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Less than two weeks ago, two ex-players from Real Betis and five former executives from Osasuna were convicted of sporting corruption and sentenced to prison. It’s the first time in the history of La Liga players and executives have been sentenced to prison.

Today, we look at the ramifications of the Osasuna case and explore the long history of maletines in Spain.

Guest:

Richard Martin (@Rich9908) is a Spanish football journalist. 

Craig Williams (@glasgowmixtape) is a journalist with Glasgow Live and Spanish football aficionado.

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Back in March, Jon spoke to Kelsey Trainor (@ktrain_11) about the US Women’s National Team’s ongoing legal struggles to achieve equal pay with their men’s national team. 

Yesterday evening, news broke that the judge in the case had ruled in Summary Judgement.

The result came as a shock to everyone.

Today, Jon is rejoined by Kelsey - a lawyer, writer and producer - to talk through yesterday’s revelations.

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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.

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