Totally agree David. Bring back the days of ties like Ajax v Valleta etc . Now  of course the game is money driven, most footy fans could predict 2 of the 4 teams who will compete in the semis before a ball has been kicked. Having 4 teams representing a league is just ridiculous !

They argued this point at the hearing. Apparently they decided that as it was Man U v Liverpool he could not be talking to Evra in any other tone other than a non friendly one

Taken from the Independent

But what complicates the FA's decision is Suarez's alleged use of the diminutive, adding "ito" to the term "negro". It can indicate affection, especially when said between people who know each other intimately. But it can also be used to belittle.

You can see the dilemma that faced the FA - it is unlikely that Suarez used it to indicate affection unless of course he is attracted to Evra

That's a very limited undertsanding of the use of dimunutives (such as -ito) in Latin American Spanish. I normally say "cafecito" rather than "café" when I'm asking for a coffee, but that doesn't mean I'm being affectionate towards my hot beverage. It simply isn't true to say it is either affectionate or belittling. Its uses are much more subtle and hard to define or describe to non-Spanish speakers, or even to non-Latin American Spanish speakers.

Equally it wouldn't be much of a league if it was only open to 'champions' now would it? How many clubs would be taking part and how many with the prospect of winning it?

But if Evra had called Suarez a F*cking W*nker, it would have been okay?

It's all right to use offensive words so long as the recipient doesn't have black or dark brown skin?

That's racism for you

By all means stamp out the use of offensive words in football - but it should be one rule for all. 

Racism isn't just about colour...and if suarez had called evra a f*ucking w*nker then that wouldn't be racist, it's just offensive

I understand that the FA have announced that anyone calling another player a "big girl's blouse" will be given an immediate 10 match ban and fined 2 months wages.

Apparently the term may offend transexuals and cross dressers.

Theye are also thinking of introducing new rules whereby all players must politely request the permission of the player with the ball before tackling him.  And also say thank-you should they then win the ball.  

To answer your question, it would probably be the same or similar number of teams that took part in it prior to 1997 or whenever it was UEFA changed the rules to let non-champions compete. Every other team would be playing in the Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup.

In all honesty Peter, given the current set-up I reckon that the old "European Cup" name would be more appropriate for it, and it is no longer a competition purely for league winners and hasn't been for the last 15 years or so. I can remember watching a fair number of CL games in the early-mid 90's before UEFA began allowing non-champions in, and there was some fantastic football played in it back then (this was in the days of the Gullit-Rijkaard-Van Basten AC Milan side that dominated Europe for a few years) and I haven't seen anything better since.

In some ways I think it may have been better if they had kept it purely as a knock-out competition as it was until the early 90's. The change to the current format IMO was nothing to do with football and everything to do with giving the big clubs even more money.

This appeared in the Wail. Has it been photoshopped?

Probably. I don't think pixellation is a medical condition.

Agreed, the software probably packed up on that part of the pix.

Ah, just realised this isn't UIA.

I have to admit that like Saint, words don't bother me at all.   And I do find it strange that suposedly grown men get so upset because they get called names by another player on the football pitch. 

A whole crowd chanting abuse is IMO a very different matter.   But so long as the recipient has white skin it seems that it's perfectly okay.  

Odd

Spot on

In a way yes, but if he had said "F*cking Latino W*nker", then that is unacceptable because he is refering to his race. If I am angry with someone, I may also call then an effing w*nker, but I will never call them an effing white or black w*nker, because their race  is irrelevant to them being a w*nker!

Exactly, Beast - an important distinction to make.

Okay, fair enough, Champions League is perhaps not quite the right name for it but to allow the best teams in Europe to compete in the same competition is still good in my books and last year Tottenham were a breath of fresh air in the competition and got further than a certain two Manchester Clubs did this season!  I for one would be delighted if they made another appearance in the competition next season, preferably as "Champions"!!!     

Even if they brought that back, it would have little relevance in the case of the SPL representitive, which probably couldn't beat most Chumpionship teams nowadays.

You are on very very dodgy ground.

I hope for your sake the original post was a wind-up.

I was thinking back to the days pre-1992 when the Euro compettions didn't start until mid-September (about a month after the Scottish and English league seasons used to start) or thereabouts, and as far as I recall the league winners from each country reagrdless of how big or small automatically went into the forst round of the competiton. At least back then there was a more level playing field, because in my humble opinion the current set-up favours the big boys too much.

Imagine what the World Cup would be like if it was the same 3 or 4 big teams reaching the semis in every tournament, because that's what the CL has been like too often recently.

Hence my view that they'd be best to go back to the old "European Cup" name. At least that didn't imply that it should only be for league winners.

All this talk about racist rants has got me thinking and, whilst I wouldn't condone what Suarez or Terry are alleged to have said, what is the difference between referring to a persons race (distinguishing skin colour I guess) and a person's size, hair colour or requirment to wear glasses??  Many of these comments, nasty as they may seem, are usually based on mere basic observation whilst speaking in anger and without giving a thought about the victims feelings.  If my son went running to the authorities every time he was called a "ginger wan#er" on the football field (or elsewhere for that matter) half the population of Guernsey would be on a charge.

I am all for kicking racism out of football but I suspect there are many hundreds of occasions each and every week at football matches where true cases of racial abuse go unchecked and I would hope the authorities spend as much time investigating complaints of this nature as they do to certain high profile cases.   

Love that website for some entertainment. They are completely delusional! Did you follow the poll rigging incident for skysports player of the year? They want to complain to ofcom about sky fixing a poll they spent 2 days trying to rig themselves!

This is a good thread http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=93131.0

I used to enjoy being sledged in sport. The key is the response, the object being to get the numbers in the oposition reduced on a short or long term basis. 'Another one of the early bath' as Eddy Waring used to say.