FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
I've mentioned it in some of my email to some of you out there but haven't mentioned it here yet on the blog, but in the World Cup Group A Qualifying Round, Sweden, after enduring a demoralizing recent come-from-behind 5-3 loss at home to Germany, drew a powerful Cristiano Ronaldo-ledPortugal, which was not the draw that Swedish football fans were hoping for.
The first match will be played in Lisbon on November 15th, and the second at Friends Arena in Stockholm on November 19th.
So with two of the best players in the world set to play one another, there's obviously a little bit of this nervous feeling going around re FIFA kingpin Sepp Blattner.
The BBCPanorama program that's at the center of theFIFA World Cup bid controversy,Fifa's Dirty Secrets, is here, http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/default.stmwhere you can read about some of the accusations leveled against FIFA officials, but for copyright reasons, the program can'tofficially be seen in the U.S.. http://www.epltalk.com/how-you-can-watch-bbc-panorama-fifas-dirty-secrets-in-the-u-s-26989
Long story short:The alleged bribes to three officials are included in a confidential document listing 175 payments totalling about£64m. Here are two videos on YouTube that comprise theFIFA'S DIRTY SECRETSprogram, so watch it while you can before the BBC makes them take the videos down.
BBC Panorama: FIFA'S DIRTY SECRETS - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjlZw9NGSlU
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BBC Panorama: FIFA'S DIRTY SECRETS - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wQy4eT4M9I The Channel 4 website article that accompanies this video at the top is here: Tuesday 30 November 2010
Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham fly to Zurich to try and boost England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup - but hopes have been dampened by the latest publication of bribery allegations.As delegates gathered to press the flesh at the headquarters of FIFA - football's governing body - ahead of Thursday's announcement of the winner, the English bid team have been frustrated by the timing of the BBC Panorama programme which accused three FIFA officials of taking bribes in the past.
Read the rest of it at: http://www.channel4.com/news/world-cup-2018-bid-team-fly-to-zurich
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I wrote about the bid process on my blog on Monday and just loved Australia's bid videos, esp. the one hosted by Nicole Kidman, which emphasized the sorts of things that real fans care about: fun, safety and ease-of-access and no hassles. http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/even-before-2018-2022-fifa-world-cup.html
As you know by now, the announcements about who'll be hosting the 2018 and 2022 FIFA spectacles are to be made on Thursday, or Friday Australian time.
Nicky Campbell talked on his BBCRadio 5 live show Tuesday morning with some very knowledgeable guests and well-informed listeners about Monday night's Panorama program and whether there'd be a backlash among the FIFA officials against England's bid to host in 2018, or whether the truth is more important than commerce.
The podcast for the informative program is here and well worth listening to: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/5lnpi/5lnpi_20101130-1045a.mp3 Tony Livesey’s show onBBC Radio 5 liveon Thursday December 2nd will originate from the City of Manchester Stadium and "will gauge reaction to the FIFA World Cup vote which will have decided the host country for the 2018 World Cup."
"Win or lose, a panel of football pundits will discuss the result including former Hull Boss Phil Brown and 5 live football commentator Connor McNamara, and an audience of 5 live listeners."
It airs 10:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. U.K. time, or 5:30 p.m. Eastern/2:30 p.m. Pacific in the U.S. and Canada. Catch it here at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_five_live
Squawk Box Europe Airtime: Thurs. Oct. 28 2010 | 3:20 AM ET
Countries keen to host the 2022 World Cup flew into Zurich to meet with FIFA members Thursday. Ben Buckley, CEO of Football Federation Australia, spoke to CNBC about the tournament http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1627049219&play=1 -----
Australia's FIFA World Cup Bid Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zd8lTHdj0k
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Come Play! Australia 2018 - 2022 - Australia's FIFA World Cup Bid
Nicole Kidman explains why Australia is the best choice to host the World Cup. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwWs3HxeKJs
http://www.australiabid.com.au/
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Danielle Isdale of Ten News reports on Sunday night from Zurich on Australia's World Cup bid for 2018 or 2022
Slate sports nut: The stadium scene. Who Will Host the 2018 World Cup? The most secretive bidding process in sports. By Simon Kuper Updated Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010, at 8:14 AM ET
Three years ago, when the bidding to host the World Cups of 2018 and 2022 was just getting going, a lobbyist explained to me how the decisions would be made. Over lunch at the International Football Arena in Zurich—a cozy annual gathering of the game's power brokers—he led me on to the terrace for a quiet word. There, he emphasised that what "the world" thought about the various bidding countries wouldn't matter much. Instead, the only voters were "24 old men." He meant the members of Fifa's executive committee (Exco), who will choose the hosts for 2018 and 2022 in Zurich this Thursday. The lobbyist and his partner, he added, "know those 24 men better than anyone. We know their strengths, we know their weaknesses." Read the rest of the story at: http://www.slate.com/id/2276128/ ----- Ten NewsYouTube Channel-videos of the most recent news stories broadcast http://www.youtube.com/user/ten
