In the wake of the racist behaviour of a group of Chelsea supporters on the Paris Métro last week, a range of excellent critical commentaries emerged, pondering what these actions signified and how English…
The cricket World Cup’s opening game, which pits Australia against England on Valentine’s Day, is the latest twist in a summer in which Australia has played host to two of the world’s biggest sporting…
In a fitting climax to the 2015 Asian Cup, Australia overcame South Korea in extra-time in a frenetic final in Sydney on Saturday night. The tournament carried on from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which…
Watch out for some clever footwork and ball skills in this weekend’s Asian Cup final when the Socceroos face South Korea at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Saturday. The championship – played on Australian…
The news that three major sponsors have ceased their partnership with FIFA could potentially damage its reputation, and more importantly, its finances. Reports on Friday revealed that Castrol, Continental…
The passions of some Australians attending games in the 2015 Asian Cup that don’t involve the Socceroos has generated more comment than the crowd at the Australian games. Most notably, in their first game…
The 2015 AFC Asian Cup is the biggest football tournament ever held in Australia, so what bearing does the host status have on the Socceroos’ chances of success? A lot more than you might think. When econometricians…
The two highest paid coaches at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil were Russia’s Fabio Capello ($11,235,210) and England’s Roy Hodgson ($5,874,570). Both of these teams exited from the World Cup after…
Although one of sport’s biggest mega-events has now come to an end (the World Cup), we are still only halfway through another – the Tour de France. Already, there are clear comparisons to be made between…
Delays in stadium construction. Poor working conditions for World Cup workers. Massive budget blowouts. Nationwide protests. Ignoring the needs of millions of struggling Brazilian families. All of these…
The extraordinary 7-1 defeat of Brazil by Germany in the World Cup semi-final is richly ironic. Many Brazilians had hoped that by hosting the World Cup in 2014, their country could finally exorcise the…
As the World Cup reaches its climax, with Brazil, Germany, Argentina and the Netherlands to fight it out for a spot in the final, can we explain why some countries have been successful at the highest level…
There has been much hand-wringing over the problems that World Cup players are facing due to the environmental extremes they are exposed to in Brazil. There has been little sympathy for the men in black…
Australia will soon begin its fourth football World Cup finals campaign – the third successive tournament it has qualified for – with group stage matches against Chile, the Netherlands and Spain. While…
As fans from all over the world flock to Brazil to support their country’s pursuit of football’s biggest prize, there are 1,452 English and Welsh fans who won’t be joining them. These supporters are serving…
Two recent instances of sports-related racial abuse have seen athletes take strong, united stands against the scourge of racism. While the cases of Donald Sterling in the US and Dani Alves in Spain are…
The A-League soccer game between Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers late last year attracted national media headlines for all the wrong reasons: brawls between opposing fans outside a city…
A great football novel is like a perfectly executed bicycle-kick goal, like players such as Argentine legends Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi; they come along once in a generation. Against the accumulated…