By AP
July 24th 2008 @ 7:47am
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Blatter says clubs lack Olympic spirit
FIFA president Sepp Blatter today accused clubs of going against the Olympic spirit in trying to stop their players going to Beijing.
“It would appear to be against the spirit of the Olympic regulations to hinder players under the age of 23, who are actually the core of the squads participating in the men’s Olympic football [...]
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![I was awoken rudely by the telephone at 6am Johannesburg time on Tuesday morning. Partially conscious and about to curse the hotel staff for an incorrect wake up time, it took a few moments to come to terms with the reality of the news that was being delivered.
I simply did not want to believe that [...] Geoff Lawson: Terror against sport in an unravelling nation](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/terror-against-sport-th.jpg)
![The new interpretation of the breakdown laws promises to rewind Super Rugby back to the days when tries were the norm, rather than the exception. It’s exciting stuff, despite the risk that the pendulum will swing back too far and we’ll get a return to the bad old days of basketball scores.
Remember the 2004 final?
Brumbies [...] Andrew Logan: Super 14 is bursting with excitement machines](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/super-bulls-dynasty-th.jpg)
![Everyone seems to have an opinion on Peter Roebuck. Via his columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, he has become the highest profile cricket writer in the Antipodes. He was recently elevated into the next stratosphere, though, after the Test match in Sydney, becoming a bona fide identity in his own right.
Now, [...] David Wiseman: ‘Maybe I should have toned it down’, says Peter Roebuck](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/peter-roebuck.jpg)
![Australian boss Pim Verbeek yesterday named his squad for the ‘must-not-lose’ AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia in Brisbane on March 3, with the 25-man squad consisting of 21 local-based players along with four from abroad. So has he got it right?
The Socceroos‘ qualification for next year’s Asian Cup in Qatar hinges on a result [...] Ben Somerford: Has Verbeek got it right for Indonesia?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/ogre-verbeek-th.jpg)
![It’s about time someone told the AFL’s field umpires to concentrate on their jobs and stop trying to be coaches. With clubs employing as many as 17 coaches, fitness and development people on their staffs, the last thing the players need is to be lectured by another three on game day.
There are far too many [...] Bruce Walkley: Tell the umpires to shut up!](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/umpires-shut-up-shane-crawford-th.jpg)
![Gorden Tallis was a terrific rugby league player. His charges into opponents, with and without the ball, made you recoil even though you were watching on the television screen. He was handy with his fists, too.
There were any number of iconic moments in his career when he was captured on film smacking into his opponents, with [...] Spiro Zavos: Come on Gorden, stop biffing rugby union](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/gorden-tallis-th.jpg)
![If the point of hosting a World Cup on African soil was to highlight the rich diversity of international football, mission accomplished. It’s not only the unusual venue, but also the teams involved that will make next year’s tournament a markedly different World Cup.
As Adrian Musolino wrote recently, several nations will be making belated [...] Mike Tuckerman: This time it’ll be a World Cup with a difference](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/time-for-socceroos-th.jpg)
![It should rank as one of Australia’s greatest sporting days. While Casey Stoner was celebrating his third consecutive Australian MotoGP victory, compatriot Mark Webber was dominating the Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix. It was a rare GP double in a rich season for Australian motorsport.
Aside from our Grand Prix victors, we also saw [...] Adrian Musolino: Historic day highlights our golden generation](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Historic-day-brazil-formula-1-th.jpg)
![This time of year is always my favourite. There are the Christmas and New Year festivities, the fantastic weather, and the love/hate relationship that comes along with the beginning of pre-season training. And of course the international cricket season kicks off here in Australia.
As much as I love to watch the cricket, what has [...] Natalie Medhurst: Why can the guys strip down, but not the girls?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/calendar.jpg)
![Of all the conjecture surrounding Robbie Fowler’s shock omission from the North Queensland Fury line-up, not much of it has focused on the reasoning behind coach Ian Ferguson’s decision to change his formation and play a lone striker up front.
“We went down the line of changing my formation to 4-1-4-1 and I just needed a [...] Mike Tuckerman: Is physical football ruining the A-League?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/fowler-smarts-th.jpg)
![With The Ashes reaching its unfortunate but typically thrilling crescendo in London in the early hours of Monday, and Sri Lanka’s two Test series with New Zealand due to wrap up by month’s end, Test cricket now takes an extended break until Australia and the West Indies resume hostilities in Brisbane in late November.
So while [...] Brett McKay: What can be done to keep Test cricket alive?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/what-can-be-done-th.jpg)
![The Roar has been told that Mark Gerrard wants to come back to Australian rugby in 2011, with the aim of giving the Rugby World Cup squad a real crack. This is, or should be, good news for the game here.
One of the Super Rugby clubs, the Melbourne Rebels, perhaps, should make him a workable [...] Spiro Zavos: Mark Gerrard should be welcomed back to Australia](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/mark-gerrard-th.jpg)



