By Robert Millward
November 21st 2009 @ 2:21am
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Wenger says Henry biggest loser in hand ball case
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described Thierry Henry as the biggest loser in the controversy over the hand ball that helped France qualify for the World Cup and renewed his call for video technology to assist referees.
Wenger said on Friday that Henry – his former striker at Arsenal – was in an impossible position after his [...]
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![They say the Sydney sporting market is one of the most competitive in the world. Rather, it’s one of the most fickle sporting markets, with such incredible fluctuations in crowd figures across all codes.
But, aside from form, the presence of a star name is the only guarantee of increasing, or at least stabilising crowds, no [...] Adrian Musolino: West Sydney franchises need to find star power](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/robbie-fowler-th.jpg)
![Sporting celebrity hero worship is a funny thing. So many of us do it, yet it is something we often chastise. And few athletes typify this dichotomy like Lance Armstrong.
Armstrong, currently competing in Australia at the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, is one of the truly elite sporting stars at present; one of those very [...] Adrian Musolino: World sport needs more Lance Armstrongs](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/lance-armstrong.jpg)
![It’s becoming almost ridiculous now. Refresh your page on any football news site on the net and another Australian player is heading off to north Asia. Sasho Petrovski, Mark Bridge and even that great flop John Aloisi are all rumoured to be mulling over offers to go to the Chinese Super League.
Before you know [...] Jesse Fink: The A-League’s bleeding of players must stop](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/a-league-th2.jpg)
![Just imagine the following happened: Sydney FC played an A-League home game against the Melbourne Victory at the Sydney Football Stadium as a curtain raiser to the Socceroos-Holland friendly on Saturday night. Yep, I’m dreaming right?
Absolutely.
There are numerous and obvious reasons which would preclude an A-League-Socceroos double billing on the same night.
However, I can’t help [...] Adrian Musolino: FFA needs to look beyond the rules of Marketing 101](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/central-coast-mariners-player-drain-th.jpg)
![FIFA uses the Confederations Cup as a warm-up for the World Cup, which is good given the problems that have already sprung up. But the off-field issues don’t concern me as much as the on-field ones do.
Egypt is furious after Brazil was awarded a penalty on the basis of a video replay that was screened [...] David Wiseman: FIFA turns a blind eye when it comes to new technology](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/fife-turns-blind-eye-th.jpg)
![So Pim Verbeek has cut Scott McDonald adrift. Good. It was overdue. Which is not to say McDonald is not a quality player – judged on his profile and goals he’s still our best sharpshooter in Europe.
But overall, in his 15 international appearances to date, he’s not performed to the standard required of a national-team [...] Jesse Fink: Verbeek was right to spike McDonald](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/verbeek-was-right-scott-mcdonald-th.jpg)
![You can’t complain about a side that scores 11 tries, most of them from flowing interplay between backs and forwards. So full credit to the NSW Waratahs for finally getting their act together and playing the sort of rugby that would have made the Waratahs of 1928/29 proud of them.
The Waratahs of 80 years ago [...] Spiro Zavos: Have the Waratahs kicked their kicking habit?](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/waratahs-josh-holmes-th.jpg)
![Seventy-odd years ago, former Surrey and England captain Percy Fender noticed Don Bradman step away from a short pitched ball on a news reel. It was footage from Australia’s 1930 tour of England. Word got around to Douglas Jardine, that this Bradman may not be perfect afterall.
And so Bodyline was born.
Today, that ‘news reel’ [...] Benjamin Conkey: Phil Hughes treated like Bradman by the English](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/phil-hughes-treated-like-bradman-th.jpg)
![Only 7,677 fans attended the Brisbane-Sydney clash at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday. The average for that fixture is almost 25,000. It’s a huge drop off, one that can be attributed to the controversy over the price of tickets, but also highlighting several important lessons about A-League crowds.
What the disappointing drop in crowd numbers highlights is [...] Adrian Musolino: Accepting some home truths about A-League crowds](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/which-chants-acceptable-th.jpg)
![With the NRL season kicking off this weekend, here are The Roar’s tips for the seven young players who will make a big impact on the game in 2010.
Blake Ferguson (Cronulla): Finally a reason for Sharks fans to smile. Plenty of pace, a great leap and a good finisher (scored some great tries last year). [...] Steve Kaless: The magnificent seven to watch this NRL season](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/blake-ferguson-cronulla-th.jpg)
![The doomsayers are preparing the obituary. Tennis in this country is dying – as evidenced by the mammoth drop in television ratings for the Australian Open that shows a 40 per cent decrease in viewers from last year.
The magnitude of such a drop cannot be ignored. And there must be an underlying fault somewhere to [...] Adrian Musolino: Channel 7 has stifled this year’s Australian Open](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/federer-courier-seven-th.jpg)



