UEFA have had massive publicity in the past week – mainly for the wrong reasons. Wednesday night’s Champions League qualifier at the Emirates Stadium was at the centre of the controversy. Eduardo dived after minimal contact from Arthur Boruc – that much is true. What followed is ridiculous.

Firstly, a charge was administered to the Brazil-born Croatian based on Article 10, paragraph 1c of their regulations which deals with ‘acting with the obvious intent to cause any match official to make an incorrect decision’. The prospect of a two-match ban is being mentioned for Eduardo, assuming he can be proven to have acted with intent and a desire to cheat and deceive the referee. While the player dived, there was minimal contact with Boruc. Can UEFA prove this clearly? It does seem unlikely.

It seems that UEFA have suddenly decided to pull out a rule barely referred to in the history of the Champions League. A cynic would argue this organisation is acting upon the media hysteria in Scotland and England. But that is exactly what is happening. The last time a player was banned for diving also involved a Scottish side. Lithuanian Saulius Mikoliunas did so against the national side. Of course the coincidence has led to Wenger claiming the Scottish influence at UEFA has led to the charge being administered. UEFA general secretary David Taylor, a Scot, said of Wenger’s comments:

“It’s our duty to apply the rules without fear or favour. We simply refer the matter to the disciplinary committee, which is independent.”

Wenger’s dismay at how UEFA informed Arsenal of the charge is understandable. A number of senior officials were in Monaco for the CL group stage draw and could have easily been informed by UEFA. Instead a fax was sent to the club, where it was only spotted by a junior worker, who informed Wenger of UEFA’s rash decision.

The retrospective ban has opened the door to a dangerous path for UEFA. When a player is caught simulating a tumble by the referee on the pitch, he is in most cases cautioned. Why the sudden increase in punishment if the action has been taken after the match? It makes little sense and lacks any consistency.

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The improvement in technology for caused the music industry to suffer for not adapting to the digital revolution. Now, after also taking newspapers, film and television in as victims, football is next. In particular, English football. The English Premier League is refusing to adapt to improvements in Broadband speeds and the increasing popularity in internet streaming and peer-to-peer streaming. By doing so, the EPL is fighting a losing battle.

By ignoring the potential of online streaming, the EPL has become vulnerable in terms of his dependence on the television deal it brokered with BSkyB. The Premiership business model, which has raked in billions over the years, has revealed its weaknesses in terms of focussing massively on a domestic market. The EPL therefore sells rights abroad at far lower prices, which makes less sense given the fact that there are a far greater number of viewers abroad than at home.

The price differences have become so vast that fans in the UK have to pay £46 a month to watch only a few games featuring their own sides, while, for example, in China, EPL games are to be broadcast on free-to-air television. The Sky monopoly means fans have to buy the standard Sky package before investing further to view Sky Sports, rather than buying the latter in a stand-alone deal.

In an attempt to stop Sky’s monopoly, the EU ruled that one company can only own 5 of the 6 packages on offer, meaning ESPN have bought the remaining two from Setanta. Their business plan seems to complement BSkyB, instead of competing with them as Setanta and ITV Digital failed to do, with Sky suscribers offered the new channels for £9 a month and others for £12 a month. This means for UK fans to legally watch as much EPL football as they can, it could cost up to £55 a month.

Excluded in this UK price are all the Saturday 3pm kick-offs, in a blackout which the EPL insist protect lower-league attendances. This logic is ridiculous given that the majority of matches in the television deal feature the bigger, more popular sides, whose attendances are generally to capacity (bar Chelsea, though that is another story). There are few lower league matches shown on Sky in general.

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Spanish football has been in mourning after the sudden death of Espanyol Captain Daniel Jarque, aged 26. The centre back passed away on Saturday night at 8pm local time after suffering heart failure at the Barcelona side’s training camp in Coverciano, Italy.

Reports suggest the Espanyol youth product was on the phone to his fiancée, who is eight months pregnant, when the tragedy occurred. He was found by his team-mates who noticed his absence at dinner. Club doctors and Italian paramedics tried to revive Jarque, but without success.

Jarque joined Espanyol at the age of 12, making his debut in 2002. He was a highly-rated defender with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur both strongly linked to him. Jarque succeeded Raul Tamudo as captain just one month ago. Under his leadership, the club were moving in a new direction, with their new stadium recently completed and celebrated with a 3-0 win over Liverpool in which Jarque played.

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