Screw FIFA, our footballers should wear the poppy on November 11th whatever the consequences

FIFA has refused to allow English and Scottish football players wear poppy armbands at their world cup qualifier on 11th November.

The disgraced football world governing body claims that the poppy is banned under rules forbidding political, religious and commercial messages on shirts.

The poppy is not a political, religious or commercial message, it's a symbol of remembrance of the millions who died fighting for our freedom. The FAs of all the home nations should wear a poppy armband and screw the consequences, even if it means boycotting the tournament.

Baroness Brady claims foreign players wouldn't play for English clubs if it wasn't for the EU banning mobile phone roaming charges

Baroness Karren Brady, one of Cameron's "man of the people" TV personality peers and a pro-EU Britain Stronger in Europe (BSE) campaigner, has made the bizarre claim that leaving the EU will damage football clubs.

Brady has claimed that footballers will be put off coming to the UK if they have to have a visa or if we didn't have cheap flights and phone calls to other EU countries. With average wages in the Championship at over £4k a week and an eye-watering £44k a week in the Premiership, cheap flights to Magaluf and mobile roaming charges aren't exactly going to be a deal clincher.

Brady is correct in saying that some clubs - those in the lower leagues primarily - would find it difficult to bring in players from abroad if they had to get visas but it's a non-argument. Most footballing nations are already on the visa exemption list and there are specific visa rules for footballers to ensure only top flight players come here which say that a player must have played for his country in at least 75% of its competitive A team matches of which he was available for selection, during the two years preceding the date of the application and that the player’s country must be at or above 70th place in the official FIFA world rankings when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application.

It is pure fantasy to suggest that the UK would impose visa restrictions on EU countries when we leave the EU but playing their silly game, what would be the consequences of clubs having to apply for visas? Premiership and Championship clubs they are unlikely to experience any difficulties bringing over the players they want because they're top flight clubs taking top flight players from other top flight clubs. League 1 and League 2 clubs might find it difficult to bring so many foreign players in but that's a positive thing for domestic football. The lower leagues are where we should be incubating home-grown talent, training future premiership and international stars. League 1 and 2 clubs rarely, if ever, compete in international tournaments so there's no need to bring in footballers from around the world to bolster their squad. Anything that forces lower league clubs to invest in home-grown talent is a good thing.

Using football to try and make people scared of leaving the EU is a clever move by the mad cows at the BSE campaign but their dystopian vision of the future is so far fetched that nobody is going to take it seriously. We know that the EU has forced up prices of flights with its "green" taxes, we know that mobile phone companies have passed on the cost of abolishing roaming charges to consumers and we know that we're not going to impose visa restrictions on EU countries when we leave. Their outrageous claims on the number of jobs and amount of investment that would be lost when we leave the EU are based on the ridiculous scenario of the UK ceasing all trade with the EU and similarly their preposterous claims that it would damage football are based on the British government imposing visa restrictions on EU countries when we leave which simply isn't going to happen.

Baroness Brady should stick to her day job advising Lord Sugar which mentally unstable sociopathic Apprentice contestant is least likely to stab their future colleagues with a pair of scissors to get a promotion and leave the politics to sensible people.

Dave Kinsell Joins UKIP

An elected representative constantly receives requests for donations to charities, many of which are not nearly as deserving as they seem. However, a few weeks ago, Nigel Farage UKIP leader received a touching message from a Mr David Kinsell, the trainer of Brighton-and-Hove's Hangleton Rangers (under 10's) Football Team.

Mr Kinsell wanted him to sponsor a "training strip" for his gallant lads, with the sponsor's name printed on the shirts, to the tune of £150.

As a supporter of worthwhile community projects, and a great believer in sport for young people, Nigel was happy to help. He despatched the money to Dave and thought he'd heard the last of the matter.

Imagine Nigels surprise when he learned that the newly-prepared kit was to be burned, that Mr Kinsell had been sacked, as trainer of Hangleton Rangers (under 10's) and that the young players' parents – some of them in tears – had been ringing Dave with messages of sympathy.

Apparently, the trainer's offence, in the eyes of the club committee, was that he had "accepted a political donation", even though the shirts were only training kit and only featured the name (no mention of UKIP).

One could not help suspecting some kind of political bias in the upper echelons of Hangleton Rangers, especially when it appeared that Dave was a particularly successful and popular trainer, and that a member of the club committee was also a Tory-member of Lewes District Council.

Having been bounced out of "the Rangers", having been offered positions as trainer with various other junior football clubs, and having become a veteran of radio, television and press interviews, Dave Kinsell says that he has "never had a week like it". He has also joined the Brighton branch of UKIP.

The club committee, meanwhile, has retreated behind a battery of legal artillery in the anxiety that someone might sue them. Who would have thought that kids' football could come to this?

What a load of footballs !

This Labour government's drive to turn us into a nation of paranoid wimps powers ahead with new "guidance" that could lead to the banning of games of football in parks, the Telegraph reports;

Communities Secretary (whatever that means) Hazel Blears has been filling her obvious abundance of spare time by producing guidance to local councils that calls for "risk assessments" of park football games in case players or spectators get too excited.

The document says: "If not planned properly, football can be divisive and trigger conflict. Passions can get high and physical contact can easily lead to confrontations."

It advises that games should be banned if there is a danger of tensions between teams or fans. So much for encouraging sport in the run-up to the Olympics. Tiddlywinks players beware. You're next on the list.

Sarkozy meddling again

I really am looking forward to the New Year! Don’t get me wrong, its not that I don’t like Christmas, but the 1st January will bring about a welcome change in European politics.

It is on this day that the Czech Republic will take over the EU Presidency and Monsieur Sarkozy will no longer be in a position where he can so destructively influence the political agenda of the EU.

We have heard and seen far too much from Sarkozy; he seems to have been carried away by his own propaganda and obviously fancies himself not just as President of the French Republic but also of the EU.

And now we learn of his latest ill-though-out and detrimental policy; Sarkozy is advocating a supranational authority to regulate sport throughout Europe. The fact that it is now generally accepted by all parties across the political spectrum that there needs to be less regulation has apparently been lost on the French President. He is also ignoring the very key issue that without the Lisbon Treaty there is no authority under which the EU can act directly in relation to Sport because as yet it is not included in the other Treaties!

But as ever with Sarkozy and his grand plans he takes no notice of the finer details. There has been much speculation as to why the French President, and others on the European stage, feels the need for the EU to regulate sport. And it seems the principle conclusion must be that they are jealous of the success of football’s Barclays Premier League.

Although Sarkozy’s proposal is designed to encompass all sports it is widely acknowledged that the principle target is football. Since 2004 there have been increasingly loud rumblings about the amount of income generated by football clubs and their superstar players. Why this is of concern to European politicians is beyond me; it is clearly for a Member State to decide how best to keep their house in order. As long as the rules of the international organisations are abided by then really there should not be a problem.

Apparently our Government has vowed to resist these French plans; sadly I cannot place much faith in that pledge but I sincerely hope that for once we don’t acquiesce to more unnecessary and damaging EU regulation. Whatever the outcome heed should be taken - if these plans are stalled for the moment, and even with the very welcome end of the French Presidency on the 31st December, the proposals are certain to return. UK Sport deserves better than to be further strangled by the bureaucracy and intransigence of EU legislation.