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"If you want some accessible but informative insight into football then I suggest you couldn't do better than the Political Economy of Football website, which is not only intelligible but comes with the added bonus of being written by Addicks fan Wyn Grant."
Ben Hayes - Charlton Athletic programme

Asian Leagues

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New football tournament in India

Submitted by WG on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:43

The Indian market is potentially a huge one for football but the country remains devoted to cricket and other sports.   However, football has a big following in West Bengal and it is there that a new tournament has been based.    It is modelled on the franchise sysyem of the successful Indian Premier League format in cricket and has started with an auction of players and coaches.

Mercurial owner meets mercurial player

Submitted by WG on Tue, 13/12/2011 - 16:24

The transfer of Nicolas Anelka to Shanghai Shenhua in January will bring together a mercurial owner and a mercurial player.   Its been an up and down ride for fans with Zun Jun who made his money out of the Warrior Warcraft game but then had to conduct a fire sale of players when he lost the franchise in 2009.

Korean league crisis boosts Premiership

Submitted by WG on Sat, 09/07/2011 - 05:24

Overseas television revenues are becoming an increasingly important part of overall Premier League revenues.   A big share of these revenues comes from Asia which also has the greatest growth potential, not least in China.   One reason for the popularity of the Premier League there is that in most East Asian countries gambling is very popular.    Premier League matches are seen as reliable events not susceptible to fixing.

Football in Iran

Submitted by WG on Sun, 12/06/2011 - 08:17

The Economist used the recent death of Iranian goalkeeper Nasser Hejazi to reflect on the state of football in Iran.   Hejazi was a critic of the regime and was even banned from Iranian television for a while.   20,000 people turned up to the first part of his funeral at a stadium, some of them chanting anti-government slogans.   His body was spirited away for a secret burial.

Football in India

Submitted by WG on Thu, 03/02/2011 - 08:46

India is an emerging power in the world economy, althought still with great contrasts between wealth and poverty.   Cricket is a far more popular mass sport than football, a game in which India has punched well below its weight.   China, for example, has made greater progress.


This piece by a MA in Economics student in India asks why football missed the bus in his country and cricket was so successful.

Corruption concerns in Indonesia

Submitted by WG on Thu, 20/01/2011 - 06:13

Concerns about corruption regularly surface in football.   They can take a variety of forms: 'bungs' over the transfer of players; money laundering; tax evasion; allegations of bribes to officials etc.   However, in some developing countries these problems can be more endemic, possibly because the government itself is thoroughly corrupt and is not interested in checking corruption in civil society.  Occasionally countries are compared to kleptocracies because ruling elites or families appropriate large portions of economic output for themselves.

Sunday Evening Link Tank - Yey!

Submitted by JSB on Sun, 17/10/2010 - 18:33

Blow for Indian football

Submitted by WG on Sat, 01/05/2010 - 07:16

Football in India has to struggle against the popularity of cricket as a mass sport.   It has been delivered a further blow with the news that one of the oldest clubs in the country, 48-year old Munbai-based Mahindra United is to close.   Commercial sponsorship is being withdrawn and the club cannot survive without it.

Official Club Site:  http://www.mahindraunited.com/

Drive to clean up Chinese game

Submitted by WG on Sun, 24/01/2010 - 00:00

Police in China have started a crackdown on corruption and match fixing. Police took in for questioning Nan Yong, the head of the country's football federation; Yan Yimin, a vice-president of the football body; and Zhiang Jianqiang, head of the referees' committee. It is difficult to fix matches without the compliance of referees. In the last three months at least 21 officials, players and club officials have been arrested on allegations of match fixing, or of gambling in matches which is illegal in China.

The Financial 'Meltdown' and Football

Submitted by WG on Sun, 12/10/2008 - 00:00

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has talked this weekend of a 'meltdown' in the world's financial system which could lead to a further 20 per cent being wiped off stock exchange values. We don't claim to be economic forecasters on this page, but one of the difficulties with statements of this kind is the so-called 'Oedipus effect': making the prediction increases the chances of it occurring. Some of the commentary in recent days has come from people whose agenda is the failure of the Premiership.