Referee!!?

The Lord Triesman affair has generated a lot of heat and debate amongst those who are concerned about the 'press freedom' aspect. Personally I think that the dogs of fleet street would eat their own young for a story and am in despair over the fact that one of the most notorious  editors  in the past few years is now in government.  Anyway... here are a couple of posts for the Guardian CiF .

If you Google  Melissa Jacobs , you end up with a US Porn star.
Can't see the colour of her eyes though.

The point being missed by North is that it is obviously common currency amongst the FA to think that the Spanish FA are not beyond bribing referees [ an act that  has been suspected before in previous World Cup Finals and by other countries and not only by taxi drivers ] and that they could hardly bring these suspicions to FIFA directly.

Could it be that Triesman fell on his sword? Remember that under our very generous libel laws if Lord Triesman brought a case against Melissa and the MoS, the Spanish FA may feel free to appeal to  the same law and court.

In any case it has given fair warning to FIFA and the rest of the world that  previous refereeing decisions that affected England's progress in past campaigns will be looked at more closely and cynically if they occur in future .
If it brings about a stricter appraisal of dodgy decisions and a resort to more advanced technology then the lady may have been worth the price paid.

Oh come on, North.  Surely you are not naive enough to think that such things do not go on? Au Continent? Do you know of any multi billion enterprise that does not have it's unfair share of fixers, dopers,  dodgy middle - men, agents, touts,  and 'administrators' who are given more VIP treatment than the Pope? It may be a beautiful game but it's also a bloody dirty business.