"minister or the Irish minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport. The Sport and Recreation Alliance is the representative body for sports organisations in the United Kingdom, including federations, players associations, mabagers associations and regional organisations. A large majority of the funding for elite sport in the United Kingdom is commercially generated, but this is concentrated heavily on a few sports. For example, the English Premiership's 20 clubs had an estimated combined turnover of £1.25 billion in 2003-04 according to Deloitte, and British professional football's total income was in the region of £2 billion. Other major sports have a turnover in"
"2011 he testified before a parliamentary committee on the state of the administration of English football. He was heavily critical of the FA, saying it was shying away from governing the game. He was especially damning of the FA's administrative procedures and its working relationship with other football bodies, in particular the Premier League. On 16 May 2010, the ""Mail on Sunday"" revealed Lord Triesman made comments about alleged bribery attempts by Spain and Russia of referees in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Triesman asserted, ""there’s some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees ..."
"and a daughter born around 2013. He was born and raised in an area of Chester he describes as ""one of the roughest council estates in the country""; he still resides there as of 2011. Roberts has attended the Sporting Chance clinic for treatment of the drink and gambling problems which have dogged and severely damaged his football career; speaking of it all Roberts has said ""I really can't believe what's happened to me. What's happened to my life."" He has put his addiction problems down to ""boredom"". He also said that ""I'm not one of these people who can"
"chairman of the BBL's Leicester Riders, calling it ""shambolic"" and former NBA player John Amaechi saying ""British basketball is dominated by people who are well meaning but poorly skilled."" Funding is another issue. The British government provided many sports, including basketball, with major funding in advance of the 2012 Olympics. However, Team GB was perceived as a failure in basketball, with the women's team going winless and the men going 1–4, though losing by only 1 point to eventual silver medallists Spain. As a result, basketball's funding was dramatically cut, and the men's national team failed to qualify for EuroBasket"
"football, and investigate what information it was aware of at the time of the alleged offences. The FA was criticised by Conservative MP Damian Collins, chair of the House of Commons' Culture, Media and Sport Committee, for being too slow in reacting and not instigating a wider review. Former sport minister Gerry Sutcliffe talked of previous concern about how the FA dealt with governance of the sport and with youth development (in the 1990s, the FA was said to have reacted ""dismissively"" to worries about sexual abuse in the game, and too slow to implement criminal record checks; in 2003,"
"where football has long been the most popular sport). At the end of the 2006–07 season, several Borders players transferred to Glasgow Warriors. Following the decision by the SRU to disband the Borders Reivers, the Border Reivers Action Group was formed to fight against the disbandment. However, in April 2007, the Borders Rugby Action Group conceded defeat as the SRU insisted there would be no finance available from the governing body. The action group pledged an attempt to resurrect the team in 2008; however, no such attempt was made. On 19 December 2011, former Scottish internationalist Keith Robertson gave an"
"seems to me that with Brown there is a complete sense of humour and charm bypass."" Of Ed Miliband, in 2015 he said ""He is a man of high ambition and low talent – the worst possible combination. His whole language at the moment is soak the rich, hate the rich."" During the 2011 Conservative Party Conference, he spoke at a fringe meeting, declaring Mayor Boris Johnson to be a ""jester-despot"", and Prime Minister David Cameron, as having ""absolutely no strategy"" for running the country. He urged the party to re-engage with the working class rather than the """"Guardian""-reading middle"
"of the 2011–12 football season. The severest penalty is disqualification from the European competitions. Other penalties included fines, the withholding of prize money, and player transfer bans. On announcing the new legislation, former UEFA President Michel Platini said, Platini went on to say that the measures were supported by the majority of football club owners, and that an independent panel would be set up to judge whether clubs had broken the rules. Although the intentions of encouraging greater financial caution in football have been well-received, FFP has been criticised as illegal by limiting the internal market, failing to reduce football"
"part for changes in public attitudes to the sport. The Anglican divine and political economist Josiah Tucker also dismissed the sport as a ""most cruel and barbarous diversion' in his 'Earnest and Affectionate Address to the Common People of England Concerning their Usual Recreations on Shrove Tuesday' (1753), drawing attention to the suffering and 'lingering tortures' of a 'poor innocent creature'. From the middle of the 18th century, magistrates began to deal with the problem more harshly, a marker of its loss in popularity among the ""respectable"" classes, imposing fines for public order offences, and local by-laws banned the practice"
"that the self-regulation system has proved to help the rich but not the poor. In February 2010 the Commission was described as ""toothless"" by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee investigating the News of the World phone hacking affair. During a House of Commons emergency debate into the same affair on 6 July 2011, MPs described the PCC as 'well-meaning but a joke', and as much use as 'a chocolate teapot'. In a press conference on 8 July 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron described the PCC as 'inadequate' and 'absent' during the phone hacking affair, and"
"to obtain equal status to sports. For example, from 2002 British Minister for Sport, Richard Caborn said: ...I believe we should have the same obligation to mental agility as we do to physical agility. Mind sports have to form UK national bodies and get together with the government to devise an acceptable amendment to the 1937 Act that clearly differentiates mind sports from parlour board games. Many of the games official bodies which had come together for the Mind Sports Olympiad, formed larger organisations such as the Mind Sports Council and International Mind Sports Association (IMSA). With IMSA organising the"
"FA board meeting on 21 February concluded that the plan was ""unsustainable in its current format"". The proposal was condemned by Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, who said it brought the game into disrepute and would adversely affect England's bid for the 2018 World Cup. He also said ""Football cannot be like the Harlem Globetrotters or a circus"". Michel Platini of the sport's European governing body, UEFA, called it a ""nonsense idea"". Strong reservations were expressed by the Korean FA, and the Japanese FA opposed the plan. Middle-eastern FAs were reportedly more positive. In February 2008 AFC president Mohammed Bin"
"Chair of All Party Parliamentary Music Groups, Chair All Party Parliamentary Group on Nigeria and Angola. In November 2008, Robertson was one of 18 MPs who signed a Commons motion backing a Team GB football team at the 2012 Olympics, saying football ""should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage"". The football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all opposed to a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments. He is a ""strong"
"one of 18 MPs who signed a Commons motion backing a Team GB football team at the 2012 Olympics, saying football ""should not be any different from other competing sports and our young talent should be allowed to show their skills on the world stage"". The football governing bodies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all opposed to a Great Britain team, fearing it would stop them competing as individual nations in future tournaments. During the 2009 MPs expenses scandal, Begg was one of the first Scottish MPs to take the step of publishing all of her claims under"
"last, ten seconds behind the fifth place crew. Robbins was accused of mental weakness and publicly ridiculed in the Australian media as ""Lay-down Sally"". ""The Daily Telegraph"" reported: ""In a team sport such as rowing what she did was unforgivable. It appears Robbins committed the greatest crime there is in honest sport: she quit."" Even then Australian Prime Minister John Howard became involved in the row, saying: ""I'm not taking sides but it's always regrettable, it's tough and there's a lot of pressure. It's always a good idea to bind together but look, I wasn't there and I can understand"
"seen fronting the 2011 FA Cup Final, Community Shield and the Champions League Final (Barcelona 3–1 Manchester United) from London's Wembley Stadium for his former employer ESPN Star Sports – where he sat alongside the likes of former England manager Steve McClaren and pundit Gerry Armstrong. In 2011. This was the last time Roberts was seen on TV as he took up a role of Vice-President of Fox Sports business development unit. Roberts was a 'Level 3' referee when he left the UK for Asia. He regularly officiated in English competitions as – The FA Cup, Football Conference, FA Premier"
"2000 Summer Olympics, and that she had lied about it to a grand jury investigating performance-enhancer creations. November 29, 2007 – Portsmouth football manager Harry Redknapp angrily denied any wrongdoing after being arrested by police investigating alleged corruption in football: ""If you are telling me this is how you treat anyone, it is not the society I grew up in."" The 2008 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer of Switzerland and Rafael Nadal of Spain, has been lauded as the greatest match ever by many long-time tennis analysts. British Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton, was disqualified from the 2009 Australian"
"the big time they were still seen as ""unprofessional, amateur and even unacceptable"". In an interview, Farage described Baroness Warsi as ""the lowest grade Chairman the Tory Party has ever had"". He was voted politician of the year by the online service MSN. In May 2013, Farage led UKIP to its best-ever performance in a UK election. The party received 23 per cent of the vote in the local elections, winning 147 council seats, and placing it only 2 points behind the governing Conservative Party and 9 points ahead of the Liberal Democrats. Farage was mobbed by well-wishers as he"
"between clubs. The PFA had to apologise after initially criticising his comments. In May 2016, professional footballer Chris Mitchell committed suicide. In October 2018 his family spoke out about his struggles with mental health. In February 2018 David Cox stated that he had been mocked by both players and fans for discussing his mental health problems. In March 2018, the UK government announced plans to deal with mental health in professional sports. Later that month, Harry Smith released a statement stating that he was seeking help for mental health and gambling addiction problems. In April 2018 The Secret Footballer, an"
"not there"" and ""looking for someone or something to blame"" for his poor form. Higgins retaliated by claiming that players in Johnson's era had struggled to make breaks of 30 or 40 on tables with much larger pockets, and by calling Johnson one of the sport's worst commentators. After the UK Championship, he slipped to number 12 in the world rankings, having failed to progress beyond the last 16 of any tournament since the Wuxi Classic in June. Before the Masters, Higgins revealed that he had reached the ""depths of despair"" after the UK Championship, after spending months ""in turmoil."""
"said in Pretoria where he was handed the Webb Ellis Cup by the Springboks following their World Cup victory against England. """"We don't put sufficient development in sports and we haven't committed resources needed and this is one of our biggest mistakes"""". He said development needed to be built from below. Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile recently emphasised the development of talent, ruled out racial quotas for national teams pointing out that this resulted merely in window dressing for international consumption, as a failed experiment in South African rugby showed a few years ago. However the issue remains politically"
"to borderline ""assault and battery"" with teams' star players being viciously targeted by opposing players. He answered charges the league was too savage by saying, ""'I have never seen a maliciously dirty football player in my life and I don't believe there are any.'"" Nevertheless, he ordered broadcasts to follow a strict rule of conduct whereby TV announcers would not be permitted to criticize the game, and neither fights, nor injuries, could be televised by virtue in his belief that announcers were ""'salesman for professional football <nowiki>[and]</nowiki> we do not want kids believing that engaging in fights is the way"
"officially disbanded in 2009 after a high-profile incident with supporters of Blackburn Rovers, in which afterwards twelve members of the ""Suicide Squad"" were sentenced to jail for a total of 32 years. Notable fans over the years have included football coach Jimmy Hogan, Prime Minister Edward Heath, Charles, Prince of Wales, journalist Alastair Campbell, Superbike world champion Neil Hodgson and cricketer James Anderson. In an unofficial ""Football Rivalry Survey"" from 2012–13, Burnley were listed 7th out of a list of 92 respective Football League clubs with the most rivals, with Blackburn Rovers considering Burnley to be their main rival and"
"women's and cerebral palsy football teams (Wayne Rooney, Steph Houghton and Jack Rutter). After the Hamilton Smith interview suggesting the FA failed to thoroughly investigate Crewe's system, on 27 November, the FA announced it was to set up an internal review, led by independent counsel Kate Gallafent QC, into what Crewe and Manchester City knew about Barry Bennell and allegations of child sexual abuse in football, and investigate what information it was aware of at the time of the alleged offences. The FA was criticised by Conservative MP Damian Collins, chair of the House of Commons' Culture, Media and Sport"
"Hugh Robertson (politician) Sir Hugh Michael Robertson , (born 9 October 1962, Canterbury, Kent) is the Chairman of the British Olympic Association and Chairman of Camelot, the operator of The National Lottery. He was formerly a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Faversham and Mid Kent from 2001 to 2015. He was the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until July 2014, having previously been the Minister for Sport and for the Olympics. As such, he was the Minister with day-to-day responsibility for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games. He currently"
"the incidents ""a disgrace to football"" and also said that any culprits should be banned from football for life. Justice secretary Jack Straw said that ""strong measures"" needed to be taken to prevent a repeat of the disorder. Home secretary Alan Johnson added, ""Anyone who thinks thuggery has a place in modern-day football is living in the dark ages, and will bring only shame upon the teams they support."" The shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt commented that ""Wider questions need to be answered as to how the situation was allowed to get out of hand in the first place."" One"
"to ban spectators from attending the horse inspections in violation of FEI rules, Thomas resigned his position as a member of the ""ad hoc"" committee, branding it as ""disgraceful"". He had previously fought to ensure the inspection was open in two previous games with this announcement going viral. Hugh Thomas (equestrian) Hugh Thomas is the current Director of Badminton Horse Trials, the largest paid-entry sports event in the United Kingdom and the second largest in the world. He used to be Course Designer as well as Director but retired in 2013 from Course Designer. He also competed at the 1976"
"matches for money. Although an investigation cleared Higgins of match-fixing allegations, it found that he had brought the sport into disrepute by failing to report, and giving the impression of agreeing with, an invitation to breach the sport's betting rules. The WPBSA banned Higgins from professional competition for six months and fined him £75,000. He returned to the tour midway through the 2010/2011 season. After his return to snooker, Higgins added a third UK Championship title and claimed his fourth world title in 2011. He subsequently experienced a noted slump in form, and between 2012 and 2014 only won the"
"Minister Tony Banks and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Public opinion, based upon the immediate media furore resulted in (according to one BBC poll) 90% of respondents believing Hoddle should not continue as England manager. However, the BBC survey showed that while many considered his comments insensitive to disabled people, others defended his right to express his religious beliefs by claiming that to sack him would constitute religious discrimination. Hoddle stated that he was not prepared to resign and claimed his words were misinterpreted and pointed out his contributions and commitment to organisations helping disabled people. The Football Association terminated Hoddle's"
"losses cannot continue."" In June 2011, the English Football League announced that clubs in the divisions lower than the Premier League had also agreed in principle to adopt the FFP Regulations at their annual meeting. Debt in the lower leagues stood at around £700 million, of which 80% applied to the second tier of English football, the Championship. FA chairman David Bernstein described the Football League's announcement as ""very encouraging"". Michel Platini also commented, ""We are very happy to see that Football League clubs, under the umbrella of the Football Association, are again taking the initiative on good governance issues"
"2012 has argued that ""The economic stagnation and cuts being imposed by the Tory government inevitably create social division."" Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats political party, made it clear that the government's planned cuts to police budgets will go ahead. The local government budget had been cut in the past year so Haringey Council, which includes Tottenham and Tottenham Hale, decided to close eight of its 13 youth clubs in 2011, rather than save money through increased efficiency or make cuts in other areas. Scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance, removing of funding"
"events due to the governing body's decision to attach ranking points to them. O'Sullivan likened the experience of competing on the PTC to being ""raped"", but later apologised for the comment. Stephen Maguire echoed O'Sullivan's sentiments, commenting that players were left out of pocket unless they did ""really well"", and that he felt like a ""prostitute"" being ""forced"" to play in the events. Maguire further criticised the lack of atmosphere and audience at some of the events. Another player described the European PTC events as ""buying ranking points"". John Higgins has been critical of the Sheffield-based PTCs which do not"
"UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the UK. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created following a ""rock bottom"" showing at the 1996 Summer Olympics where Team GB won just one solitary gold medal. Team GB and Paralympics GB went on to place third in the medal table at London 2012 and second in the table at Rio 2016. UK Sport currently invests around £345m in summer Olympic and Paralympic sports and £24m in winter Olympic"