Postponement could be positive: Lavicka

Updated December 07, 2011 18:23:00

Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka believes the break afforded his team by the postponement of Wednesday's A-League clash with Perth could be just what it needs to find consistency.

It gives the Sky Blues more time to recover from the huge physical and emotional effort required to beat Brisbane Roar 2-0 last Sunday, halting the premiers' record unbeaten run.

Now a win against last-placed Gold Coast away this Sunday could put Sydney in the mix for a top-two spot on the ladder.

"We were quite confident after we beat Brisbane Roar last weekend," Lavicka said after team training on Wednesday.

"The boys were then focussed on Wednesday's match and we were ready to play.

"But I think the players will now be refreshed physically and mentally for the next match now without the quick turnaround for the mid-week game."

Consistency has long been an issue for the Sky Blues who went from being premiers in the 2009/2010 season to finishing in a club-low ninth place last season.

And with all eyes on the boys in blue after their emphatic win over the Roar, Lavicka is eager to prove the feat was not just a one-off.

"Good teams in the A-League are able to keep the consistency so this is a good challenge for us to show ourselves and everybody else that we really are a good team," he said.

"I believe they are mentally prepared for that pressure.

"We want to be one of the best teams in the A-League but without consistency and the momentum there's no way we can achieve that."

With Perth stranded in Western Australia by an electrical storm, the FFA will now have to reschedule the postponed Campbelltown Stadium encounter, which would have been local hero Brett Emerton's homecoming of sorts.

"He's part of that area so of course he was excited to play there but there are two ways to look at it," Lavicka said.

"On one hand yes he is disappointed to not be playing this week in Campbelltown but on the other hand he now has more time to get good training and good recovery before our match on Sunday against Gold Coast."

It was hoped the postponement would also give striker Mark Bridge (back) and midfielder Terry Antonis (fatigue) a chance to be fit for Sunday but Lavicka has ruled both out of the Gold Coast match saying they need more time.

AAP

Tags: soccer, sport, a-league, campbelltown-2560, sydney-2000, nsw, perth-6000, wa, australia

First posted December 07, 2011 15:43:53

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England calls for FIFA election postponement

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Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 31/05/2011

Reporter: Emma Alberici

England's Football Association has called for the election for FIFA's presidency to be postponed while corruption allegations are investigated.

ALI MOORE: England's Football Association is calling on the game's world governing body to postpone this week's vote for the FIFA presidency, while the latest allegations of bribery and corruption are fully and independently investigated.

The current head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, is the only candidate in the election.

The FA's intervention comes as an increasing number of sponsors, including Adidas, Coca Cola and Emirates Airlines, voice their concerns about the administration of the sport.

Europe Correspondent Emma Alberici.

EMMA ALBERICI: There was only ever one other contender for the presidency of FIFA, Mohamed bin Hammam.

The Qatari head of the Asian Football Confederation was forced to pull out of the race, after he was charged with paying people to vote for him.

This picture allegedly shows the brown paper bag stuffed with $40,000 that was handed over to the Bahamas Football Association.

Ten of FIFA's 24 executive committee members, including the president, now have clouds of corruption allegations gathering about them.

SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT: Crisis? What is a crisis? We are not in a crisis. We are only in some difficulties. And these difficulties will be solved, will be solved inside our family.

EMMA ALBERICI: England's Football Association, known as the FA, is the oldest member of the FIFA family. Not only has it decided to abstain from this week's vote for world football's presidency, but it's now asking other international football associations to back its call for FIFA to postpone this week's election.

Sepp Blatter has been the father of world football for 13 years. If nothing changes in the next 24 hours, he'll be crowned king of FIFA for another four years.

DAVID DAVIES, CEO, FORMER ENGLISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION: I hope, in the somewhat frenzied atmosphere in Zurich today that their call now to get the agenda changed so that this coronation does not go ahead tomorrow is successful. But hey, they need more than 150 votes. So it's a tall order.

EMMA ALBERICI: David Davies is the former chief executive of England's Football Association.

Australia is calling for a refund of the $46 million or so it spent on its World Cup bid for 2022. Do you have some sympathy for that view?

DAVID DAVIES: I've got enormous sympathy for Australia in this situation and the Australian Football Association because they are in a situation where, for goodness sake, Australia is a country that's less than a decade, a decade ago, just over a decade ago they staged a wonderful, wonderful Sydney Olympic Games and they campaigned and they're a part of the world, a new frontier for football that has never hosted a World Cup and they got one vote.

EMMA ALBERICI: The latest claims against Qatar's winning bid for the 2022 World Cup comes from FIFA vice president Jack Warner who's been suspended while charges of bribery against him are investigated. He released an email from the general secretary which states that Qatar's Mohammed bin Hammam thought you can buy FIFA as they bought the World Cup.

Jerome Valk admitted sending the email but said it had been misconstrued. Sepp Blatter told a tense press conference that there was no evidence of foul play by Qatar.

SEPP BLATTER: Believe that the decision which we took for the World Cup 2022 was done exactly in the same pattern and in the same environment we have made the decision on the 2018 and there was no problem for FIFA.

EMMA ALBERICI: Qatar denies any wrong doing and is seeking legal advice.

Sepp Blatter himself has been cleared by the ethics committee. The money and gifts he gave voters during his bid for re-election were, he said, sanctioned by the FIFA board.

It's not just the world's football associations that are agitating for change. Even the game's chief sponsors are now voicing their concerns about the civil war raging within FIFA. Adidas, Emirates Airlines even Coca Cola are all urging the game's governing body to put its house in order.

The FIFA congress begins today. The hope for England is that at least three-quarters of the 208 football associations gathering in Zurich will push for change to the status quo.

Emma Alberici, Lateline.

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