The JSPrice Perception

Sport Personality 2011 controversial nominations were revealed this week The BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2011 has been announced this week. For those who do not know who are nominated for this annual extravagant event three days before Christmas, here are those who are fighting for a place to be recognised for their part in what has been yet another remarkable year for British sport: Mark Cavendish (cycling), Darren Clarke (golf), Alastair Cook (cricket), Luke Donald (golf), Mo Farah (athletics), Dai Greene (athletics), Amir Khan (boxing), Rory McIlroy (golf), Andy Murray (tennis) and Andrew Strauss (cricket) To me this is a surprise selection and this top ten has been widely criticised by many people who are left bewildered over the fact no women are in the shortlist. Across Twitter, the likes of Rebecca Adlington who won gold in China this year at the 800m swimming championships and also missed out on the shortlist by one vote was said to be “sad” over this dec...

Gary Speed (1969-2011) There is one song which has continuously echoed my mind this year. It came the day Amy Winehouse died earlier this year of alcohol poisoning. It came the day Seve Ballesteros passed away through cancer. Again yesterday, this very song returns to my mind when I heard the tragic news of Wales’s national football manager Gary Speed was found hanged in his Cheshire home. For those who like I, I’m a keen user of social networking sites Facebook and Twitter and I have read tonnes of tributes of Speed. He wore the shirts of sides Leeds United, Everton, Bolton Wanderers, Sheffield United and Newcastle United with passion. He represented Wales 85 times and every match he played, he sang the national anthem with pride. Hands down, he was an overall talent on the field. He wasn’t just a great player, but a promising manager. He took over as boss of Sheffield United in 2010 and his hard work at the club paid off with interest from the Wales national side. He t...

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in one of the country's nuclear sites Do you remember March 2003 when United Kingdom's Prime Minister Tony Blair and United States' President George Bush formed a coalition to invade Iraq because they suspected the country had Weapons of Mass Destruction which would have consequently obliterate the world and all mankind, and not finding any because the country had none? Almost nine years on, there are talks of another suspicious programme which could harm every living thing. Indeed we are talking about Iran and their nuclear project. It is a different programme, a different country, and Britain and United States have different leaders but the question is how are President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron going to deal with this madness? I call it madness because this saga is one of those news events which will possibly end in travesty, unless world leaders solve the nuclear programming in a diplomatic manner. ...

Fifa President has to clean-up his mess before deciding to leave Living in Blatter-land World football governing body, Fifa's President Sepp Blatter has been under the spotlight for the second consecutive week and again for all the wrong reasons. Last week he banned British isle national sides from wearing a poppy branding the flower "political" but this time around, on countless interviews with major broadcasting companies yesterday, he controversially said that "there is no racism in football" and if racism occurred in a match, then players involved must handshake at the end of the game. This has sparked anger across the world of football including hierarchies of the English Professional Football Association (PFA), football players such as Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand and pundits alike. After hearing those comments by Blatter, people such as myself would bang our heads on brick walls. Today, the 75-year-old went to clarify his previous afterno...

Fifa, Silvio and Conrad Murray in the headlines this week It is only Wednesday and already the world has produced massive headlines. With my absence of writing frequently due to far too deadlines, I am having to write a blog about three big stories that have affected the front pages around the globe. Fifa bans the poppy Football world's governing body has banned England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland the right to wear a poppy to remember the armed forces in war. As Remembrance Day is occurring this Friday and Sunday, we are all required to do a two minutes silence to think about all who have fallen in World War 1, World War 2 and other wars which have affected Great Britain. What's Fifa's problem, their argument is that Remembrance Day has turned "political" and they have a rule which denies countries to advertise their nation politically, religiously or commercially. I have two arguments in mind for this, both for and against Fifa's case. F...