Greg Louganis and cohorts can rest easy although players such as Didier Drogba and Joe Cole may face a slight problem if FIFA go ahead with the FA’s proposal to allow retrospective punishments for players found guilty of diving to earn free kicks and penalties.

With the problem currently under the media spotlight again following Didier Drogba’s admittance that he did dive during games (shock horror!) the FA are trying to talk players and managers into a regime of self policing instead of using legislation to end the scourge of the modern game but it has to be said that self policing hasn’t worked in the past and has only allowed the situation to get worse.

Current managers Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes both believe the problem has gotten worse since they played at the highest level and these days it can’t only be blamed on foreign players with such England regulars as Michael Owen and Joe Cole being renowned for going down easily under challenges. If the clubs and managers aren’t willing to stop the practice (who’s to say they don’t actively encourage it?) then it is the responsibility of the FA and FIFA to step in and implement laws worldwide to end the ridiculous spectacle of grown men playacting. I thought football was a man’s game?

Rich clubs’ mouthpiece, the G14, have issued a statement escalating the growing tensions between themselves and UEFA and claiming that they are coming under a “co-ordinated campaign of attack” by European football’s governing body.

Having been left out in the cold for next month’s UEFA consultation on the future of European club competitions, a G14 spokesman said this to the PA Sport:`”What you are seeing is a co-ordinated campaign to attack the G14. The reason for this is because we have had the temerity to ask an independent open tribunal to answer the question: ‘Are FIFA and UEFA’s rules legal?’

“FIFA and UEFA have failed to solve the issue of player release and insurance. The key issues, which are not going to go away, are better protection for clubs against player injuries, better representation, and compensation for player release.”

UEFA on the other hand see the organisation as having no proper mandate within the game with which to be invited into consultations on it’s future and UEFA’s head of communications William Gaillard has went so far as to term the G14 as a “negative influence in football.”

Gaillard said: “If clubs come up with this subject (of the Champions League match schedule), we will of course discuss it, although it is difficult because of the international calendar.”

He added: “We have excellent relationships with all clubs. Things are different with the G14, because we do not recognise it as an organisation. There is no need for such a group.

“There could be a need for a group that does not try to segregate and truly represents the clubs, but it doesn’t do that. It is a negative force in football.

“We believe in the transparent organisation of football. With the support we have I’m sure we will prevail.”

The battle lines have been drawn it seems and it will be a long and bloody war for the right to dictate the future of European football. Can the European game avoid a takeover from it’s richest members or will the old principles of democracy amongst clubs prevail?

Just when Hearts fans think things can’t take any more unexpected twists and turns, former Hungary coach and Germany legend Lothar Matthaus once again throws his hat into the ring for a chance to coach the Edinburgh club under the most trigger happy club owner in European football, Vladimir Romanov.

Matthaus has been overlooked twice for the Hearts job this season, firstly with George Burley’s appointment and then that of Graham Rix but with Matthaus now a free agent after being sacked from the Hungary national coach’s job and a short spell as coach of Brazilian side Atletico Paranaense, he would represent a low cost option with no need for compensation.

Matthaus’ agent John Inglis has been touting his client as being the experienced stager that Hearts need and says that Matthaus would be delighted to speak to Romanov to discuss the position.

Whether Matthaus could resurrect his sinking reputation as a coach capable of working at the top level is another matter, whether he could last six months in a job that has seen three previous incumbents in ten months is the biggest question of all.

Reading chairman John Madejski has scuppered rumours of his departure after the club secured promotion to the top flight for the first time in their 135 year history.

Madejski has bankrolled the club to the tune of around ?40m over his 16 year tenure in charge and has said that even though it feels like mission accomplished getting promoted, he feels that a season in the Premiership as chairman is the least he deserves for the time, effort and money he has put in.

Reading manager Steve Coppell said this after the 1-1 draw with Leicester which took his side up as the earliest promoted side to the top flight in post-war football: “It’s a brilliant feeling, it’s tremendous. I feel great pride in the players, the staff, the chairman for all the hard work he’s put in and all the supporters who’ve come out and followed us.

“We’ve had a huge commitment from the players who form a very small squad. Our last game of last season was at Wigan when they were celebrating promotion and that kick-started something in us to replicate that achievement.”

What a week for the FA and builders Multiplex when it comes to the new Wembley stadium. According to an unnamed insider speaking to The Sun newspaper, the ground beneath the stadium has moved causing sewer pipes under the stadium to buckle. Fixing the problem could take up to eight months and with the Wembley project already way behind schedule it will be another major headache for all concerned at the top level overseeing the construction.

The buckled pipes would have caused water and sewage to flow back up the pipes and overflow if it wasn’t repaired and as the insider says in The Sun, “On match day, when tens of thousands of people use the toilets at the same time, that just doesn’t bear thinking about.” Quite.

I know Derby County fans used to say that their old Baseball Ground was cursed by gypsys but there must have been a whole family of them cursing Wembley this week, either that or it’s just been plain incompetence from start to finish (whenever that will be!) from the FA and Multiplex. The spiralling costs, the deadlines that are constantly disappearing over the horizon and continued structural problems don’t bode well whatsoever and if Wembley stadium is ready for even next year’s FA Cup Final I will be shocked rather than surprised.

What a shambles.

All change at Hearts for the third time this season with Graham Rix joining his predecessor George Burley on the former Hearts managers’ list despite the Edinburgh club sitting sandwiched between the Old Firm in second place in the SPL.

Even though club owner Vladimir Romanov appointed Rix only four months ago to replace Burley who had led the club to the top of the SPL in his brief tenure, there has been little surprise amongst Hearts fans and players alike at the latest development.

The overwhelming feeling one gets about Hearts these days is that whatever Mr. Romanov wants to do is fine with everyone else because he continues to put his money where his mouth is and fuels the club with cash to keep everyone happy, everyone bar himself by the sounds of it though.

The players won’t bite the hand that feeds them even though Romanov is highly critical of the way they’ve been playing recently and the fans won’t speak out against the destabilising effect the constant coaching changes are having on the club as a whole because they’ve been blinded by Eastern European money, much like their Southern neighbours Chelsea.

With Jim Duffy also being relieved of his post as director of football after only a month, the Heart of Midlothian story looks to outsiders like a football fairytale gone wrong with an increasingly megolomaniac owner willing to treat one of Scotland’s oldest and most respected clubs as if it was a Sunday League outfit.

Money doesn’t buy you respect but at Hearts it seems to buy you the right to do whatever you like as long you continue to dig deep into your pockets. I wonder how long the bookies give the new interim head coach Valdas Ivanauskas?

World Cup 2010 chief executive Danny Jordaan believes that the only man who can save South Africa’s blushes and lead them out of the footballing wilderness as they prepare for hosting the 2010 World Cup is Sven Goran Eriksson.

A nation of Englishmen shake their heads in disbelief but Jordaan defends his idea by pointing to the role that Sven has played in bringing through a clutch of young players into the England setup and reducing their overreliance on established stars such as David Beckham and Paul Scholes.

In a statement worthy of Sven’s own PR guru he goes on to say that despite the Swede’s massive ?4m a year salary, the South Africans should fork out for him because they have to pay to get the best available coach.

Whether Sven Goran Eriksson is the man for the job as Mr. Jordaan thinks he is will be a matter for the South African FA but Sven’s record at the top table isn’t exactly top class and if the South Africans are really serious about getting a man who has been there and done it at the highest level then maybe they should be rivalling the FA and having a word with Luiz Felipe Scolari or Guus Hiddink instead. Pedigree is what matters and no amount of spin and PR smiles from Sven can hide the fact that he’s still some distance behind these two in terms of international football success.

Just when building contractors Multiplex think that things can’t get any worse in the new Wembley Stadium development, a steel beam in the new roof collapses while being welded resulting in 3500 workers being sent home for the day amid safety concerns.

The roof support beam, measuring 50 metres long by 2 metres wide, was being welded into the roof at the north end of the stadium when it fell and workers all over the development were alerted by an “enormous bang”. Despite some workers being in the area where the support fell there were thankfully no casualties and structural engineers are on site now trying to rectify the problem.

The new Wembley Stadium development has encountered nothing but problems since it began and it’s opening date was recently put back again meaning this season’s FA Cup Final will once again have to travel to it’s temporary home at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium.

Costs for the planned showpiece stadium of English football have spiralled over the duration of it’s construction to over an estimated ?750 million and the professional reputation of the builders Multiplex has taken a severe dent in light of the continued problems.

The GMB union which includes construction workers in it’s members has already called for a full scale investigation into today’s latest accident.

While Brian Barwick and associates say they are happy at the pace of their progress in finding a successor to Sven Goran Eriksson as England manager, they aren’t being drawn into the web of rumours and supposed meetings that is being played out by the English tabloid media.

The latest potential candidate to speak to the FA seems to be Luiz Felipe Scolari, World Cup winning coach with Brazil in 2002 and the Portugal coach who led them to the European Championship final two years ago. Scolari’s track record compared to the other wannabes is obviously second to none and in a straight race based on medals earned he would be the runaway leader. Given the growing campaign for the next England manager to be English (or if it’s Martin O’Neill, at least British) Scolari may find he’s several years too late to become a foreign manager of England with many fans views on this soured by the uneasy relationship and performances under Eriksson.

Still English and in the running are Charlton Athletic boss Alan Curbishley, current England assistant and Middlesbrough manager Steve McLaren and Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce while Stuart Pearce has seemingly ruled himself out at this time but could still find himself as part of the setup, possibly as assistant coach as he is groomed as an eventual successor next time around

One name that keeps coming up is that of Northern Irishman Martin O’Neill and he is perhaps best suited of all contenders to take the job. Preferring to avoid a full-time club manager’s position as he spends time with his ill wife, the more relaxed working hours of an international coach would suit O’Neill and with a great reputation as a small time miracle worker in England and a title winner and UEFA Cup finallist with Celtic in Scotland, O’Neill is arguably the most qualified and decorated homegrown contender.

With the FA trying to appoint the new man before the World Cup begins, it shouldn’t be too long until the specualtion can end and the English press can begin their next campaign to hound the new man out. Turnips anyone?

In another challenge to FIFA and UEFA’s control of the game, the G14 clubs are backing Belgian club Charleroi as they prepare to face FIFA in court in a case that could have as wide ranging effects on the game as the infamous Bosman ruling in 1995.

Charleroi are claiming compensation from FIFA for the injury caused to their player Abdelmajid Oulmers while on international duty for Morocco against Burkina Faso in 2004. Oulmers missed eight months while out injured and Charleroi have claimed that his injury prevented them from winning the domestic Belgian League during this time.

G14 have made their stance on the issue very clear as they have also backed Olympique Lyon in a similar court action over the injury their French defender Eric Abidal suffered in a freidnly for the France national team.

A G14 spokesman outlined their position: “We believe Fifa has the financial muscle to put together an insurance pool to cover players injured while on international duty. This case is not about shifting the cost from the clubs to the national associations.”

FIFA disagree and maintain that the responsibility for players on international duty lies with the national associations and not the world governing body while claiming, in the Charleroi case, that Oulmers injury had no bearing on the club’s eventual failure to win the Belgian League.

Depending on the outcome of the case, the G14 could have the case referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the scene of another Belgian, the aforementioned Jean-Marc Bosman’s, famous victory for player power. Whether the ramifications of this case will have such far reaching effects as that case will be judged over the next few years.