"Aimé Jacquet Former France Coach I would say to you today that if tomorrow business becomes more important than the sport itself, football will no longer exist." "Pelé Brazilian International The media are very important." "To me they were very important, because without the media perhaps I would not be known." "Johan Cruijff said "If when you are young you play football really well." "Cesar Luis Menotti Former Argentine Coach you will be a player in the top division."" ""If, as well as playing well, you understand the game, you could be an international."" ""If you play badly, then you'll be a second-rate player."" ""If you really can't play football at all, then you will surely be a journalist!"" "Finally." "Colombia to win the Copa Libertadores..." "Colombia, champions of America!" "National champions of America!" "It is very frustrating to hear a European narrating a goal," "Armando Nogueira Author, Brazil the crucial moment of a goal." "I think it should reflect the shout of the crowd, because it doesn't simply shout "Goal", but "Gooooooal", because the goal doesn't ever have to end." "Colombia, champions of America!" "Colombia, continental champions!" "My country!" "My beloved country!" "Colombia!" "Letters written in gold, the name "Colombia", in the history of world football." "Narrated by Terence Stamp" "Will you ever forgive them?" "No, I will never forgive them." "Never!" "It is true that criticism should be present." "And I would even say that it is indispensable, because criticism allows progression." "Where I am not in agreement is when it attacks the man." "When the French media could have attacked the professional that I was, they attacked the man." "George Best Former Manchester United Player" "He was a Brazilian national hero, and the end of his life was very painful." "Very painful." "Luis Carlos Barreto Friend of Garrincha He was almost completely abandoned." "One day a journalist saw him laying down at the side of the street in the gutter at nine o'clock in the morning." "He telephoned me to say that Garrincha was very ill." "Garrincha took apart most tactical systems." "Didi used to say "If you want to open up the game, give it to Mané," as he was called." "Luiz Mendes Commentator, Brazil His skill could solve any tactical dilemma." "In all seriousness, he's not as globally popular as Pelé only because the media didn't do for him what they did for Pelé." "I never had any problems with the media, thank God, because I find them an important means of delivering the message to the people." "Athletes, artists and public people must have a certain respect for the media." "Diego Maradona Argentine International It's been very bad." "I have not made any friends." "I've never asked for any interview." "But I think that without football players, all those brilliant sports commentators who earn a fortune would not exist." "It's good that they earn well." "Eduardo Galeano Author, Uruguay Go easy with the criticism, because it is the business of football which is drugged and corrupt, and when you oblige a player to perform every two or three days, he is asked to maintain a rhythm that not even racehorses could support." "I think the serious problem with Maradona was that he could never react or feel like an ex-footballer." "Sometimes I start to think about what would happen to a concert pianist who, at the age of 35, was told" ""You can never play the piano on a stage or in a theatre again."" ""You can only play alone."" "I think that is hard." "Drugs exist in all parts of the world, and I'm doing a great propaganda job." "In the eyes of society." "I'm the bad example for kids." "But I don't want to be an example to anybody." "Inevitably for some people I am." "They say "My son, he follows Maradona, because..."" "Shut up, fool!" "That's your problem, if your son follows in my tracks." "If you don't know how to bring him up, it's not Maradona's fault." "Ronaldo Brazilian International What happens is that people want to know about the private life of the football player, and their personality." "He has to go on playing football." "Unfortunately I've been injured, so people tend to be more interested in my private life, because I am away from the football pitch." "There were a few stories that were completely made up in Germany, which hurt me very much." "Jürgen Klinsmann German International That was hard to cope with, because my family suffered." "I have sued the tabloid press, but then every action against them made it even worse." "That's why I am happy to be out of the limelight today." "Sir Alex Ferguson Coach, Manchester United" "Bob Crampsey Historian, Scotland" "Luke McKernan Film Historian, England" "He was a journalist and a coach at the same time." "Alberto Pozzo Vittorio Pozzo's Son When he started to work for the national team in 1929, many other journalists were envious." "They thought that, being the coach, he would favour the newspaper he was working for." "José Sanfilippo Argentine International Today there is a television set, and you get to know all the teams." "We didn't even know the colour of the shirts of the other countries." "Goooooaaaal!" "Goal for Brazil!" "The radio had a decisive importance in the popularisation of football, because it had over the television the power to stimulate the imagination of the people." "We had famous narrators who had a tremendous ability to transform a badly played football match into an extraordinary artistic show." "Sir Bobby Charlton English International" "Antonio Rattin Argentine International The English are very special people." "I'd like to live there if I had the means." "Every time I go to Europe - I go every couple of years " "I pay a quick visit to London." "I walk around London." "I love to see the double-decker buses." "I go to Oxford Street, Piccadilly..." "I love all that." "I like the English very much." "I admire them." "For ten years. from 1975 to 1985, everything was wonderful." "I think that the biggest mistake of the director of the North American League at the time was not to respect the television and the media." "Clive Toye Former Cosmos President" "Lawrie Mifflin Journalist, USA" "David Hill Broadcaster, UK and USA" "Juan Alemann Former Argentine Finance Minister The 1978 World Cup created a good atmosphere for the military government." "It helped them politically." "But it would have been the same if they had spent $200 million instead of $700 million." "Dino Zoff Italian International We'd had to go to hour-long press conferences to defend and clarify and justify our decisions." "So we decided to do our best on the field and let people judge us for what we could do on the field." "They would have psychologically destroyed us if things had gone wrong." "Paolo Rossi Italian International However, we took the risk." "We didn't win the World Cup for this reason, but we had a really peaceful month, away from all the pressure of being in the spotlight." "Jorge Valdano Argentine International The media focused on the game as a form of revenge for the Falklands War." "And of course it makes it very difficult to distance yourself from this atmosphere." "That made England more than a sporting rival." "Well, the truth is that when you are on the field. you don't think about that at all." "But the journalists asked the question so many times." "If it was something more than a match, we were not aware." "They said that we had mixed the Falklands War with that match." "I never heard any comments in the dressing room, nor did I talk with anybody about it." "Television companies had this requirement that the matches had to start at midday in Mexico City," "with an altitude of 2,500 metres, and really high levels of smog and humidity." "It was inhuman." "They sold a bad football product to the whole world." "You have to care for the game, and defend it from the outside aggression of commercialisation." "Hugo Sanchez Mexicnn International It was the only company, so it controlled everything." "Now it's not just Televisa." "There are other powers, so there is competition." "Dr. Henry Kissinger US Statesman" "Chuck Blazer FIFA Executive Committtee Member" "I congratulate television companies for all their work." "João Havelange Former FIFA President There is a huge sum being generated throughout the world by contracts directly or indirectly involved with football, a sum being produced and circulated which totals $250 billion." "Lennart Johansson UEFA President What happened in this instance, when Mexico almost got the World Cup two times in a row, are matters that I don't want to comment on." "So that is "No comment."" "The arrival of Berlusconi was fundamental, because he took charge when Milan was in troubled waters" "Franco Baresi Italian International and took it to a very high level." "He is a great entrepreneur, a great manager, and an ambitious president." "He soon showed he could create good opportunities for the club, bring in great players, and come up with new ideas for the club's football, because he wanted spectacular football that would entertain people." "The whole country follows you." "Paolo Maldini Italian International Sports journalists write about football." "But during the World Cup, the other journalists talk about football, as well as politicians." "Since it becomes current affairs, everybody talks about it." "David Hill Former Head, Sky Sports" "Alan Shearer English International" "Everyone must be represented." "The majority should be taken into consideration, not a small minority." "It's the same with the clubs." "We can't just listen to the 14 biggest clubs in Europe, when there are 6,800 other clubs in a completely different situation." "I mean, the clubs in Division One in England don't have much in common with Real Madrid." "It's a matter of seeing it as a whole, and not only satisfying the top level." "The media concentrate only on the absolute top - anything else is not interesting." "Zico Brazilian International The Japanese media is courteous and disciplined." "They always try to talk about the spectacle, and the good things of the game, leaving aside the negative aspects." "They talk about them, but with not much emphasis." "It is the other way around in Brazil." "Kumi Kinohara Journalist, Japan The J-League, when it started, was a big boom, and then suddenly the level of interest dropped." "The Japanese in particular like new trends - if everyone else is interested in something, they will be." "In this case, even those that didn't like football all wanted to know what was happening." "Unless people are really into football, the boom will disappear, won't it?" "Emmanuel Maradas African Soccer Magazine" "Football today is in danger." "World and European football is in danger." "The business should not be imposed on the sporting side." "It is true that football is business, that is OK." "It is lucky, because it propels and attracts the sponsors who are, of course, welcome." "That creates the possibility to have enormous financial projects, but the sporting side should not suffer." "Professional football today is a ferocious business." "It sometimes pays very well, but it is a cruel business." "And I remember that famous phrase from Winston Churchill when a journalist asked him what his secret was for being so healthy at 90 years of age." "Winston Churchill replied" ""Sport."" ""I never took part in sport."" "ENGLISH"