Sportscaster, beer drinker, football nerd, vocalist from New Zealand @SportNationNZ
Auckland, New Zealand
Joined September 2025
- Tweets489
- Following1.1K
- Followers92
- Likes4.1K
Riccardo Ball retweeted
Need to call this what it is, corruption.
Labour minister Jacqui Smith on Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners: 'The idea that we would turn our back on potential investors into this country [who have been found guilty of systematically breaking Premier League rules for nearly a decade], I just think is wrong.'
Burnham and his government need to stop digging before they bury themselves.
youtu.be/NjsJyay0tNM?is=S3V-…
Riccardo Ball retweeted
Lisandro Martinez’s view that Michael Carrick has been sold short and the squad has not been equipped with the depth to fight on multiple fronts is shared by several senior players - and football staff. It has been discussed in the dressing room with the club aware of frustrations around recruitment.
There was a fear ahead of the campaign that the squad would not be strengthened properly - the lack of cover at left-back and striker were major concerns, which is evidenced in how much the need for reinforcements was stressed during pre-season interviews.
Told the driving reason behind Martinez’s airing these grievances publicly is fury that Carrick is likely going to lose his job despite not being given the tools to have a fair crack, and players are sick of reset after reset, without questions asked of the people in charge and what direction they’re taking the club in.
Carrick and the team have faced criticism, accepted it, and owned up to performances being nowhere near good enough.
Where is the accountability from the people who keep leading the club to one doom spiral after another?
Riccardo Ball retweeted
FIFA is paying ~ $47,600 a month to lease a 5,000 sq ft office in the Trump Tower it rarely uses.
That’s about $115/sq ft/year; prime Midtown office space typically tops out at $95/sq ft/year
@tariqpanja
nytimes.com/2026/10/13/world…
Riccardo Ball retweeted
Manchester City supporters displaying banners saying "In Khaldoon We Trust" are making their position very clear.
If City's appeal fails and the findings are upheld, I don't want to hear blanket claims that supporters bear absolutely no responsibility.
Of course, fans didn't sign contracts or submit financial accounts. Players and managers didn't necessarily participate in those breaches either.
But accountability doesn't begin and end in the boardroom. If the club's success was built on systematic financial rule-breaking, then players, managers and supporters cannot simply celebrate the rewards while refusing to acknowledge how that competitive advantage was obtained, they are all accountable!
Riccardo Ball retweeted
A piece from more than 10 yrs ago, revealing Man City & PSG only avoided CL bans in 2014 because UEFA (Infantino) gave them plea bargains. City's pre-2014 cheating included getting a UAE win bonus after LOSING the 2013 FA Cup final to Wigan.
dailymail.com/sport/football…
Riccardo Ball retweeted
That’s unfortunate timing
Japan beer giants raided over alleged price-fixing cartel bbc.in/3Vw7ArO
😂
🎵🎶 In 1998, British R&B singer Mark Morrison hired a lookalike to complete his court-ordered community service so he could go on tour.
Instead of doing the service himself, he literally paid a lookalike to do it for him.
And that's basically what Pep Guardiola has done to Enzo Maresca at Manchester City.
Riccardo Ball retweeted
🚨 Ian Holloway blasts Manchester City: “Absolute disgrace, they’ve ruined the game.”
🗣️ “You (Manchester City) are a disgrace! You have tarred it so badly.
I (Blackpool) lost because we weren’t quite good enough. We weren’t quite good enough because the other team was allowed to cheat. And if you didn’t know they were cheating, I’m sorry, you’ve turned a blind eye to that.
For me, it’s all too late now. I would absolutely take everything away from every single one of them and make them start again right now.
It’s a disgrace, and they’re still not owning up to it. What type of people do they actually want to be?
And as for Pep, did he know it was happening? No, I don’t think so. I don’t think he knew that.
It’s the people at the very, very top who are trying to cheat this game, and I would throw them out.
Why have they still got the company? Why do they still own it? Why are they still allowed to do that?
Get lost. How dare you ruin what is part of our country’s DNA? Honesty.
Every one of us, mining villages, God knows what. Why it all started, who knows, but it’s all about a team and believing that you can fairly be better than someone else.
And they’re going to ruin it right at the top of the game.
Absolute disgrace.”
Riccardo Ball retweeted
Kurt Eklund learned his rugby career was over when medical staff ran onto the field at Bay of Plenty training.
His doctor later told him he shouldn't even be able to move his arms.
Yet, he's taking it all with his trademark humour.
More @SportNationNZ 🎧
open.spotify.com/episode/5zC…
For NZ Cricket fans it was the underarm, for South Africans it's Sandpaper
Our cameras will be sharp for this 3-match Test series 🎥
📺 SA v Aus | 1st Test | 9 October | 9:30 CAT
#SAvAUS #SSCricket
Riccardo Ball retweeted
Also, the logic is wild. Etihad agree record breaking sponsorship. But can't afford to pay it so request govt funding.
But bizarrely Etihad INCREASES s'ship for next year. But can't afford it. Govt funding.
Increase again. Can't afford it. Govt funding
Same pattern for 9 yrs
Was listening to @maxrushden and co about Kane being the greatest England player ever and couldn't help to think back to this - Beckham & 10 others, like Maradona in '86
Riccardo Ball retweeted
🚨💣 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Manchester City’s appeal has taken a second blow. 😳🔵⤵️
Evidence Man City gave UEFA six years ago could undermine the defence. City told UEFA two payments of £15m, in 2012 and 2013, were made by Jaber Mohamed and caused by ADUG.
They did not tell UEFA he was general director of the Crown Prince’s Court. The money was supposed to come from Etisalat.
The first blow was Etihad’s 2015 letter to the US government, saying reports that Abu Dhabi paid for sponsorships were false, and that it did not receive subsidies.
City say the deals were legitimate, paid by the Abu Dhabi government, and that they have irrefutable evidence.
They were found guilty on 114 of 115 charges. A three-person panel will hear the appeal, with an outcome expected before the end of the year.
— via @MirrorFootball
Riccardo Ball retweeted
“I said to them: ‘If you lie to me, the day after I am not here. I will be out & I will not be your friend any more. I put my faith in you because I believe you 100% from day one & I defend the club because of that’.”
Pep Guardiola's words, his ethics, they are all as fake as his ‘achievements’. A man so intrinsically linked to doping & cheating for 25 years. Morally bankrupt, but still being paid by City to this day.
