1x2 Free Betting Tips !

Alessandro Del Piero has breached the competition regulations of the A-League by wearing a custom captain's armband bearing the logo of his clothing line, prompting the Football Federation of Australia to ban Sydney's marquee player from wearing the item.

Sydney FC were notified by the FFA that Del Piero breached A-League regulations by using the armband for possible promotional purposes, as it displays his company's image and replicas are sold through his online store for $23. 

Del Piero appeared to be wearing one of the two armband designs approved and provided by the FFA but upon closer inspection, a watermark "ADP" logo can be seen. The subtly printed logo is not clear in daylight but becomes visible in images and in certain light as it contrasts with the background colour.

As with the English Premier League, the A-League has strict rules that standardise captains' armbands and prevent players from wearing custom designs that may display advertisements, messages or images. 

By contrast, the Italian Serie A, where Del Piero played more than 19 seasons, is more relaxed, as clubs often provide their own armbands and players have been known to wear personalised items. While at Juventus, Del Piero often wore a band that displayed his jersey number while some players have even been known to wear designs with religious messages. Former Brescia captain Roberto Baggio wore an armband with a buddhist flag.

The A-League's regulations state: "Captains' armbands shall remain free of a sponsor, and decorative element or further elements, except for the word 'captain’ or an abbreviation or translation thereof."

Alessandro Del Piero.

Alessandro Del Piero. Photo: Getty Images

An FFA spokesman confirmed Sydney FC had been notified about the breach of the regulations . Neither the club or the player will be punished or sanctioned but the 39-year-old will be forced to wear the A-League standard armbands for the remainder of the season. 

“FFA has been made aware that the Sydney FC Captain’s Armband carried unauthorised wording and has written to Sydney FC advising the club the armband contravenes the Competition Regulations and should not be used,” an FFA spokesman said.

Sydney FC chief executive Tony Pignata said the club was unaware its star player was wearing a custom armband and would not contest the FFA's order.

Banned: Del Piero's armband.

Banned: Del Piero's armband. Photo: Getty Images

"We received a letter from the FFA regarding Alessandro, the club wasn't aware of it but we will comply with it," Pignata said. 

It is not the first time the FFA has prevented Sydney's marquee player from promoting his personal logo during games by wearing equipment displaying his image.

It's understood that Del Piero was advised last season to turn two sweatbands inside out as they both displayed his brand. The former Juventus star regularly wears two coloured sweatbands also sold on his website, one orange and the other blue, and was told early in his A-League career to hide the logo or take the bands off during games. 

A shot of the armband on Del Piero's website.

A shot of the armband on Del Piero's website. Photo: From website.

In November 2012, former Sydney FC forward Yairo Yau said he was instructed to stop wearing sweat bands displaying the Panamanian flag.

.Arsenal FC progress through to the semi-final of the FA Cup as Olivier Giroud’s brace sinks Everton FC at the Emirates

The FA Cup has added importance for Arsenal now following their faltering title challenge and the uphill task that awaits them against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie, and they took a giant step in attaining cup glory once more as they defeated Everton in an entertaining encounter.

The Gunners have now knocked out Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Everton on their way to Wembley and Manchester City seems to be the only possible stumbling block in their effort to end their trophy drought. This was also a decent run in this tournament for Everton and now they must look to consolidate their place in the top seven of the Premier League.

The Gunners, who were under tremendous pressure to perform in this match following their disappointing loss at the hands of Stoke City in the last game, got off to a flying start as Santi Cazorla set up Mesut Ozil and the German international produced a quality finish past Joel Robles to provide the home side with the lead. This was an important goal for the midfielder who has received a lot of criticism recently.

Both the sides looked dangerous in attack as the match opened up. Finally it was Everton who scored the equalizer in the 32nd minute of the game as Romelu Lukaku scored his second goal in as many games since returning from injury. Arsenal were exposed on the break and Ross Barley produced a wonderful pass from the right wing towards to pick out Kevin Mirallas at the far post. The Belgium international set up Lukaku in front of an empty net with a cut back and the on loan Chelsea striker could hardly miss from there.

In the second half Arsenal took the lead once again as Gareth Barry brought down Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the box and Mikel Arteta converted the resultant penalty kick. But the Spaniard was asked to retake the spot-kick after Olivier Giroud was yellow carded for encroachment in the box before the kick was taken. But the former Everton man kept his calm once again and fired the ball into the top corner of the net to provide the lead back to the home side.

Giroud, who came on as a substitute in the second half, then scored a brace to put the game beyond doubts. The first of which arrived in the 83rd minute after Bacary Sagna picked him up with an accurate cut back from the by-line and the Frenchman provided the finishing touch at the near post. The second was created by two wonderful passes, first by Tomas Rosicky and then by Mesut Ozil to set up the striker, who sided footed the ball into the net. The score line in the end did seem to be a bit flattering as Everton missed a lot of chances of their own, but this win could be a massive confidence boost for the Gunners at this point of the season.

Arsene Wenger has hoped that this result can propel his side to greater things as they travel to Bayern Munich with a tough job at hand.

“It was important for us to win, to put us in a good mind on the psychological front. We can be inspired by our focus on the day, by our desire and go to Bayern with the same spirit.

“The statistics go against us when we go to Bayern, but let’s make sure that the performance goes for us. Then we have a chance.

“It was important for us to win, to put us in a good mind on the psychological front. We can be inspired by our focus on the day, by our desire and go to Bayern with the same spirit.

“The statistics go against us when we go to Bayern, but let’s make sure that the performance goes for us. Then we have a chance.” – The Arsenal manager said.

Wenger was also relieved to see Mesut Ozil producing a good performance in this game and insisted that he looked physically “regenerated” after his recent breaks.

“Of course it’s important for him he took his chance because sometimes you want him to take the chance because he always looks for the good pass.

“I hope that will encourage him. What I liked with him is that physically he looked regenerated, having more power in his runs.

“As well I liked that he did a lot of dirty work for a player like him, that means he tracked back in the first half – especially on the counter attack he came back with long runs.

“When he behaves like that of course you have a better chance to win the game.” – He added.

Melbourne Heart coach John van't Schip gave the biggest hint yet that he wanted to be part of the resurgent club's future after the stirring win over Brisbane Roar, and there is no doubt that the man who has orchestrated Heart's transformation from cellar-dweller to form team ticks plenty of boxes.

''It's up to other people to decide what they want, but I have told them I like the club and know the people,'' the Dutchman said after the latest victory took his side to within six points of a finals berth.

Manchester City's $11.5 million investment in the club is already paying dividends, although there's little evidence of any hefty spending as yet. City will take its development of Heart slowly, and despite fevered hopes in some quarters that it would immediately parachute players in, it always planned to let the season take its course following its announcement as Heart's new owner on January 23.

While much of the speculation has centred on a likely name change to Melbourne City - although a state league side already holds that name - and a change of colours from red and white to City's sky blue (much to Sydney FC's anger) not a lot has been said about the likely coaching set-up as Heart gears up for its makeover.

Advertisement

Most pundits initially assumed that the Sheikh Mansour-owned club would bring in one of its own to spearhead the revolution. But why reinvent the wheel? Van't Schip is, in many ways, the perfect solution, and he's already in situ.

As a player, he competed at the highest levels, with Ajax in the Netherlands and Genoa in the Serie A in Italy, as well as being involved with the Dutch national team for the best part of a decade. In many ways his background is similar to City's director of football, Txiki Begiristain: the Spaniard played for Barcelona and for the Spanish national team and like van't Schip was mentored through much of his career by the Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, who had a huge impact as a player and the coach at Barcelona when Begiristain was one of his players.

Van't Schip, as a young man coming into Ajax, was a teammate of Cruyff when he returned to the Amsterdam club in his final days as a player. He also played under him when Cruyff managed the famous Dutch side. Van't Schip has retained close links with him, taking a job in Guadalajara, Mexico, to manage leading side Chivas on the latter's recommendation when he first left Heart two years ago.

Certainly van't Schip has had a tremendous impact since replacing John Aloisi just after Christmas, inspiring Heart to pick up 17 points from a possible 24 in the eight games he has been in charge.

He clearly gets his message across well to his players and he is tactically astute. He is also not afraid to change personnel depending on who is playing well and what the opposition is.

City's desire to create a global brand and style, with all its teams playing to a similar structure, would not worry van 't Schip either, having progressed through the Ajax system where all the teams, from the juniors to the first XI, play the same style.

Manchester City has been at pains to point out it is here for the long haul and it will not do anything drastic and without thought.

There is a consultation process with Heart's fan base at the moment, where questions are being asked as to whether supporters would be prepared to countenance a name and colour change, what sort of style the team should play in and whether it should sign marquee players and Socceroos. The reality, given that from 2015-16 A-League sides will only be allowed to sign four foreign players, one of whom may by that time have to be Asian, is that City cannot simply bring in hordes of overseas stars.

The salary cap also restricts how much it can spend although it will be able to spend what it likes on both a local marquee (Mark Bresciano, who is training with Heart, would certainly be popular) and an international one.

The big advantage the UAE-owned club can bring is in off-field activities. It has pledged to build a state-of-the-art training and development facility and set up a youth academy. Not only is it likely to cherry-pick the best young Victorian talent, but it's highly likely that the best kids from all over Australia and their families might move to Melbourne if they get offered a place in the City set-up.

After all, youngsters from Europe and South America move to England to try and make the grade in EPL academies, so why not in Australia?