John Howard: FTA please. Football is the world game.

A recent study scientifically observed by Lamprecht & Stamm SFB AG, a social research company based in Zurich showed that some 265 million male and female players and a further five million referees, coaches and other officials are involved in football, giving a grand total of 270 million people, or four percent of the world’s population.

Mr Blatter was happy. I wonder why?

“Football’s popularity remains undiminished and is actually increasing,” reflected FIFA President Joseph S Blatter. “If you count the relatives and close friends of active participants in football, who share in their passion for the game as fans and support them in other ways, the total number is even more impressive: well over a billion people worldwide are involved in football – at all levels of society and across all borders.”

Here are some of the most important findings of the Big Count 2006:The overall total of 265 million male and female players is almost ten per cent higher than the number recorded six years ago (242 million). Of the 265 million, 26 million or around ten percent are women;Since 2000, the number of registered male and female footballers has increased by around 23 percent to over 38 million;The growth in women's football is particularly striking, with the number of registered players up 54 percent to 4.1 million, while the number of registered players in the men's game has likewise seen an increase of 21 percent to 34.2 million.

That measures with about 500,000 Union players, 50,000 AFL and 10,000 League. Alright, alright I made those figures up.

And yet in Australia we can't get the Socceroos team on Free To Air. Good one Johnny.

In view of recent trends with Environment and IR, I'm expecting a committee to be formed by our Prime Minister, and then before the election an appropriate vote winning decsion to be announced.

If he can go all green on us now, why not backflip on FTA. Don't hold your breath......it's probably polluted anyway:)