Team GB is in safe hands for next year’s Olympic Games after Stuart Pearce and Hope Powell were named head coaches for the men’s and women’s football teams respectively by the Football Association.

In a tournament that will see all-bar-three of the Great Britain players under the age of 23, it is right that Pearce is in charge.

Four reasonable years as England’s under-21 boss, which – this summer aside – has seen tournament success and only five defeats in 41 games. Additionally, he represented his country 78 times and was a part of the Euro ‘96 tournament held in England.

Speaking about his appointment, Pearce said he is “extremely proud to have this opportunity”.

“I was fortunate to be part of Euro ‘96, so I know how special it can be to play for your country on home soil at a major tournament,” he explained.

“I’m sure this group of players will relish being part of not only a huge tournament in this country, but a unique one competing together and representing the UK.”

Just as deserving is Powell, who has led England’s women team for a remarkable 13 years and continues to play a huge part in promoting the sport. She believes rightly that exposure from the London 2012 Olympics can help boost the popularity of the women’s game like it did in Euro 2005.

With both managers having knowledge of tournaments hosted in England – and their years of coaching experience – Great Britain certainly has a good chance of success.

Now, all eyes turn to team selection. Who will Pearce pick from the other Great Britain football associations?

And, biggest of all, will David Beckham be given a chance to end his international career in style? A gold medal for golden balls would be a fitting end for England’s most-capped outfield player of all time.

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In a week where the world witnessed one of the greatest-ever club sides make England’s champions look like 11 wax work models hired from Madam Tussauds for a Saturday night out in Wembley, it is somewhat galling to see a 75-year-old take centre stage waxing lyrical about the Fifa family.

Sepp Blatter, in his unique style, has completely overshadowed the achievements of Barcelona and the mesmerising display Pep Guardiola’s men unleashed on Manchester United last Saturday, instead brushing aside any suggestion that there are problems at Fifa and using the Champions League Final as an example of how world football is in good shape.

Far from being a case of sour grapes from the English FA and the media, Blatter and senior figures at Fifa are facing serious allegations that could, if proved to be correct, call into question their capability to run the sport.

Yet with the help of 172 spineless confederations voting against a motion to delay the presidential election, an unopposed Blatter will now take charge for a further four years which, if the previous four are anything to go by (absence of goal-line technology, Qatar 2022 reasoning), could be detrimental to the credibility of football.

Even though he faced no competition yesterday, Blatter couldn’t have done it without victory in the morning vote on whether to delay the presidential election. That only 34 nations voted to delay the election or not take sides is quite incredible.

As the old proverb goes, clever men are often employed by fools. Sadly for football, Fifa seems to be riddled with them.

However, the FA’s case has not been helped by pressing ahead with the 2018 World Cup bid knowing that there were deep-rooted problems in Fifa. Though a lot of effort had been put into organising the bid, all of the talk coming out of the FA’s headquarters would hold greater strength now had we pulled out before.

Is this in hindsight? Of course not. The first look of 2018 and 2022 voting taking place at the same time should have been a sign of things to come. The timing of BBC’s Panorama investigation was widely criticised at the time but now the contents form part of the argument against Fifa. Allegations were made even before the 2018 voting commenced.

Now the FA and English football find themselves in the doghouse, set to be snubbed for the foreseeable future. Instead of licking its wounds, the FA must now challenge Blatter and Fifa through strong campaigning and leadership – something that has been lacking until the last week.

The importance of change should not be understated. Football must be remembered for the jaw-dropping performances from the likes of Barcelona and not the jaw-dropping performances from an unopposed president in charge of a failing organisation.

Referees and their officials are so often vilified for making the wrong decision, regardless of whether they could see the incident, that it is often difficult not to feel slightly sorry for them. Take yesterday’s early offside in the Carling Cup final: Birmingham’s Lee Bowyer is played through, flagged offside and television replays show he was actually the opposite. Bowyer running one way at full tilt and an Arsenal defender walking the other way creates a difficult decision – sometimes it is given correctly, other times not. A team can only hope that these things even out and, though often it does not, especially when facing bigger teams, Birmingham snatched a late win and the wrong decision is confined to history.

Add in just shy of 90,000 people creating an atmosphere at the home of English football, while a further several million watch from their television sets and the pressure can get to anyone. Cup final day and plenty at stake.

Compare that to Mark Clattenburg’s surroundings on Saturday. The DW Stadium with a scattering of 18,000 people and an incident that was clearer than a split-second call. That Clattenburg decided to give a free-kick the way of Wigan when Wayne Rooney’s elbow landed on the cheek of James McCarthy shows he saw the incident. That Rooney was not even booked for raising his arm has to call into question the quality of Clattenburg as a referee.

But still, surely after two days of giving it some thought, tens of replays shown across a series of different shows, including in the offices at the FA, Rooney will face up to his actions. Not one bit.

Aside from the injustice that Rooney gets away with violent conduct, the words of Sir Alex Ferguson and assistant Mike Phelan were equally remarkable. Phelan spoke of a “witch-hunt” against Rooney, while Sir Alex said the press “will raise a campaign to get him hung or electrocuted”.

Combined, the words of Sir Alex Ferguson and the inaction of the FA set a tone that needs to be eradicated. Footballers must act as role models and anyone stepping out of line must be brought to justice.

Rooney has evaded discipline. Now will the FA have the strength to stand up to Ferguson? Most likely he will get away scot-free.

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