International soccer chiefs fear they could be subjected to legal action from disgruntled players or teams after finally bringing the game into the 21st century by implementing technology aimed at cutting out unfair goal decisions.

Goal-line technology is aimed at preventing an obvious mistake, like this Ukrainian goal that wasn't. While other sports such as tennis and football have for years embraced an instant replay system, soccer has been slow to catch on, leading to a swathe of negative publicity following embarrassing mistakes from referees in big games.

Yet even though soccer's governing body FIFA has given the green light to two systems that will ascertain whether or not the ball has crossed the line and therefore be awarded as a goal, it immediately acted to protect itself from any financial backlash.

FIFA demanded that GoalRef and HawkEye, the two systems that it granted approval for use, each obtain an insurance policy that indemnifies FIFA against any legal challenge for recompense in the event that the technology gives incorrect information.

FIFA head Sepp Blatter

Lance Armstrong's final escape route was closed to him on Monday, with his complete fall from sporting grace confirmed by the international chiefs of his own sport.

The UCI, cycling's world governing body, upheld the findings of a thorough and damning report by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that accused Armstrong of masterminding a doping strategy that involved prohibited drugs, blood transfusions and elaborate schemes to fool testing authorities.

At a media conference Monday, cycling leaders revealed the 41-year-old will be banned from competitive cycling for life and stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won between 1999 and 2005, leaving the Texan no more outs except perhaps disclosure of the long-awaited complete story.

"This is the biggest crisis cycling has ever faced," said UCI president Pat McQuaid. "This was an enormous, sophisticated cheating program."

Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life by the UCI. (Reuters file)Monday's events seemed to be the last piece in the puzzle, as there had been some doubt as to

Sleeping tablets reportedly is to blame for the England national soccer team's sleepy performance in a disappointing 1-1 draw against Poland this week in World Cup qualifying.

England was a strong favorite going into the game, but it appears its players may have been caught out when the contest was rescheduled from Tuesday to Wednesday night because of a waterlogged pitch caused by heavy rain in the Polish capital of Warsaw.

Steven Gerrard (left) and England sleepwalked through Wednesday's 1-1 draw.Several English newspaper reporters were alerted to the fact that members of the squad, who reportedly use caffeine pills to boost their energy levels ahead of games, struggled to sleep on Tuesday night once the postponement was announced.

Team doctors then prescribed sleeping pills to those unable to get their beauty sleep – but that decision has been widely questioned in the British media as Roy Hodgson's side looked sluggish and unconvincing against an opponent ranked 49 places below it at No. 54 in the world.

"When you're fired up, pumped up, you've had your

Even smack in the middle of the baseball nirvana that is October, one complete with wild comebacks by wild-card teams, the ankle crack heard around the world and a whole bunch more good ol' sporting fun, few can argue with a straight face that the sport remains the true national pastime.

For football is king these days, with the game's physicality and ferocity taking a firmer grasp of the public psyche. Yet while baseball no longer commands the all-encompassing focus of the United States, there is still one area where it rules the roost. And where football, for all its fantasy stranglehold and weekend omnipresence, cannot compete.

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The world of sports memorabilia collecting is a small one, and it has to be. There are only so many ultra-rare items pertaining to the games we watch with fervor, and an even smaller number of self-confessed lunatics with the patience, quirk of personality and bottomless funds to acquire them.

Gary Cypres is one of

Crisis was averted for the United States on Tuesday night as the grim specter of a long spell in the soccer wilderness was brushed aside in Kansas City.

Still, there was a reason why the celebrations from head coach Jurgen Klinsmann and his players told a tale of relief rather than jubilation after the 3-1 victory over Guatemala booked a spot in the next round of World Cup qualifying.

Clint Dempsey watches his second goal go into the net. (AP)

The semifinal round of the CONCACAF qualification process shouldn’t have posed any concern for Klinsmann's side. Yet it did, from the frustrating night when it lost in Jamaica to a narrow escape against Antigua and Barbuda all the way to the first five minutes on Tuesday when Guatemala's Carlos Ruiz scored the opening goal that briefly cracked open the door to disaster.

Defeat could have sent the U.S. crashing out and left it with at least six years before it would appear again on a global stage. A strong response was needed, and so it materialized with three first-half goals, including two

Sporting Kansas City has no plans to change the name of Livestrong Sporting Park

On Tuesday night, the U.S. men's soccer team will play a game that carries seismic repercussions for the sport's immediate future in this country. And it will do so at Kansas City's Livestrong Sporting Park, a stadium tainted by an association with cheating that could not be more obvious.

The United States is a heavy favorite to at least tie Guatemala and guarantee a place in the next round of World Cup qualifying. A defeat could lead to elimination and an unthinkable disaster that would take years of head-scratching and reevaluation to fix.

On the subject of dilemmas, the fact that this game will take place in an arena that carries the trademark of the greatest cheat in sports history is one that could be solved far more easily.

Sporting Kansas City is an impressive Major League Soccer club that has built a beautiful venue, generated a loyal core of local fans and structured a team that is one of the finest in the domestic league.

When Sporting KC adopted the Livestrong name

With serious embarrassment and a World Cup nightmare looming, the United States men's national team was saved on Friday by perhaps the two most maligned players on its squad.

Under pouring rain, Eddie Johnson (R) challenges Antigua and Barbuda's Zaine Sebastian Francis-Angol. (AP)Eddie Johnson's pair of goals against Antigua & Barbuda, including the game-winner in the final minute, sealed a 2-1 win and rescued the side from a dismal draw that would have left it in serious trouble in CONCACAF regional qualifying for soccer's biggest showcase.

A strong 20th-minute header and another to clinch it late on is exactly the sort of thing a goal scorer is supposed to do. But USA fans long ago gave up hope of Johnson being its striking savior, after he followed a spectacular start to his international career eight years ago with an equally-dramatic nosedive that saw him fail to make the grade in Europe.

The second goal, with the U.S. on the cusp of a disastrous draw against an opponent ranked 106 in the world, came courtesy of the most timely of assists from a colleague who neither most

The most critical week soccer in the United States has faced in recent times has arrived, one with little upside and a potential scenario of disaster that no one much wants to think about.

U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann faces an almost must-win situation Friday against Antigua & Barbuda. (Goal.com)No country in the world relies more on World Cup qualification to maintain national interest in soccer like the U.S. Ever since the U.S. reached the 1990 World Cup, its first in 40 years, qualifying hasn't been a problem. But it is now, and an unavoidable one at that.

Qualifying through the CONCACAF region that incorporates North and Central America and the Caribbean is arguably the easiest passage out of all the international confederations and should have provided little to concern head coach Jurgen Klinsmann and the team's followers.

Except that it has.

Poor road form, with a 0-0 draw in Guatemala followed by a shock defeat in Jamaica, means that with two games to go in CONCACAF's semifinal round, there is still everything to play for.

And, potentially, everything to lose.

Klinsmann's