This week's edition of the Yahoo! Soccer Podcast, in conjunction with World Football Daily, takes a look at the controversy brewing in the English Premier League, following comments from Manchester City's Patrick Vieira that title rival Manchester United gets the benefit of preferential refereeing decisions.
Vieira, who won the World Cup with France and now works for City as an ambassador, made the claim in an interview with the BBC's Dan Roan, then subsequently tried to backtrack and insisted he had been misled by the reporter's line of questioning.
[Podcast: Man City, BBC fallout discussed by Rogers, Bates]
City followed up by taking the extraordinary step of banning Roan from its press conferences and forthcoming home matches.
As the podcast host, I dig beneath the surface of the issue. This week's podcast includes the Vieira/Roan interview, courtesy of the BBC, plus a special segment from renowned soccer writer Steve Bates, who is also chairman of the Football Writers Association in Britain.
To highlight the importance of the media being allowed the freedom to question sporting figures and hold them to scrutiny, the podcast then revisits this week's CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament, where Cuban defender Yosmel De Armas left his team hotel and defected to the United States.
If not for the efforts of Yahoo! Sports and other outlets, De Armas' story might never have been told, and he may never have gotten the help he eventually received from Cuban refugee support groups.
Finally, World Football Daily co-host Sophie Nicolaou joins me to make predictions ahead of next week's Champions League quarterfinal second legs.
To have your questions answered in next week's show, please message Martin Rogers on Twitter at @mrogersyahoo.
To download the Yahoo! Soccer Podcast on iTunes, search for "Yahoo Sports Radio – Martin Rogers."
And to subscribe to the full version of World Football Daily, go to worldfootballdaily.com and sign up to receive a premium subscription and soccer news, interviews and discussion – 365 days a year.
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