FIFA and Ethics are like Oil and Water

Over the past few months those of us immersed in the football world have been collectively shaking our heads, disbelief etched on our faces as FIFA's credibility has been eroded by vote buying scandals and a general lack of ethics. We, at least those of us who chose to open our eyes,  have known for quite sometime that FIFA was dodgy. We knew that there were things behind the scenes that would make us question if the leaders of world football really loved the game at all. However I don't really think any of us thought that it went this deep, or was so wide spread and common place.

Last week came the word that former FIFA presidential candidate, executive member and Asian Football President Mohammad Bin Hammam had be found guilty of corruption (vote buying amongst a host of other charges) and was banned from all football related activities for life. This in itself was no great shock, the events that lead to his conviction was.

Last year Bin Hammam launched his bid to unseat current FIFA overloard President Sepp Bladder. Bin Hammam promised an open and transparent FIFA. One that would seek to end decades of corruption, mis-management and the endless insider politik. Most of us knew this wouldn't really happen under Bin Hammam had he won, but there was a certain sense of optimism. What fans of the game were looking for in the world organizing body was a fair debate and contest over the future of not just FIFA, but the game itself. What we ended up with was nothing short of a farce.

Accusations of vote buying, expensive watches and cars given to football delegates, financial mis-management and in the end a presidential election with only one man running. This year's FIFA elections may have been one of the clearest demonstrations of how rotten the administrative core of the game has become. Its aftermath with the sacking of both Vice President Jack Warner and Bin Hammam showed us her true politik.

So fans and lovers of the beautiful game I pose this question: How do WE fix this?

I stress the we aspect of the question because it us, the supporters who will have to spur real change. Whether we boycott FIFA matches, spend less money on FIFA product; or the products of FIFA main sponsors (Coca-Cola and Adidas), or start an online campaign for change and transparency. We must DO something. The game is nearing a tipping point, the ratings for football matches have never been higher, the game has reached all time highs in exposure. But with that match fixing, and all the corruption of FIFA has come with it.

Change is coming, if it is to be either good or bad is completely up to us.

Cheers,
Mike

This past week of international games prove why Internationals still matter

Over the past few years I've been hearing a growing contingent of football supporters who have spoken out against international week breaks, especially during the middle of the European domestic season. For those who are fairly new to the game FIFA,UEFA etc just like a league, has it's own match calendar which decides when national teams will play each other. The past week was just such an occasion, FIFA had a series of friendlies lined up, Africa had Cup of Nations qualifiers and  UEFA had qualifying for its European championship tournament taking place next summer.

England v Ghana: More than a friendly



 The major gripe from these supporters is that club football is coming to its exciting end of season stretch run, and that club football produces more entertaining games to watch. While I would agree that in about 80% of the time club football does bring about higher quality football. I would disagree with the idea that it is always more entertaining, have you watch a Blackburn v Wigan 0-0 draw?

 This week we had some absolute dynamite matches including the U.S v Argentina friendly, Spain v Czech Republic and Russia v Armenia...yes that was actually a really fun game to watch mainly due to the crowd atmosphere. However there are two games that  really made the week were the Netherlands v Hungary Euro qualifier and the England v Ghana friendly from Wembley.

 Both matches with very different levels of importance delivered all the drama, excitement and skill you would find in any club match. Netherlands v Hungary was a back and forth game with 8 goals between them and a very high level of intensity due to it being a qualifier. At one point it looked like the World Cup finalists would fall to the lower ranked Hungarians. However the Oranjie turned it on in the final 15 minutes to escape with the three points.

 While in London a match that had been panned by much of the ravenous English media before hand due to the amount of changes England manager Fabio Capello made to the roster turned out to be the friendly of the week. Both sides wanted to prove something to their supporters, Ghana who had 20,000 fans at the game wanted to beat England for the first time ever. While for the England players on the pitch they wanted to show Capello that they belonged as regular selections to the squad. He handed debuts to Manchester United on loan to Sunderland striker Danny Welback and Wolves winger Matt Jarvis, Capello also started newly signed Liverpool striker Andy Carrol his first start.
The game was played a fast pace and both teams played as if it were a Wold Cup match and not just a friendly. What really made the game was the crowd at Wembley, both sets of supporters were cheering on their sides and there tended to be a good feel vibe in the stadium. The game also had and exciting finish as Ghana through Asamoah Gyan who grabbed and equalizer at the death to finish the game at 1-1.

 There is no doubt that club football will always grab more of the headlines and attention when it comes down to it, there are simply more games to watch than internationals. However what the club game cannot replicate is that unbridled passion for one's country that national team games bring. Just remember back to last summer and the emotions and pure excitement World Cup 2010 brought us, unlike club football which only captures the fans of that league, internationals at the highest level can and does captivate the world. I agree that maybe FIFA could do a better job of lining up the schedule of matches, but in no way should international matches completely be ignored as a footballing institution.

Cheers,
Mike

The Banana syndrome: Football and Racsim

I love the game of football, and all of the wonderful things that the game can stand for when treated with the utmost respect it deserves. However there is one aspect of the game that still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and it has little to do with on pitch performance. In the 21st century it still at times baffles the mind that archaic ways of thinking could still penetrate the minds of a mass crowd, but yet it is proven week in and week out on football pitches all over the world. Of course I'm speaking about racists chants that could be heard every weekend in some of the top leagues in the world.

 This is not the first time I've blogged on the issue, back when current Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli was still at Inter Milan he was the target of his own fans. The taunts came in many forms, from a small section of fans making "Ape noises" to chants of "Go home" (funny as Balotelli is an Italian citizen and plays for the Italian national squad) to having banana's tossed at while taking a corner kick. At one point it was decided that the taunts were getting so out of hand we was benched when playing Jueventus in Turin simply to spare him, and the league further embarrassment.

 Balotelli's case is unfortunately one in a long line of incidents which have plagued players of visible minority for decades now. While the world seems to be moving towards social inclusion of all races, religions and creeds it seems the "world's game" is stuck in a perpetual state of Jim Crow attitudes.

 FIFA have in its own way has tried to address the problem with its say no to racism program, however plenty more meeds to be done it order to really tackle this issue. For example there has been calls for clubs or national FA's to have income producing home matches stripped or have those home matches played behind closed doors. The idea is that if you hit the club or FA in the pocket book it would force those organizations to work on cleaning up the behaviour of its supporters. The idea stems from the 5 year European competition ban for English clubs in the aftermath of the 1985 Heysel disaster during the height of hooliganism that plagued the game for 10 year previous. The punishment which was supported by then PM Margaret Thatcher was thought as part of the catalyst for change of how supporters approached football, and how administrators handled supporters.

 Could a similar type of ban work for FA's in the case of racism? The signs point ot yes, however there of course social factors in countries that football simply can't fix on it own. To this day I know of no FA that has banned home supporters due to racism in the stands, fines? Yes, light slaps on the wrist? Yes but no overarching strategy to combat the disease. England and Germany make have the most forward looking programmes, but they still fall short of concrete measures for punishment.

 Star Inter Milan striker Samuel E'to has been on the end of abuse or years now both in Italy and his spell in Spain with Barcelona. He stated in an interview with CNN that that racism is so widespread in Spain that he no longer dares take his family to matches.

 "Racism can happen anywhere and I don't want them to see it," "It's a sad situation in football. In my opinion the problem is getting bigger and the people that should come up with a solution are not doing it. So to protect my family, I don't take them to the game."

 E'to when on to say, "We can't wait until some crazy fan jumps from his seat and kills a black player before measures are taken. The players are revolted by it and we try to help each other. But the authorities must find a way to set an example."

 So the question becomes, when do the football authorities start to take this issue as seriously as say video replay or diving? I do not say this in jest because both of the aforementioned issues have received more attention in the past 12 months than racism in the game. These words are coming of arguably the best striker on the planet, yet no action is taken. Today another player stepped forward to claimed racial abuse. French international striker Djibril Cisse had been targeted in Greece with inflatable bananas and more ape noises. We'll wait to see what either FIFA, UEFA or the Greek league do about this. However history indicates not much.

 Football needs a shake up in regards to this, I don't know if it has to be a massive racial incident at something like the World Cup or Euro final, or god forbid someone dying over it at a pitch, but something has to give. The game has to destroy this as aggressively as it did hooliganism in the 80 and early 90's. Or face losing the fans that truly made football a global game.

If you want to read more Click here for Samuel E'to's interview from 2008.
Also there is a great article form 2006 called the "Ugly Game" I suggest a read.
 
Cheers,
Mike

Tuesday Morning Headlines

Enjoy some footy news and highlights/lowlights with your cup of coffee.

• Finally able to get LEGAL highlights of the 2010 Community Shield game between Manchester United and Chelsea from Sunday, courtesy of F.A TV. Pay particular attention to Javier Hernández's goal and how it goes in (laughed my ass off!) View below.

• Aston Villa Boss Martin O'Neill quits 5 days before the clubs first game of the season against West Ham on Saturday. I personally think he's a great manager and should find work pretty quickly if he chooses. I've linked two different opinions I've read about him today, one good, one not so. I've also linked the full story here.
• Italian club Fiorentina announced that star Stevan Jovetic ruled out for eight months with knee ligament damage and needs surgery. (Too bad, kid looked amazing last year in Champions League)
• Bayern Munich manager Louis Van Gaal has hit out at FIFA boss Sepp Bladder regarding the lack of technology in the game- About damn time!
• BBC writer David Bond (Love his work) explains why Fabio Capello's apology to England fans is just not enough.
• New France manager Laurent Blanc is out to revive the national side after a debacle of a World Cup.
• Blackpool players finally get their bonuses from being promoted to the Premier League
•  Chivas Guadalajara make Libertadores final against the odds
• With International friendlies being played this week, there is a air of change with the player rosters for some of the World Cup teams.

Cheers,
Mike

FIFA leaving Football in the dark ages

Whenever a World Cup tournament ends there always seems to be a post mortem on how successful the tournament was, who really were the best players, teams, managers etc. For broadcasters the ratings bonanza during month long coverage is analysed and translated into dollars and cents. Corporate sponsors count the millions, and in some cases billions made in advertising; and then there is FIFA who looks at all these things combined.

For us football faithful we look at not only where the games has been up until the end of the tournament, but also to the future and where it is going. If you look at the World Cup in political terms you would call it the end of a Presidential term, where the game is judged based on the previous 4 years. When I look back, one very important and highly controversial issue really came to light in the past 4 years. It is argument for and against the use of video replay.

The only other issue that causes nearly as much debate is diving in the game, which was the major topic between 2002-2006. The official stance of FIFA the world governing body is that video replay is not a tool to be used for football. According to FIFA president...or evil overload depending on how you view the man, Sepp Bladder has publicly said that instant replay "Would take away the spontaneity and fascination of our game - we must keep football with a human face," he adds "Until I am no longer president, there will be no chance [for video replays]." These comments came just after the 2006 World Cup in which there were again some very controversial calls that cost teams chances to progress in the tournament.

Although at first I agreed with Bladder, that stopping to check replay screens would slow down and impede the flow of the game. I have come around on the issue. The plan fact is aside from cricket, football remains the only major organized sport that refuses to use technology to help judge a match. The lack of video replay has cost club teams millions in lost revenue because a bad call got them dropped from the top division, national teams have missed out on qualifying for regional, continental or world tournaments due to a sloppy decision. In almost every case a simple replay could have set the decision right.

With that said I do still agree with Bladder on one thing, I do not want to see the human element of the referee taken away by technology. So much of the intrigue and passion for the game stems from questioning a call  by the ref. When replay comes to football, as I believe that FIFA cannot hold out much longer from the cries for it. I would only like it to be used in two scenarios,

1. To determine if the ball did or did not cross the line for a goal: FIFA needs to forget the "Goal line technology" idea, putting chips in a ball or magnetic fields in the ground under the goal line is ridiculous compared to having one or two cameras at the back of the goal watching play.
2.  Questionable offside calls: In the modern game where the game play is now so quick, linesmen/women need help.

These are the only two instances where replay in football are really needed. Match officials take a lot of heat for calls they miss, but when really looking at the game they usually get it right 9 times out of 10. Notice also that I did not include checking for dives in the list. Video replay will not stop players from diving, plus replays cannot record a players intent, you don't know if it was his or her intent to deceive the ref. That decision must be made by the officials alone.

For years the argument against replay has been a time factor, it slows down a game that for the most part is all about continuous action. The majority of football fans that want video judgements agree that this continuous nature cannot be tampered with. Which is why video replay should be watched by the fourth official that is on the sideline. This can be done quickly due to the fact the forth offcial is looking at two clear cut scenarios, did the whole ball cross the line? or was he offside? This Unlike the NFL which needs two t.v breaks before the decision is made due to the complex nature of the things the ref must review. By keeping the replay rules to just two instances you also defeat the argument that the "human face" is lost on the game. The ref will still have to make the majority of the calls and the linesmen/women will only have to use replay when they are unsure of an offside. Below I've added a video of where Sir Alex Ferguson feels replay stand in the game.



At the end of the day as I stated earlier FIFA will have to adopt replay as a method to judge matches at some point, and I believe that time is sooner rather than later. Over the past year alone we have seen three major incidents (Henry handball against Ireland, England no goal call against Germany, Tevez offside goal against Mexico) when replay would have helped spare the game the unsavory spotlight of unfairness. Will Bladder bow? Or will it take a new president to make positive change in the game? No one truly has the answer to that but Sepp Bladder, however if he is truly a "man of the game" as he claimed he was when he was elected, replay is coming for Brazil 2014.

Cheers,
Mike

Why Brazil lost and why Holland is making me rethink things.

So as I sit here I've just returned from The Point Bar where I watch Ghana lose in heartbreaking fashion to Uruguay more on that in the next post. As for this post I'll be looking at the sudo upset that took place earlier today as The Netherlands defeated Brazil 2-1.

Scanning the headlines it seems the world has been rocked by the fact that the 5 time world champions were defeated by Holland. It seems that most of the world has forgotten that the Dutch are a world class side as well, in fact they are currently riding a 23 match unbeaten streak. They are also ranked fourth in the world by FIFA and contain a squad full of players just as good and skillful as Brazil's.

The issue for Brazil was not the lack of attacking football as many in the Brazilian press have stated. It wasn't really even the formation or team selection by head coach Dunga as he picked his best 11, and the formation had worked up to this point. The real issue as to why Brazil lost was their lack of discipline when things started to go The Netherlands way. After the tying own goal by the now vilified Felipe Melo, Brazil seemed to lose its focus and allowed the Dutch to carry the majority of the play. This was in stark contrast to the first half, in which Brazil had the lead and looked in complete control. The go-ahead goal was set up by poor defensive decision making by Brazil's Juan as he put the ball out for a corner when he could have kicked it into touch. The goal was scored from said corner kick. The surprising lack of discipline shown afterward was their downfall, Melo's insane stomp on Robbin's leg left Brazil down to 10 men and virtually out of the match.

As for Holland, they showed in the second half a team unity that has been missing in past World Cup campaigns. Whatever was said in the half time talk by manager Bert van Marwijk seemed to spark the team into action, and they bossed the game after that. Looking ahead to the semi final match with Uruguay, you would have to make the Dutch the odds on favorites; provided they can carry the form they showed in the second half into the semi final match. Once again mid fielder Wesley Sneijder and forward Arjen Robben were the trigger men in the "Oranje" attack. Sneijder especially as he control the link up between the rest of the midfield and the forwards.

Given they way the Dutch responded after being a goal down to the best team in the world, Bert van Marwijk's side is making me think twice about my world cup winner.

Cheers,
Mike