Stop watching and celebrating

I am not naive about football. It is moved by money, by interests, and referees and players can be bought. Declans Hill’s great book, “The Fix”, widely documents a history of match fixing going back to the 1930s to the early 2000s. 

I cannot comment on the possibility of corruption in this World Cup, but contrary to popular belief there is one thing I am certain about: FIFA has not fixed the tournament for a particular team to win. All FIFA cares about is money, and that money is the same whoever wins; in fact, surprises by “smaller” nations is probably even better for FIFA than the usual teams winning, as it brings in more interest from people who may not have watched. If any country should have an advantage in the tournament, it is the home teams, where the bulk of money is being earned during the tournament, but nobody has yet accused Mexico, Canada or USA of being future World Champions. And nobody mentions the favorable referee decisions for “smaller” countries as proof; instead if your team wins it is because they were good, if they lose, it is the referee’s and FIFAs fault. 

Nothing is ever your own fault because you are perfect, your country is perfect and your football team is perfect.

That is the pure true ugly nationalism of football fans.

In the meantime many matches of teams had some very questionable situations that could suspiciously fall into the categories that Declan Hill documented; players from sides that have less attention make strange mistakes and drops in certain core situations. 

I have often criticized FIFA. I am no romantic about it. But you are a fool if you think the entire tournament is fixed.

If not, why the fuck are you watching? Or even celebrating?

Bribery accusation

 One SportsBrief report today is accusing Qatar of having bribed Ecuadorian players to lose the opening matech between Qatar and Ecuador. The accusation appears grounded on a twitter account of one Amjad Taha, but it appears difficult to find further information on what the claim is based on.

The sad thing about this, which may not appear true, is that it remains entirely plausible that this could happen; Qatar probably paid to be hosts, so they could be considering bribing their way through the tournament.

And whoever believes that this is not possible at this level should read Declan Hill's exposure of match-fixing in football, which besides documenting match-fixing in the top European leagues, discusses match-fixing in the 2006 World Cup. So it is certainly possible.

However, there are reasons to be skeptical about the accusation, not just because the lack of documentation: firstly, why bribe many Ecuadorian players, one or more of whom could step out and reveal what was happening? Much easier would be to simply bribe a referee (something that Declan Hill documents is quite common), or  simply the goalkeeper to make one drop? Or just intimidate Ecuador by different means that do not need bribery? (something Qataris are probably good at). Furthermore, an accusation like this, appearing plausible, could be an elaborate way to get many people to make bets for Qatar to win, creating a distorted betting market, something that is often the case in football, and which is monitored for alleged bribes. 

Surely there is a lot of betting going on; billions moving around for this World Cup.

So I find this particular story to be implausible, although I find it plausible that it will happen in the World Cup, and that this is not the final accusation in a World Cup that should have never been awarded to these Qataris.

My predictions for the World Cup... or not....

I was going to make my predictions for this World Cup. But the truth is that I cannot. It is not because the usual reason (that I am always wrong). Rather, it is because I have realized I have a hard time getting excited about this World Cup.
I fell in love with the World Cup in 1986, and since then every four years have been special in my otherwise dull life. I remember where I have been every time, and remember many matches in a special way. Four years ago I was incredibly excited, and after trying vainly to get tickets for Brazil, I instead made a trip to many of the countries participating in the tournament, watching the tournament with friends around the world. My first disappointment in this tournament was again being unable to get tickets through a system that lacks transparency and ease.
But it goes deeper than this.
A friend recently asked me "Is it because it is in Russia?".
Absolutely not: I believe Russia will be as great hosts as anybody else would be!

No, the problem goes deeper to football: the ugly nationalism that football promotes (more or less consciously); the corruption and match fixing (having read the book "The Fix", I think this is much more widespread than us fans would like to know about); FIFA's insincere management of the game (well illustrated by the ticketing and the initiatives to expand the World Cup); the widespread misogyny in football that few really want to address; the hatred between fans that still assails the game; the players, who more as examples for youth, spend their time showing off their money and fame, and spend half their time acting on the pitch (football is sadly the most dishonest sport in the world); racism and xenophobia (yes, it exists and is growing in every single country and league); the hypocritical infiltration of politics into football (recently illustrated by German fans booing Gundogan in a match against Saudi Arabia); football's half-hearted and dishonest efforts in really trying to address all these problems....

Many years ago I read a comic by the great Enki Bilal, "Hors Jeu"; a bleak future world in which the last football match is being played, following the deterioration of the game due to violence, money, corruption, etc. While the comic ends with some hope when the narrator describes some children playing football on the street, as a symbol of the innocence of the beautiful game, I do wonder whether this innocence barely exists any longer, and that football is heading towards its own destruction.

The last World Cup...? Maybe I will get excited in a few days, but I have been trying without luck.

The worrying part about FIFA corruption

Every football fan in the World has suspected (if not outright known) that there was something fishy in FIFA: they organize tournaments that turn out to be great because of the fans and the players, but they obviously care little about fans and players, which is why fans and players care little about FIFA. Surely it is annoying that they make tons of money, but more annoying is when they make idiotic interventions in the game itself, such as inconsistent approaches to fair play, give prizes on the random rather than the futbolistic qualities, and consideration of money rather than what is best for players and fans (and this is where the World Cup in June in Qatar was outright stupid, and just as stupid, a World Cup in November. So no matter how you turn it the World Cup in Qatar is stupid).
Of course, if FIFA officials have embezzled money they should face justice, just like any other criminal. But as a football fan this is not the major problem, nor does this majorly affect the game. If it did, that would be the worrying part. The reports of FIFA paying off the Irish Football Federation for them not to complain of France's controversial qualification for the 2010 World Cup, is incredibly worrying.
Let us remember what happened: in the last play-off match Ireland was facing France. 10 minutes before the end of the match Thierry Henry scored the winning goal for France, in a situation where he had clearly handled the ball. The goal was accepted, and France went to the World Cup. Ireland would have had all reasons in the world to complain, but FIFA paid them not to.
Why????
Is it that FIFA did not want an investigation that would show that maybe there was an agreement that France should qualify? That the referee knew he had to ignore a handball? That some French players had been informed they could get away with things?
There is no doubt that in terms of money France was a more attractive team than Ireland. So did these FIFA people who rule football actually also decide the results...? That is what has me really worried about the latest allegation.
In the book "The Fix", Declan Hill documents worrying match fixing tendencies, possibly even at World Cup level. It is so worrying we, as football fans, may choose to ignore it. The possibility that FIFA manipulates football results is also one of those we will prefer to ignore: it is ok if they steal all the money, but manipulating results would be unacceptable.

The Fix

I have often said "the referee is bought" during football games to the amusement of many friends. It is funny, but I have always meant it as only half a joke; there is no doubt that the bribing of referees in football matches has happened at the highest level. Notable examples are the semifinal of the UEFA Cup in 1984, where Anderlecht had paid the referee, who gave them a dubious penalty and disallowed a clear goal to win the match, as well as the scandal of referee Robert Hoyser in Germany in 2005, as well as the bribing of referees in the 2006 Italian match fixing scandal.
All these cases are mentioned and examined in Declan Hill's outstanding but somewhat depressing book about match-fixing in football.
Depressing because, as Mr. Hill himself mentions in the book, all football fans like myself would rather not know about this. We keep living in an ideal world, defending poor refereeing (even when we demand TV to help out referees, some people say that the game should allow for referee mistakes. After reading this: should we also allow for purposeful "mistakes"?) as well as idealizing players and the ideals of fair play in the game.
Surely most people involved in football are dignified and fair people, but we are still blinded to the fact that some players have known to be corrupt, as Mr. Hill documents. Lack of income, clubs without money, and the sheer funds involved in gambling make the possibility of match fixing way to real, even at the highest level. While he never definitely proves fixing of matches at the 2006 World Cup, the indications that he finds should be enough for a serious investigation to be opened.
He looks at match fixing in Asia, Europe (Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and Finland are just some examples where he documents massive fixing within the last 20 years) and in the World Cup. It would be interesting if he had also looked at South America, and even more deeply into Spain, where many clubs in deep economic crises seem to have fertile ground for match fixers to operate.
But the sad truth is that either there is too much money (and this power) in fixing and too little interest in destroying the dream of "the beautiful game" for authorities to take real action against the problem.
And we are all guilty: the fans for wanting to ignore the problem, the media for downplaying it, and football administrators for wanting to close their eyes (and in some cases, according to Mr. Hill, even implicit complicity by refusing to investigate cases as those during the 2007 Women's World Cup or by giving administrative positions to people who have been known to be involved in match fixing).
Although really depressing, the book ends with a positive note, where Mr. Hill uses the case of football in the poorest and most violent neighborhoods of Nairobi, Kenya, to show that football in spite of it all still can bring a lot of positive with it.
However, that should not close our eyes, even if we want to close them, to the fact that we have all probably been witness to fixed matches...