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?
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