The Future Of Football – What’s Really At Stake

I responded with several posts on a thread on Tony’s Non-League Forum about recent high profile refereeing errors in England.  I’m collating them here.

FIFA, UEFA and the IFAB should bear the brunt of the blame.  The rules of any sport should be as simple as possible, applied sensibly, and keep up to date with changes in society.  You’re never going to get that with football while it is run by a bunch of clowns.

Chief Clown

I don’t know if Sepp Blatter not being re-elected as FIFA President would solve anything, but it would be a step in the right direction.

“[C]hanges in society” includes technology.

I was trying to keep a record of poor or controversial refereeing decisions at the top levels of football, but there are far too many.

Those who control the system and make the rules are ultimately responsible for the break down.  Unfortunately, football at the top levels is corrupt to the core.  By the term “corrupt”, I include power-crazed officials who seek centre-stage.

Massimo Busacca, just another football official seeking centre stage.

After more recent events (including last night’s Champions League game between Barcelona and Arsenal), it will be a long time before I watch the Premier League, the Champions League, La Liga, Serie A or international football on a regular basis again.

If more people took the same approach, you might begin to see some change.

Football has a lot to learn from other sport.

Two developments have to go hand in hand – (1) more control over emotions on the pitch, and (2) reducing the incidence of controversial/poor decisions which directly affect, or are highly material to, the outcome of matches.

With what is at stake at the top levels of football, controversial/poor decisions which affect the outcome of a game are going to inflame passions, which are likely to spill over in one way or another. We can say what we like about top footballers and managers being highly paid and needing to learn to control themselves better – ultimately, we are all human.

For me, the refusal of FIFA and UEFA to embrace modern technology has more to do with their own self-interests rather than any real doubts about the available technology and how its use might affect the flow of the game.

I really should get round to a book – “More Farce Than Football; More Soap Than Soccer”.