A lot of questions and eyebrows have been raised in the past fortnight about the ‘spirit of the game’ and the lack of morals by some of the ‘role models’ and bigwigs within football. twofootedtackle.com guest author Suhail Seedat shares his view on morality and football. You can follow Suhail on Twitter if you enjoy this post.
As football fans, do we really want to win at all costs? The champagne feeling surely masks the underlying truth that such victories, both on and off the field, are rendered hollow. Has football followed in the footsteps of aggressive capitalism, where opportunism and exploitation provide high reward? It may explain why some connected to the game have become titanic in power and influence.
The alleged deliberate self-dismissals of both Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos for Real Madrid against Ajax led to much heated discussion among the ex-professionals and pundits across Europe. The ‘spirit’ was questioned in this instance, whether José Mourinho, who was pictured instigating this plan, has a desire to care and protect the sport. Mourinho’s past suggest otherwise - regardless, it surely is the responsibility of those within football to value the concept.
Football has a deep-rooted history in gamesmanship. Penalties were regarded as redundant as kickers would purposely fluff their lines because it was unnatural to score freely from twelve yards. The decision taken by the man some consider the best modern manager around - to intentionally get his players sent off - was an arrogant one.
There would have been little surprise had UEFA thrown the book at a club smaller than Real Madrid, so why is nothing done by the authorities to restore this gentlemanly code? Michel Platini champions the ‘Respect’ programme, aimed to ensure officials are not treated without contempt. But doesn’t this decision from Mourinho do exactly that to fans and UEFA? The exploitation of this particular loophole is cynical and lacks Respect.
These matters, including diving, draw huge criticism from casual observers of football, but when action is taken it’s in the form of petty pocket-change fines and dead-rubber suspensions being handed out despite fairly conclusive evidence proving the crime.
Crime and lack of authoritative action is almost always something to expect from the leading governing bodies. When FIFA suspended two of its members after the fantastic investigative piece by the Sunday Times over claims of corruption, the decision made last week to hand the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar left a bitter taste to many who watched the broadcast.
The ‘football family’ certainly couldn’t be more dysfunctional. With further allegations and whistle-blowers emerging in the aftermath, it raises the question of whether the authorities are fit to preserve the beautiful game if it can’t maintain its own house.
The slavish pursuit of the right to host the 2018 tournament by the Prime Minister, future king and England’s most recognised footballer was never going to be satisfying for the most grotesquely powerful people within sport. Seeing world leaders bow to some shameless and some nameless characters in a dubiously closed society is unedifying. It raises questions as to whether the football’s governing body is a fair democratic organisation or merely a shamoblic dictatorship.
Blatter claims, in a roundabout way to be a philanthropist, aiding two nations of contrasting sizes to host the biggest carnival of football. Meanwhile several of his colleagues in Zurich are supposedly feeling charitable towards their own causes. From initially being football’s governing body, FIFA has mutated into this ugly, indestructible commercial machine.
Until there is reform upstairs, the likelihood is that the sport’s ethics and codes will become convention rather than practice. The sport itself, like the World Cup, could end up being blown away on a desert wind.
Tags: FIFA, Morality, World Cup 2018, World Cup 2022