Blame Blatter
Portugal v Holland should have been one for the ages. Instead it degenerated into a cynical fandango of cheating, skulduggery and rampant play-acting. Veterans from the Battle of Santiago probably shed a nostalgic tear at the 16 yellow and four red cards; the rest of us should be weeping too, but for different reasons.
At this rate, the World Cup final - one of the great events in any sport - will be played between two reserve teams. That can't be right.
Immediately after Portugal's victory, Blatter played the blame game, saying: "I consider that the referee was not at the same level as the participants, the players. There could have been a yellow card for the referee."
He should be looking closer to home. Last night's farce was largely of his making.
Yes, the referee made some mistakes - missing Luis Figo's head-butt, for one. But generally he applied Fifa's pre-tournament directives on foul play, unsporting conduct and timewasting to the letter. He was only obeying orders. Blatter's orders.
The players also carry some responsibility. But footballers are a cynical, conniving, cheating breed; they always have been, they always will be. It's up to the lawmakers to stop them transgressing. But the current rules favour the tumblers and free-fallers over honest tacklers.
The problem, in essence, is this. Fifa has encouraged referees to brandish yellow cards whenever possible at this World Cup but - in the same breath - refuses either to have a post-match court of appeal where poor decisions can be overturned or retrospective punishments handed out, or to embrace technology.
The result is a cheat's charter. Perhaps more than any time in the last decade players are deliberately diving, or feigning injury, in the hope of getting someone booked. It's working too. Meanwhile others are missing games, often after wrongly-awarded yellow cards.
That can't be right.
The answer, is technology. Sceptics claim it would slow down the game, but when it comes to foul play, it would be as much about the threat as the execution: why dive for a penalty when someone in the stands could alert the referee, who would soon be waving yellow in your direction? Why pretend to be elbowed, when in 30 seconds' time you would get a red card for play-acting?
Blatter, though, refuses to help referees because he believes the game must retain the "human element". He has sown the seed, he should reap the whirlwind.
At this rate, the World Cup final - one of the great events in any sport - will be played between two reserve teams. That can't be right.
Immediately after Portugal's victory, Blatter played the blame game, saying: "I consider that the referee was not at the same level as the participants, the players. There could have been a yellow card for the referee."
He should be looking closer to home. Last night's farce was largely of his making.
Yes, the referee made some mistakes - missing Luis Figo's head-butt, for one. But generally he applied Fifa's pre-tournament directives on foul play, unsporting conduct and timewasting to the letter. He was only obeying orders. Blatter's orders.
The players also carry some responsibility. But footballers are a cynical, conniving, cheating breed; they always have been, they always will be. It's up to the lawmakers to stop them transgressing. But the current rules favour the tumblers and free-fallers over honest tacklers.
The problem, in essence, is this. Fifa has encouraged referees to brandish yellow cards whenever possible at this World Cup but - in the same breath - refuses either to have a post-match court of appeal where poor decisions can be overturned or retrospective punishments handed out, or to embrace technology.
The result is a cheat's charter. Perhaps more than any time in the last decade players are deliberately diving, or feigning injury, in the hope of getting someone booked. It's working too. Meanwhile others are missing games, often after wrongly-awarded yellow cards.
That can't be right.
The answer, is technology. Sceptics claim it would slow down the game, but when it comes to foul play, it would be as much about the threat as the execution: why dive for a penalty when someone in the stands could alert the referee, who would soon be waving yellow in your direction? Why pretend to be elbowed, when in 30 seconds' time you would get a red card for play-acting?
Blatter, though, refuses to help referees because he believes the game must retain the "human element". He has sown the seed, he should reap the whirlwind.
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