Well if you’re going to be racist what do you expect…

This piece was originally posted on One Foot In The Game on 21st December (http://onefootinthegame.com/2011/12/21/well-if-youre-going-to-say-something-racist-what-do-you-expect/):

The news that Luis Suarez has been banned for 8 games for being racist has generated, shall we say, mixed emotions among football fans and commentators. Levels of reaction vary, from defending the player to the hilt and denying any wrongdoing on any level, to feeling the ban is touch harsh, to feeling the ban isn’t anywhere near long enough.

Before anyone says anything else, I think it should be pointed out that the FA found him guilty of using racist language on a football pitch. If you disagree with this finding, the argument over his guilt is not going to be discussed here. As far as it’s possible to tell, the FA looked at the evidence, considered it and found that Suarez had been racist.

Surely an 8 game ban for being racist is appropriate? If the game is serious about racism and tackling it then it needs to hand out punishments such as this. It has to show to all players, regardless of where they’re from, that racism is not acceptable within British society and is not acceptable on the football pitch. An 8 game ban is severe but then a ban for being racist should be severe. It’s behaviour that requires severe consequences.

Over the last month or so many Liverpool fans have been defending Suarez. In the light of this finding by the FA it will be interesting to see if the tune changes, especially if the appeal that is likely to be forthcoming is unsuccessful. Mind you, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with my club appealing against a decision where one of the players was found guilty of being racist on a football pitch.

Put aside the club partisanship (hard, I know). Forget the feeling of victimisation that often accompanies being a fan of a ‘big club’. Ignore the crowing from fans of rival teams. Look at it like this: a player was found to be guilty of being racist on a football pitch. He’s been banned for a substantial period and fined. That seems appropriate, doesn’t it?

Now it’s time for the real witch-hunt

Yesterday’s announcement of the bids for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 was gutting for everyone involved with football in Britain. Though England were bidding for the World Cup I can’t imagine there were many people in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland who didn’t want them to win so they could see the World Cup being played on their doorstep. The reasons why the World Cup should have come to the UK are myriad and have been talked about endlessly. Let’s be honest, as football fans you know we’d put on a great show and pack out the stadiums without having to resort to bussing people in.

Despite presenting what FIFA called an ‘excellent’ technical bid, England only managed to get 2 votes (one of them England’s). FIFA have since come out and stated that media intrusion and allegations against high ranking FIFA officials put them off. The Panorama programme broadcast on BBC One on Monday highlighted what many who follow football already knew, that FIFA is a corrupt organisation. The repeated appearance of Concacaf president Jack Warner was no surprise to those who have paid any attention to the World Cup bidding process.

By hiding behind the fear of media scrutiny FIFA have occupied a cowardly position which shows that something is rotten in the state of football. How fitting that an organisation as crooked as FIFA have given the 2018 World Cup to what is basically a gangster state. The recent wikileaks cables from the US Embassy have estimated that over $300bn is siphoned out of the Russian economy every year in bribes. Corruption isn’t quite on the level of a failed African state, but it’s not far off. Add in the racism that greets most black footballers whether playing for home or visiting teams and you’ve got a recipe for a World Cup that could be fraught with problems.

If FIFA think they’ve been put under the spotlight already then I think it’s time to show them what a real UK media witch-hunt is like.

First things first, the bid team should release every detail of the bid process. Who spoke to who about what, who paid for what, publish all accounts and transactions, all correspondence whether public or private. The demands that FIFA were asking of the government, the new laws and tax exemptions that parliament would have been forced to pass. Throw it all out into the open. Make it public domain. If FIFA is clean they should have nothing to fear. But as I just pointed out, it is obvious that their conscience is not clear.

Then let the papers do what they do best. Forensic scrutiny of the minutiae the material looking to expose any semblance of wrongdoing or hypocrisy. Which sets off a seemingly endless cycle of 24 hour comment and analysis on TV, radio and websites. Stories about a story about a story about FIFA corruption. Hyperbole, allegation, speculation, rumour. Questions in parliament, pressure on the FA. Demands that ‘something is done’.

We’ve all seen the ridiculousness of what can happen when some MPs claim a few quid too much on their expenses, imagine what they could do with details of unelected officials taking hundreds of millions of dollars of bribes. The UK media still has a high reputation across the world, outlets such as The Times, The Guardian, The BBC can spread the campaign throughout football in Europe and then globally. If the Premier League decide to put their oar in then you can guarantee the world of football will sit up and listen given it’s money, power and reach. Create so much pressure that FIFA simply have to cave, or that some sort of body decides to formally investigate them.

Seriously, what do we have to lose? Most of the members of the FIFA executive committee will be dead or retired by the time we get a chance to bid again. Sunlight is the best disinfectant and by turning over the rotten log we may be able see the woodlice scurrying away and stop them. This isn’t sour grapes from the losers. Much as the World Cup would have been amazing if held in England, for many it would have been done with a peg on the nose to hide the stench of corruption. This is an opportunity to reform and improve the way that football is run globally.

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As a postscript, I really do hope Israel qualify for the Qatar World Cup. Or that there are some openly gay footballers playing for national sides by 2022 (homosexuality is illegal in Qatar). Just to see how open and welcoming the Qataris really are.

Irresponsible and Irregular

Yes Peter, the title of the article would be referring to you.

I’ve watched with increasing concern over the last week or two as yet another Cardiff City drama has played out. This time, in addition to some slightly ropey performances on the pitch involving a total inability to hold onto a lead, it’s been revealed that City owe nearly £3m to the taxman.

Now I have a simple question. Did you not realise you had to pay tax? We all have to pay tax. Everyone, unless you’ve got some seriously good accountants. Surely there’s an army of accountants ensuring that the club’s finances are in shape? Did they not realise that you needed to pay tax? If not, sack them now as they’re incompetent.

Whoever made the call to deliberately avoid paying our tax bill (and this is what appears to have occurred) deserves to be hauled over the coals by their bollocks for their sheer stupidity. I fail to see the justification for going down this route. It was not an honest mistake, an organisation of the size of Cardiff City does not make an honest mistake like that.

I just can’t see what City would gain. So you hold onto the couple of million that you need to pay. How much interest do you get from it? What, a £100k, maybe £200k at the most? And if you have held onto it for the interest, then why not, as soon as a query came in, just pay it off. Otherwise, where has the money gone that should have been paid in tax gone? What have we spent it on, and is the business model for the club so ridiculous that it does not accounted for paying tax? And you say you’re running a multi-million pound business without being able to pay your taxes or figuring that in?

Now consider the court costs we’ve had to pay, any possible fines, and the reputational damage done to the club. Also consider the damage done to the fans in terms of their trust in the club. All those people (including some of my friends) who have paid for their season tickets in the hope that it would provide some capital for buying new players, with an eye on pushing for the Prem. Now all that money is being blown on paying back HMRC. Also, what sort of image does this present to potential investors? Basically that we’re a tinpot outfit that can’t manage itself. That’s not exactly a sound investment opportunity now is it? Frankly the club’s management deserves all it gets, including the ire of the fans for being so irresponsible.

This all brings me to man in charge, Peter Ridsdale. Ridsdale has a distinctly dodgy reputation courtesy of his incredibly stupid and incompetent dealings at Leeds Utd. I must admit when he first turned up City I was perturbed, I didn’t want this dodgy bloke having anything to do with the club. But he made the right noises about learning lessons and more transparency. Clearly he still hasn’t learnt his lesson, and the transparency is becoming increasingly opaque every day. So, Peter, was all this dodgy dealing really worth it?

This all highlights how murky and corrupt (financially and ethically) the world of football can be. But I don’t think any one of us is naïve enough to not believe that the football business (and it is a business) is dodgy as fuck.

Should he or shouldn’t he?

Watching England’s superb win last night I saw a team fulfilling it’s potential. I was particularly impressed by Eoin Morgan’s batting, a perfect example of what a genuine ‘finisher’ in the mould of Hussey and Dhoni can do for England.

I also saw a brilliant example of the steel of England’s captain Andrew Strauss. Graeme Smith, having already scored a ton, appeared to be struggling with some sort of hamstring problem and asked for a runner to be brought out. Strauss refused the request, and Smith seemed pretty pissed off about it at the time. Now I’m not sure if there will be debate over the rights and wrongs of this decision, cricket is supposed to be a gentleman’s sport after all and in the name of ‘being sporting’ some may think you should accede to this request.

But I would ask one question. What would Ricky Ponting do? The answer? Ricky Ponting would tell Smith to eff off if he thinks he’s getting a runner when he’s got cramp because he’s on 120 not out and has been batting for over 2 hours in the high veldt. And when the match could go either way and was swinging in South Africa’s favour.

And quite right he would be too. I’m all for sporting and gentlemanly conduct in cricket, it’s one of the reasons I love the game. But there comes a time in any sport where the match situation is so finely balanced that you have to be tough and say no, we’re here to win and to be honest, screw the opposition.