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.

World Cup 2010 - Brought to you the demise of western football dominance?

Rooney: his outburst at the end of last night's match sums up the sense of entitlement that Western European teams have, and the frustration at having their reputations diminished

The World Cup, as you'd expect from the best sport tournament in the world, has proven to be interesting. Despite the opening round of matches not being the greatest set of matches to grace the world stage, there have been a fair few surprises and results that brought a raise of the eyebrow.

It seems that reputations of the 'big' nations are being popped and the confidence (arrogance?) of some teams (ahem, from a certain country that wears white) is being exposed as the groundless assertions that they are. But these popping reputations seem to be concentrated in one area of the footballing world. With this World Cup are we seeing the end of the general dominance that Western Europe has held over international football?
Already we have seen defeats for France, Germany and Spain against generally unfancied opposition. England have been frankly torpid against their North American and North African opposition. Italy (though I hesitate to geographically call it Western Europe, in terms of football culture they are part of it) were held by a mediocre Paraguay.

This is in contrast to the attacking vigour shown by South American teams such as Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, as well as the similarly minded Mexicans. Also showing signs of progress are the Asian teams such as the Koreas and Japan. Though Australia are perhaps displaying their Western European credentials in their opening match defeat.

Is this the end of the era of general dominance by these teams? Though South American sides such as Brazil and Argentina have won many World Cups and are rightly regarded as two of the most dominant teams in world football, major international tournaments have been largely dominated by Western European teams. Certainly these teams regard themselves as the 'big' sides, whether it be the preening sense of entitlement that England generally carry with them or the often arrogant manner in which the Dutch play.

So what could be the reasons behind this seeming fall from grace? One immediate thought (and a scapegoat trotted out in the UK for failings of almost all kind, social, political and sporting) is an influx of foreigners. Top players from all over the world are now playing in the leagues in Western Europe. Money, status and access to the top competitions allows the Premiership, Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga and to a lesser extent Ligue 1 to attract the best talent from around the world.

These players improve by playing at the highest level, but they also get first hand understanding of the footballing culture of the nation they play in. In contrast those players in teams alongside these imports, while getting a glimpse of a different background and approach can never gain that immersion and level of understanding. Players break down the mystique that can surround such distant and highly regarded nations and bring this back to their national teams.

Another factor is the spread of football coverage across the globe. TV and internet highlights are widely and easily available and there is generally more media comment dedicated to the game and these high profile leagues. This once again punctures some of the mystique attached to the famous leagues and nations, others are now not so in awe of their abilities now they have seen the mundane realities of some of the leagues.
Tactics too have evolved, and general technical standards of players have levelled off. Most teams at the World Cup are playing along variations on a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 formation and are generally well drilled in how to play this formation, capable of shutting down a game where needs be even if the attacking intent is not always so pronounced. The cliche that there are no easy games in international football is untrue, Andorra, Fiji, Thailand and the Faroes are all rubbish teams. But it is true that there are no easy games or walkovers at the World Cup finals anymore.

Of course it's too early to tell if Western European teams struggling is a trend, the 2nd round of matches is barely halfway done. You can also argue I'm being selective with the results (I probably am). And it's perfectly possible that all the teams mentioned (with the exception of France who look truly sunk) will get out of their groups and go on to reach the quarter finals.

However it does seem that the reputations of these giants of world football have been weakened and their dominance, while not finished, is on the wane.