Thursday, March 15, 2007

The Case Of 'If It Ain't Broken, Don't Fix It'

Yet again, the football authorities are suggesting new and 'improved' ideas to show who's the daddy and who's in authority.

In spite of the growing problem of football violence on and off the field as well as the racism problem that still plagues some major leagues in Europe, they chose to turn away from them and instead, focussed on the wrong matter at the wrong time.

I'm writing this due to the fact that I can't accept the way they turn a blind eye on matters that are turning football into a major farce. We could see it time and again, week in week out. Simulations and divings are not addressed as well as the whens and hows of implementing the long awaited 'video technology'.

Violence still breaks out both on the pitch and in the stands as we moved into the 21st century. Fans are supposed to be educated and behave better or is it? Even an English League Cup Final can't draw it's curtain down without 'handbags' and the pushing and shoving.

Stadium safety and security are still not under a uniformed rule as the Italians could tell you. A place where thousands of lives are at stake, the safety of these people are chosen to be ignored. Even in a prestigious competition such as the Champions League, stadium violence and unrest can still be found. The Lille and Man Utd. match made us aware that this problem still exists and again, nothing seemed to be done.

Now, the newly elected president of UEFA, Michel Platini, a legend of a footballer, but is he really the man to solve all the problems that plagues football? Everyone has his own policy and it seemed like monsieur Platini is more concerned about the big clubs in Czech Republic and Poland not getting recognition rather than the image and the overall well-being of the game as a whole.

On the other hand, the English FA are so pathetically ineffective in the dealings of that fateful League Cup final. They used TV evidence for punishment but still, it seemed like they got it all so wrong. Emmanuel Adebayor was adjudged to punched Frank Lampard using TV evidence but surprise, the supposed victim said nay.

Turning all their senses away, they want to scrap draws from the league, a penalty shoot out to be carried out if so it happens. Tell me, is this the league being 'Americanised' or is it to improve the penalty taking skills of the English players? It sounds more like the former.

Anyway, what's wrong with draws in football? I know it's the most boring outcome you can have but it is going to encourage inferior teams to hold out for a draw, knowing that they could get really lucky in the penalty shoot out. If they're scrapping draws for more entertainment, the only ones who're entertained are just themselves.

Other than the fans of the Czechs and Polish teams, who would be remotely interested in watching them compete in the Champions League? It's okay to have one or two underdog teams like last season's Artmedia Bratislava but I think most would rather watch a 4th place team in let's say, Germany, than some Eastern European team.

BUT, that doesn't mean they should be marginalised. There's always a way out without having a drastic change in the format of the Champions League. Why not group these clubs from countries with lower UEFA coefficients into a play-off and perhaps, a few of them to make it into the qualifying round?

To me, there's more problem in football than just teams drawing league games and minnows not getting their chances. We're talking about football's image as a whole. Are they going to clean up? Or are they letting it rot?

Something better be done before it's too late, when there's no one in the stands anymore.

5 comments:

psychohare said...

i dun like Platini, he's messing with the big European teams.
Is he trying to say that Liverpool, which won the CL in 2005 thanks to their 4th place finish in 2003-2004 season, should be replaced by some crappy god-knows-what team from somewhere else in Europe? (No offense to these teams, but Liverpool is by far one of the best teams in Europe, believe or not, we got 5 Big Ears, i only know that Real Madrid (9) and AC Milan (6?) or maybe Ajax can rival that record). AC Milan is not even in 4th place right now in Serie A, should they replaced by some Polish Champ?
I think Drogballs u made a good point by saying that Polish, Czech and the other currently neglected European teams should play Qualification matches, instead of the 4th placed teams playing them.
I know im saying this coz im afraid that Liverpool cant get into UCL, coz even getting 4th in recent years have been quite a feat (although expectations have been unrealistically higher).
Now another point is... who's gonna pay to watch the Polish Champs play? Polish supporters? probably. UEFA's gonna lose a lot of money...

psychohare said...

I forgot to add, but Real Madrid is also not in a very comfortable position right now in La Liga, should the 3 biggest winners of the European cup be excluded just coz they got 4th place? What a joke...
Platini, u're not improving the quality of European football here (where we continuously see European champs being defeated by their financially weaker South American opponents in the World Club Cup competitions), but rather, u are diluting it...

DROGBALLS said...

Psychohare: We finished 5th that season by the way...

Anyway, I know what he's trying to do but he's doing it at the wrong time and perhaps, the wrong method.

It's always fair to have other teams from other leagues trying to compete because it'll add a little entertainment value here and there but ultimately, they have to prove they can make the grade before being placed out there against the top guns.

It's really not about Liverpool not going in because of some Polish champions and I'm pissed but rather, the way he wants things happen.

Discussing how many thousand times we won it is pointless because even Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa won it, so let them in as well? It's not about the past but rather you can make it at the present or not. Cheers

psychohare said...

if we were 5th in the 2003-2004 season, how did we manage to qualify for 2004-2005 UCL? and go on to win it? im confused

DROGBALLS said...

Oh you mean 03/04 sorry. 04/05 we finished 5th. :)