subject: FIFA Is Always Slow To Make Changes [print this page] FIFA Is Always Slow To Make Changes FIFA Is Always Slow To Make Changes
In the world cups of today we see things that perhaps some of us might think have always been a part of the game such as teams being able to change players during the course of the match yet there was a time when teams were not allowed to change any players during the matches. This perhaps seeming incomprehensible to those who have not seen world cup matches before Mexico 70 yet it was not till that particular world cup (the ninth ever played) that teams were finally permitted the luxury of bringing on substitutes during the game.
Naturally, it is clear to see why substitutions during a game are a more than a desirable thing. This given how they allow a team to replace a player who is not only ineffective but injured to the point of having to limp about the field or having to be taken out; leaving his team a man short. It being for these reasons that it may seem like an obvious factor to most of us nowadays that teams should be able to replace players yet this was not the case as far as FIFA was concerned or at least not till Mexico 70. There being many a match before Mexico 70 in which teams were forced to play at a numerical disadvantage or perhaps worse yet play without a goalkeeper. It being a case that another player had to perform his function who perhaps had never been trained as a goalkeeper yet such it was till FIFA finally reacted.
Another thing which was long in coming was the method used in today's world cups to settle who qualifies when two teams end up with the same amount of points. This system being the one of goal differential in which the team which has the most goals scored in relationship to how many have been scored against them qualifies. Of course, there being a back up method to this one, should the difference be the same and this being which team has scored the more goals of the two teams in question. This as a matter of fact being how Italy in 82 qualified ahead of Cameroon, as both teams after their first round matches were left with 3 points each with Cameroon having 1 goal for and one against while Italy had 2 goals for and against. It being the fact that Italy had scored one more goal that allowed them to qualify instead of Cameroon. This perhaps being a clear solution to how such a dilemma should be settled yet up till Sweden 58 (sixth world cup) teams that finished equal in points were required to play an extra match to decide which one of the two progressed to the next round. As an example of this we might refer to North Ireland and Czechoslovakia, who in Sweden 58 who were forced to play an extra game which was won by Northern Ireland but only in overtime. It being the Irish who went on in to the next round where they faced France and lost by 4-0. This perhaps due to having had to play four matches instead of three like the French to get to the same stage. This again proving FIFA's inability to come up with practical solutions.
In conclusion, I would say that the above mentioned facts make it clear; at least to me that FIFA is an organization which has a tendency to act very slowly on solving issues regarding changes in their system in order to keep up with the demands of the game as well the times. Of course, for my part I would add that if FIFA took so many world cups just to finally allow teams to substitute players during the game, this being a manner which did not involve a cost or the implementation of advanced technology; how long will it take them to implement the use of video technology? This being a method which is being used in other professional sports such as tennis, American football and the national hockey league with great success yet FIFA still refuses to use it. Their reason perhaps being that they wish certain teams who have a larger international following to continue winning and referees to continue allow them to do so even if it means having to cheat teams which do not have so many fans outside their own country.
This perhaps being the reason why video technology must be imposed upon FIFA by external pressures such as some countries threatening to form their own international football organization, if they do not comply with the standards dictated not only by most fans and nations through out the world but by simple logic. This even being the step which many formula one teams threatened the ruling body of that sport, when they felt they were trying to implement regulations which from their point of view limited the sport of grand prix racing. Naturally, large companies might also add pressure by taking away their sponsorship of a tournament which is looking more and more like it could be fixed for certain teams to win who have a greater commercial value such as Brazil, Argentina, Italy, England, Spain, Germany and a few others. It being all too apparent that a lot more often than not whenever a mistake is made by a referee, it favors the team with the larger international following or the host team. This being the case of what occurred in the 2002 world cup when South Korea, Brazil and Germany were cleared assisted by bad calls which may not have been simply errors. These so called "errors" apparently having made their way to South Africa 2010 where Argentina and Germany profited from referees not seeing the obvious in order to set up the more lucrative match between these two teams as opposed to what an England Vs Mexico match would have been.
