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The good, bad and ugly of football
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Saturday, December 04, 2010
The hype surrounding the selection of hosts for the 2018 and 2022 editions of the FIFA World Cup reminds us of the extraordinary power of football.
After years of lobbying, both publicly and beneath the radar, the spending of untold millions of dollars by aspiring countries and the almost obligatory allegations of corruption surrounding bids, Russia won the support of the majority of FIFA's 22 voters for the 2018 World Cup.
In the process they out-bid England, and the joint applications of Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands.
For the global football establishment, the real shocker was the choice of the tiny, oil-rich Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. The Persian Gulf emirate beat the United States 14-8 to send the clear message that size and traditions don't matter so much if the coffers are full.
Given the current economic realities, there really is no chance of the Caribbean hosting the senior FIFA World Cup for decades to come. But the success of Qatar surely suggests that some of us alive today may just live to witness such an eventuality.
For now, countries like Jamaica and its neighbours in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) must work on improving the quality of football and all its support services, including coaching and backroom administration.
The drive must also continue to gradually 'professionalise' the game region-wide.
In terms of improving quality, the annual Digicel Caribbean Cup — which also serves as the qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and is now in its final stages — is of vital importance.
This commentary went to press before the playing of last night's semi-final against Grenada — a team that has given the Reggae Boyz plenty of trouble in the past. But whatever the result of last night's game, Jamaican football lovers would have been pleased with the team's performance up to then.
The clear indication up to last night was that the national team was well along on the road to comfortably retaining its title as Caribbean champions.
For those same fans and indeed the entire nation, the fly in the ointment was the threatened withdrawal of service by our national players over a pay dispute with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
Reports of highly respected national players insisting they would not "lace up" for their country unless their financial demands were met have caused extreme disquiet and — as inevitably happens in such situations — led some to question the players' sense of patriotism.
We hear the explanation from senior professional Mr Shavar Thomas that the players had been asked to make considerable sacrifices over an extended period embracing 12 International games and that the JFF should make the sacrifice "this time around". We note also the point made by those overseas pros that their stance wasn't influenced by personal need but to ensure that their less fortunate colleagues who operate in the cash-starved local league got their due.
The truth though is that the JFF is broke. That was evidenced by the reality that JFF president Captain Horace Burrell in his words was moved to take money "from my own personal funds" in order to meet the players' demands.
The players and their supporters may well argue that the JFF is at fault for not handling the crisis differently.
This newspaper believes though that regardless of the provocation, real or imagined, the ultimatum delivered by the players last weekend should be a 'no-no'. They should have found a better way to make their case.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz17EGGFIRD
After years of lobbying, both publicly and beneath the radar, the spending of untold millions of dollars by aspiring countries and the almost obligatory allegations of corruption surrounding bids, Russia won the support of the majority of FIFA's 22 voters for the 2018 World Cup.
In the process they out-bid England, and the joint applications of Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands.
For the global football establishment, the real shocker was the choice of the tiny, oil-rich Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. The Persian Gulf emirate beat the United States 14-8 to send the clear message that size and traditions don't matter so much if the coffers are full.
Given the current economic realities, there really is no chance of the Caribbean hosting the senior FIFA World Cup for decades to come. But the success of Qatar surely suggests that some of us alive today may just live to witness such an eventuality.
For now, countries like Jamaica and its neighbours in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) must work on improving the quality of football and all its support services, including coaching and backroom administration.
The drive must also continue to gradually 'professionalise' the game region-wide.
In terms of improving quality, the annual Digicel Caribbean Cup — which also serves as the qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and is now in its final stages — is of vital importance.
This commentary went to press before the playing of last night's semi-final against Grenada — a team that has given the Reggae Boyz plenty of trouble in the past. But whatever the result of last night's game, Jamaican football lovers would have been pleased with the team's performance up to then.
The clear indication up to last night was that the national team was well along on the road to comfortably retaining its title as Caribbean champions.
For those same fans and indeed the entire nation, the fly in the ointment was the threatened withdrawal of service by our national players over a pay dispute with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
Reports of highly respected national players insisting they would not "lace up" for their country unless their financial demands were met have caused extreme disquiet and — as inevitably happens in such situations — led some to question the players' sense of patriotism.
We hear the explanation from senior professional Mr Shavar Thomas that the players had been asked to make considerable sacrifices over an extended period embracing 12 International games and that the JFF should make the sacrifice "this time around". We note also the point made by those overseas pros that their stance wasn't influenced by personal need but to ensure that their less fortunate colleagues who operate in the cash-starved local league got their due.
The truth though is that the JFF is broke. That was evidenced by the reality that JFF president Captain Horace Burrell in his words was moved to take money "from my own personal funds" in order to meet the players' demands.
The players and their supporters may well argue that the JFF is at fault for not handling the crisis differently.
This newspaper believes though that regardless of the provocation, real or imagined, the ultimatum delivered by the players last weekend should be a 'no-no'. They should have found a better way to make their case.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...#ixzz17EGGFIRD
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