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Just The Sports: Seriously, FIFA, You're Embarrassing Yourself

Just The Sports

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Seriously, FIFA, You're Embarrassing Yourself

In case you had your head under a rock for the past few days, you know that Zinedine Zidane was given a red card for headbutting Italian defender Marco Materazzi, being sent off in the World Cup final, which France eventually lost to Italy won on penalty kicks. You also know that Zidane was given the Golden Ball award, given to the best player at the World Cup. What you may not know is that FIFA may want to strip Zidane of this honor.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter says Zinedine Zidane could be stripped of his Golden Ball award for the best player at the World Cup due to violent conduct.


Then why the fuck did you give it to him in the first place?

"The winner of the award is not decided by FIFA, but by an international commission of journalists," Blatter said in Wednesday's La Repubblica. "That said, FIFA's executive committee has the right, and the duty, to intervene when faced with behavior contrary to the ethic of the sport."


If the FIFA executive committee can just waltz in and strip a player of an award when the award is not even decided by them, then why doesn't the executive committee just pick the winner in the first place? That way there will be no controversy and you can stop pretending to give journalists power only to strip it away later when you don't agree with their decision.

And Blatter, in case you didn't know, there are few things ethical about soccer/football. There are few things ethical about any sport.

"I was told that at the end of the game the French federation executives asked Zidane to go and receive his medal, and he replied that he didn't deserve any medal," Blatter added.


And? What does that mean?

Listen, you can't ask an athlete anything after he or she suffers a crushing defeat. The athlete is still much too emotional to be rational.

In addition, it doesn't matter if Zidane does not think he deserves the medal. He is not voting on it. The journalists are. Lots of athletes don't deserve their awards. Bartolo Colon didn't deserve his AL Cy Young last year. Steve Nash didn't deserve his 2006 MVP award. Karl Malone didn't deserve his 1997 MVP trophy. But they didn't deserve their awards based on merit. Zidane does.

Just let Zidane keep the award. The football world will not spin off its axis if he is allowed to keep what is rightfully his.

1 Comments:

  • I think that this sums up this World Cup in which various comments by Blatter and FIFAdom actually affected the turnout of games. Before the World Cup started, they called for refs to be much tougher on not only diving, but basically any other foul that occurs. And they responded by giving out record amounts of cards in the group stage plus letting one game in particular turn into a near brawl because of an inexperienced ref. Add on top of that other refs who were under investigation or had had past violations being allowed in and your stir the rancid stew even more. If you noticed, in the quarterfinals and semifinals, fouls that had drawn cards in previous matches were just whistled down and they let them play on. That's how it should've been in the early stages, but FIFA wanted to put its foot down and act like it had some control over the way players acted. I do applaud them joining the new era of sports and reviewing videos after games to fine or suspend people for heinous violations. I do NOT think Zidane can, or should be, stripped of his trophy.

    By Blogger Jordan M, at 12:25 PM  

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