Pierre Boisrond has followed soccer and the World Cup
closely for many years and also writes for other websites. We at PWC are proud to have him as
a columnist. He will share his views about the past, present and future of
the World Cup.
Mail Pierre
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FIFA's credibility in question
This World Cup has been tainted by some of the referees. It is indeed a very sad situation. It is sad because it destroys the
fans’ hope, the players and sends and an entire country in total frustration capitalized by a terrible depression. Finally, the
game suffers. Well if the game does suffer, then we must say that FIFA has no credibility.
No one asks referees to be perfect, however there are three judges on the field that continue to make lousy mistakes that
cost many teams the opportunity to advance. We do understand that referees are humans, but missing so many calls really
disturbs the fans. FIFA must do something about that to restore some sort of fairness into the games. At this point, there’s
no credibility in this World Cup. This matter proves to be very delicate, and actions must be taken to rectify this sort of
injustice.
Since 1990, we have seen the disaster caused by Codesal. Or we can recall the Hand of God scenario as well. We have
seen the same behavior over and over again. It is time for it to stop. It must stop for the betterment of the game. We expect
mistakes from the referees, but continuing to have those mistakes in almost every game only shows the referee and the
linesmen do not take their jobs seriously. We, as columnists, must voice our opinions so FIFA could take actions to rectifying
these unjustifiable decisions caused by the referees. FIFA must have the courage to admit when a referee is wrong. The
rules of the game cannot continue to be applied in a unilateral manner; they must also be bilaterally applied. By that I mean,
the same way that players are held accountable during the game, referees have must be held accountable. Let’s make the
game equitable for both sides.
We have seen it all in this World Cup. There’s no need for me to mention in a case by case the injustice suffered by
Turkey, Italy, Mexico, Belgium, USA and Spain. Those of us who have followed the World Cup understand where
I am coming from. We all know that the game is not fair. We all know that the best team is not always the winner. But, it is
better to lose in a good officiating game rather than to think that the referee and its partners handed the game to the other
opponent.
Most of the times, we don’t want to question a referee’s decision. However, after so many mistakes by the officiating crew in
this World Cup, we cannot close our eyes after several teams and fans feel betrayed by FIFA. FIFA is truly responsible for
this travesty. Sometimes, we tend to go after the referee when really, we should have blasted FIFA and Blatter. The game
cannot continue in such fashion. If this continues, many teams will boycott the games. The World Cup is the world’s biggest
tournament and it must be directed under the fair rules of the game. Let’s make it equitable for every side. Let’s not play 90
minutes or 120 minutes in vain. The bogus calls and non-calls made by the referee definitely demoralize the players. Now
the pressure is on FIFA to do something about it because there are some referees in this World Cup who should have not
even been there. However, this is a very delicate matter that definitely needs to be carefully reviewed.
We can only blame FIFA for bringing these referees who seem to be the every team’s biggest nightmares. The guidelines
for selecting officiating crews must be amended. Now FIFA and Blatter must act on these matters. If not, the World Cup will
be considered as a tainted tournament not the world's biggest tournament. Let’s hope that the semi-finals and the final game
will be judged fairly for both sides. We can only hope! No matter what, we have to say that Korea/Japan 2002 has been
tainted by the judges of the game. This is very sad! Indeed this is a travesty that we hope to be rectified in Germany 2006.
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