Soccer Laduma Blog By Clint Roper
Soccer Laduma Blog By Clint Roper
As I write this column, all the African countries are on their way home from the World Cup - another World Cup where not a single African nation gets near a semi-final. I guess, if you consider that England, Spain and Portugal didn't even get out of the group stages, we should be happy with the fact that Nigeria and Algeria reached the last 16. But each and every World Cup, I look at the African teams and just get the feeling there is so much more to offer than what we show the world; that we are so much better than the world gives credit. In my mind, an England does not come close to the talent possessed by a Nigeria or an Ivory Coast, yet England will simply point to the history books and say, "There is our pedigree at a World Cup. Show us yours," and Africa would have to concede. I have no idea what it will take to allow African soccer to thrive. I know that some may point to poverty and a lack of resources, but is that really an excuse when you look at how Brazil, with similar circumstances, has come to dominate the world? It's a conundrum that I hope to see solved in my lifetime. I do think that success at the highest level would allow Africa to puff out her chest and for the 'horn of Africa' to become the smile of Africa. Before signing off, I also want to chat about FIFA's refusal to adopt the use of TV referrals during matches to make vital match-deciding decisions. It makes no sense that TV replays were used by FIFA to analyse Luis Suarez's bite on Chiellini post-match and hand out his punishment, which in my mind is clear proof that they believe in trial by TV replays, but why can they not use it when these crimes are being committed? The biggest scourge on the field in professional football today, in my opinion, is diving. That Luis Suarez gets a four-month ban for biting one Italian, but 'The Flying Dutchman', Arjen Robben, cheats a nation by taking a dive and becomes a hero, just doesn't seem right to me. FIFA will say that the use of TV referees will slow the game down, but I'm sure countries and continents will not mind an extra 30 seconds for a TV ref to rule whether a penalty is in fact valid, or whether another cheating diver has fooled a referee into giving a penalty that will cost a nation its rightful place in a World Cup. Yes, there is now goal-line technology, but that is a no brainer. If anything it is an admission by FIFA that, "Sure, we realise that sometimes we get it wrong." In fact, they should have done it a lot sooner, especially when you consider England's World Cup win in '66. But why not also use TV replays to ensure that important calls are correct? Rugby, cricket, tennis... all of these major sports realise that human error should not cost teams or players, but still nothing is done. No, instead, what do FIFA come up with? Their big thing this year… referees carrying spray cans and drawing lines on the pitch. Yet world-class athletes are tripping over chalk lines in the 18-yard box and FIFA refuses to acknowledge that, time and again, they are encouraging and supporting cheating by not punishing the offenders, there and then. The punishment never fits the crime when it comes to teams losing to a dive. The solution is simple. If a TV referee rules that you have dived, you get a red card. That will soon stop the likes of 'The Flying Dutchman' from 'Robben' penalties from countries. But it's not just diving… the use of TV referees could sort out a host of problems. Rulings on off-the-ball incidents, spitting, elbowing, deliberate head-butting, play acting, time-wasting and off-side calls - all the things that referees often rule wrongly on in major tournaments and in major games on a weekly basis would fall away, so the purity of the game could return. That might result in the 'Beautiful Game' actually becoming beautiful again, but who even knows if that is top of FIFA's agenda… Shapa, Clint Click Here to Watch The Editors Column
