Controversy at the FIFA World Cup 2006

After 1 month of televised football, 32 teams we have a winner, Italiy, but not after a lot of controversy and Sepp Blatter the President of FIFA has not really given us a clean and friendly tournament to remember, especially if you are Australian, Swiss, Dutch and English as these countries have a little more to be concerned about. Numerous Red and Yellow cards and very bad decision making by the official referees on the pitch has left a sour taste in the mouths of these player and supporters. And with the idea of introducing a 3rd Yellow card, where is this sport going as Blatter has suggested that suspensions should kick in after three yellow cards instead of two. Why oh why does Blatter and FIFA not address the biggest concern; the ‘divers’ the guys that think rolling around on the ground pretending they were fouled is enough to get a free kick or even a penalty. 'Diving', 'simulation', 'acting', 'conning' or just plain cheating to give it its real name, has become the scourge of football. These players should be in the movies, as they are better suited as ‘Stunt Men’ and not professional footballer. This World Cup, has been dominated by foul play, cards, bad referees and a lack of new technologies (even with 28 camera's) that can capture whether the ball has actually crossed the line or not, have not come into the decission making, which could be far quicker than the referee running over the the blind assistant. I don't mean to be derogatory, but the assistant referee would have to see through players, the goalkeeper and the post to deduce whether it was a goal or not. Therefore a game can easily be lost because neither the referee nor his assistant has seen the ball scooped out from behind the goal line, which happened at least twice during the tournament. The King of Diving and deliberate tormenting of opposing players goes to Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, although others include; Lukas Podolski's blatant dive in the penalty area against Argentina, to Michael Ballack's feigning against Italy, to Thierry Henry clutching his face against Spain when the slightest contact from Carlos Puyol had clearly been to his chest. You do not need to speak Portuguese to deduce that Luiz Felipe Scolari's instructions as his substitutes take to the pitch go something on the lines of 'Go and get us a penalty'. At least that is how it seemed as Helder Postiga threw himself to the floor with twist and pike as well as monotonous regularity in the semi-final against France. Why on earth does a talented young player of Cristiano Ronaldo ability have to lower himself to becoming such a bad diplomat of the ‘Beautiful Game?’ So much so that after aiding the departure of Wayne Rooney and subsequently the England team, has now become the most hated player of the tournament and is not welcome back in England. How the hell can we get to a situation like this, as Rooney and Ronaldo are both class players and teammates at Man U? I recall Blatter suggesting the referee that dished out 4 red cards in the game Holland against Portugal should have given himself a yellow card is a little harsh, as Blatter maybe should reflect on the event and award himself a Yellow card as he is ultimately responsible for the officials and the flow of the game. As the figure head, the president and the guy that can change the rules, he himself is the guilty one in my opinion. Anyway as Jimmy Greaves always said: ‘It’s a funny old game!’