Soccer is the world's most popular sport; nothing else comes close. But the various federations that run the game are astoundingly incompetent and, by all accounts, venal to the point of outright corruption. Worst of all is the global governing body, FIFA, which has been run for years by the odious Sepp Blatter and his cronies. Let's take a look at some of what they've been up to lately.
The Women's World Cup is to be held this year, right here in Canada. It's going to be played on plastic grass, which is wrong and potentially hazardous. If Canada couldn't provide stadia with real grass for the event, it shouldn't even have been allowed to bid. let alone have emerged as the winner. There are, of course, soccer stadia with real grass in Canada -- Toronto's purpose-built BMO Field for one -- but the tournament has been banished to smaller cities with artificial pitches. Some of the world's top female players tried to take the issue to court, on the reasonable grounds that nobody would ask the men to play their World Cup on plastic turf, but the case went nowhere.
FIFA never quite seems to be able to take the women's game seriously. It's not that long ago that the aforementioned Blatter opined that the best way to increase the game's appeal would be for the players to wear shorter shorts. Well, if Sepp is planning to pitch up in Canada this summer for a good ogle, he's likely to be disappointed. If the women have any sense, they'll be wearing leggings so as to reduce the risk of turf burn.
Meanwhile, over on the men's side, it's now known that the 2022 World Cup, awarded in highly suspicious circumstances to Qatar, will be played in November and December, the traditional July timing being impractical due to the extreme summer heat in the Gulf. This will require all of the world's major domestic leagues to take a lengthy time-out in the middle of their seasons; indeed, given that players will probably have to commit to international duties for about two months, it will probably disrupt the previous and following seasons as well. Nice one, Sepp!
Of course, FIFA may face another problem before it even gets to Qatar. The 2018 World Cup is set to be held in Russia, like Qatar the beneficiary of a highly dubious selection process. Some politicians are already musing about boycotting the event, or even moving it, to punish Moscow for its alleged involvement in the fighting in Eastern Ukraine. Nothing in Blatter's past suggests he cares in the slightest about the behaviour of host countries, but he and FIFA could find themselves scrambling if any of the major European soccer powers start to put the pressure of for a change of venue.
Ah FIFA. Disrespecting the women's game, messing up the men's. And laughing all the way to the bank as they do so.
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