The end of the Beautiful Game?

The English Premier League. Just thinking about it brings to the mind pictures of passionate encounters, inspired comebacks and unadulterated football at its best, doesn’t it? The 2012-13 edition of the EPL has kicked off to an exciting start with the top teams winning some tough games and the smaller teams trying to make a name for themselves. One of the most unpredictable seasons lies ahead. Great for club supporters and the neutrals, no? Everyone wants to win and is willing to go any length to do it. And herein lies the problem. A problem that could affect football severely if not addressed with the seriousness it should be.

Every season has its share of controversies. Many clubs feel that they have been hard done by either referee decisions or FA regulations. But this season, it seems as if every single match is plagued with some kind of controversy or the other. The Everton-Newcastle match was in the limelight for a disallowed touch-line goal, while the United-Liverpool game was marred by the Shelvey red card incident and the Valencia dive. Even the Chelsea-QPR game was overshadowed by the Terry-Ferdinand handshake incident. These are just a few of many debates that have flared up this season. And we are not even six weeks into the season. So I have to ask – where is the discussion about football?

Diving has become a cancer in the English Premier League. In every single game this season, every single player has tried to win cheap free-kicks and penalties by tumbling like a rag doll even with the slightest contact with an opposition player. And sometimes, they are even being rewarded for it. As I write this article, John Arne Riise has won a penalty for Fulham versus Manchester City by falling in the box with minimal contact. Petric goes on to score the goal and at half-time Fulham is on level terms with City. But does the Fulham supporter care? All he cares about is that his team is giving the English champions a run for their money. No matter how his team does it, he wants a result. This is not just the case with Fulham. Antonio Valencia, Fernando Torres, David Luiz, Luis Suarez are just a FEW of many players who are just waiting to take a tumble in the box and scream for a penalty. Every pundit and (opposition) fan is screaming himself hoarse, but who’s listening?

Referees are a much abused and hated lot. Sometimes, you can’t help but feel sorry for them. But there are certain times that their decisions just baffle you. I understand that human errors are part and parcel of the game, but certain decisions defy logic and make a spectator wonder if there is something fishy going on. Jokes about Howard Webb and now Mark Halsey being Manchester United players are common-place, but even as a neutral, you have to wonder – are they really? Now, I am not trying to speculate or imply anything; it’s just that certain decisions are so poor that you HAVE to wonder how a referee in a high-profile EPL game can make such embarrassing mistakes. And the worst part is, there is no action taken against such, frankly, woeful decisions.

When it is common knowledge that players have a tendency to dive, which is sadly not condemned by managers so long as the result goes their way, shouldn’t a referee be more alert? Shouldn’t the linesmen be trained to especially spot such incidents? I understand offside decisions going one way or the other, since that is a judgement call and to the linesmen’s credit, they get it right majority of the time. But when players dive in a fashion which is so clear on television without need of a replay to an average viewer, shouldn’t referees be better at spotting this pathetic disease that is causing the game to rot? And why aren’t players punished for diving? Why doesn’t the FA use modern technology to make the game more streamlined and fair? Why are footballing authorities so averse to use of technology? Which brings me to my next point: goal-line technology.

This has been a long-debated issue ever since hawk-eye technology was introduced in sports. Cricket and tennis have been making use of hawk-eye since a long time. I know cricket has had its share of controversies with technology, but let’s not get into that right now. The point is it that is available and definitely can be put to much more practical use in football. So many games are won and lost only because of contentious goal-line decisions. Hasn’t it been enough time for FIFA and its associates to test this technology and use it in high-profile matches? The fear that the ‘human’ factor of the game will be diminished has been the staunch stand of football purists. I am sorry, but that is complete nonsense. Why wouldn’t you use technology that makes the lives of everyone involved easier? And why isn’t there a greater push for the use of this technology? Ever since Geoff Hurst’s infamous goal in the 1966 World Cup final, the debate has been raging on. So why isn’t someone doing something about it? It’s ironical that the people who feel technology will destroy the game haven’t realised that the lack of it is slowly eroding it anyway. FIFA and UEFA (Mr. Platini, I’m looking at you) are in denial of the dis-service they are doing to the game by not pushing for reforms. It is going to happen anyway, it has to; so why not do it now? Why wait till the situation is untenable? The greatest game on the planet risks becoming a mockery if the authorities’ archaic stand continues for too long.

Even though football isn’t quite mocked at yet, football fans definitely are. Some would say deservedly so.  The Terry incident just brings to light the kind of mentality football fans have towards their ‘role models’. The moment the decision was made, Chelsea fans rushed to Terry’s rescue, making him out to be the victim. But if you look at all the things he has done over the years, you would realise he is lucky to not have been jailed for some of them. But why just him? So many players get away with near-criminal incidents and if they are handed a fine and a ban, fingers are immediately pointed towards the draconian authorities, which, admittedly, they are at times. But if an objective view of an incident involving a player is taken, you would realise he is actually getting away with almost no punishment. A common man would have to face a far stiffer punishment for a similar offence. I understand the love and adulation fans have towards their favourite players, but they should accept that the players are flawed human beings and make mistakes, instead of making them martyrs when they are, in fact, completely at fault.

I don’t even want to get into the match-fixing scandals or how money runs the game. That would take an entire article by itself. All I want to say is, let’s reflect. Is our ‘love’ for the game actually destroying it? The fans, the players, the referees, the media and the authorities together are turning this game into a massive spectacle for personal gain from the sublime art it truly is. With everyone wanting to win their own personal battles, on the field or off it, in the end, it’s football that loses.