The Way to Neverland

These Championships have shown that having more teams compete in the final tournament was not a bad idea after all – the so-called minnows fared more than well

Everybody loves a fairy tale. For the past month, everybody – or at least those who switched on their TV or went online at some point – watched in amazement as Iceland sailed through the European Championships. Match after match they showed an impressive sense of pride, organisation, and spirit, knocking out England in the process, until reality struck back when they were beaten by France in the quarter-finals encounter. 

An experience of a lifetime. Picture: The Guardian

Throughout, the leitmotif for the Maltese audience has been that nagging, almost guilt-ridden but ultimately hopeful question: can we ever hope to do something similar?

We’ve all debated the question. Football fans and indifferent onlookers alike have sought to put their fingers on what makes Icelanders so successful. The oft-cited statistics are indeed extraordinary. An investment into a dozen or so ‘football houses’ – or indoor pitches – and over 110 artificial pitches scattered around the island. Practically, there is a football pitch (full-sized or smaller) in every village and in every school. All publicly funded. Read that again.

To make the best use of this infrastructure there are over 600 highly-qualified football coaches, or one for every 550 persons (in England the ratio is 1 for every 11,000). These coaches come from different backgrounds: from teachers to political scientists, mechanics and professionals (the Iceland national coach is a part-time dentist). 

Impressive as all this may be, I still think Iceland’s (over)achievement is for us and others not only a lesson in football but also a manifestation of resolve that a nation can be capable of when really willing to excel. It boils down to a mindset, a way of looking at oneself in relation to others. The big question is whether this attitude is simply innate or whether it can be nurtured. If yes, how?

Would Malta make it if it ticked all the boxes in terms of investment and long-term planning? If we were to go by Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000-Hour Rule”, the answer would be positive. The key to achieving elite level in any skill – the theory goes – is a matter of practising intensively. The nature vs nurture debate is, however, much more complex and that is why it is as old as physical competition. The quality of training is as important as the quantity, and still it might not be enough. In his book “The Sports Gene”, David Epstein acknowledges that genetics does help, along with the right amount of hard work.

In Malta, comparing similarly qualified coaches (so-called UEFA B licensed or higher), the per capita ratio would work out at around 1:2,000. If we had to include coaches in possession of the next licence tier, that would increase to a closer 1:840. We are not far off from having a football pitch in every locality (ok, perhaps not in every school). And yet, we feel we’re getting nowhere near any dizzy heights at elite levels.

On the other hand, one cannot overlook a number of success stories we have at individual level in different disciplines, not just sport. Of course, there are many, many more factors to take into consideration. 

That’s the whole point, really. Any prospect of advancing in any sphere of activity (you can here replace football with any other sport, art, or endeavour) rests on a much wider and more holistic set of attributes. So where does this leave us? Certainly, duty bound to do whatever is in our control to maximise our potential: sound long-term planning, setting specific and measurable objectives in developing and managing our game, and crucially challenging ourselves to attain levels previously deemed out of our reach. Each and every one of us, in whatever we do. We have, after all, risen to the occasion several times in the past.

It is strange how the Iceland story stole the thunder of equally amazing performers such as Wales, Northern Ireland or even Albania, in themselves sporting miracles just by making it to the Euros. I have seen far fewer analyses and features on their successes. These Championships have shown that having more teams compete in the final tournament was not a bad idea after all – the so-called minnows fared more than well.

There is great intrinsic value in the process that leads to excellence, in doing one’s best for love of the endeavour rather than expecting short-term fast results. So throw in some luck and hope would be the last to die. But fortune favours the brave. How brave and willing are we, and ultimately, will that be enough?            

Football’s happy new year

In the world of sport since July we’ve had a rollercoaster of arrests, suspensions, extraditions and so many other events that should not even be mentioned in the same sentence with sport.

To say that 2015 was football’s annus horribilis is a huge understatement. In reality, for those of us who still manage to follow the game with a minimum of passion, it provided some relief. At least some of the wrongdoing at the top of its structures won’t go unpunished. Yet, trust in the way sport is governed is at an all time low, and that is not good news.

The New Year should bring some hope. It must.

Sepp, this way out please

Monday 21st December: “I am still the president. I regret, but I am not ashamed”.

Tuesday 29th December: “I now no longer fight for Fifa. They abandoned me. I am now only fighting for myself and my honour.”

These were the last two pearls of wisdom Sepp Blatter parted with. With his logic he should be the next candidate for sainthood. I’m sure he did give it some thought. It’s just a tad trickier with an Argentinian Pope. One could always conjure to find an acquaintance to take his place as a post-FIFA project.

The big day: 26th February 2016. As both Blatter and Platini battle it out in tribunals and courtrooms, the process to elect FIFA’s next president goes on. In all likelihood, end of February comes too soon for the two – particularly Platini – to manage some kind of resurrection. In my eyes the Frenchman turned out to be the biggest loser in the whole saga. He had planned a smooth transition to the FIFA presidency once Blatter retired. The latter stayed a term too many and Platini did not have the audacity to contest him this year. Now he arguably ended up, perhaps unjustly, as disgraced as his former mentor.

Since July we’ve had a rollercoaster of arrests, suspensions, extraditions and so many other events that should not even be mentioned in the same sentence with sport. You can’t really be blamed for raising your hopes too high in view of this election. The sad reality is that the inherent culture of governance in world football (as in most international sports federations) does not leave much space for idealistic optimism. The list of candidates vying for the post in question does little to disprove my point.

The five possible saviours 

One of the candidates’ claim to fame is having spent time in jail with Nelson Mandela. South African Tokyo Sexwale eventually made it big in the mining business and served on the South Africa 2010 World Cup Organising Committee.

Another, Jerome Champagne, served on FIFA’s Executive Committee for 11 years (although never implied in any scandals). He had failed to obtain the minimum number of five nominations to contest Blatter last May. His battle-cry is the need for better redistribution of the wealth football creates. Noble idea, one which the big boys (i.e. big countries and big leagues with big clubs) won’t like.

Europe’s candidate, current UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, was the latest addition to the lot. He’s known as a good administrator but he never occupied the front seat. Besides, he is in the list as Platini’s alter ego.

We come to the favourites. Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan took on Blatter earlier this year, garnering 73 of the 209 votes. The Malta FA was one of the associations nominating him then, and it is doing so again now. Quite admirable when considering that the MFA shunned Platini and later Infantino to stick to its guns. The Prince is basing his campaign on the need for reform to tackle corruption in the running of the organisation. The fact that he cannot bank on most of his Asian counterparts could be crucially detrimental.

That’s because Asian associations tend to rally behind their current Confederation President, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain. A former backer of Platini, Al Khalifa’s main theme is decentralisation of power within FIFA. As a member of the Bahrain royal family he has been accused by human right groups of being involved in the suppression of demonstrations in 2011. Such little matter aside, as things stand he seems to be the front runner. But eight weeks until 26 February is a very long time.

On the pitch 

Thankfully the show goes on. The key football event of the New Year ought to be Euro 2016 taking place in France. The tournament will include 24 teams, including newbies such as Albania, Northern Ireland, Wales and Iceland. Holders Spain may not be the same bunch by now, and meanwhile Germany have become World Champions.

We’ll have more time to savour the excitement such tournaments bring with them. At this point in time, reeling as we are from the shock of the Paris attacks in November, it is impossible not to link the two. It is inevitable that fans will have security concerns at the back of their minds.

Closer to home, 2016 will also see the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. A number of exciting fixtures await our national team. The opener is at home against Scotland on the 4th September, followed by the away encounter against England a month later.

Football is one of the constants in life. Enjoy it while you can. Happy 2016.            

Skating on thin ice

While the global media relishes episode after episode of the FIFA saga, another - quieter - revolution could be taking place that could spell the end of sport governance as we know it. The names involved are arguably less glamorous (or notorious) than the Blatters, Platinis, or even Beckenbauers of this world

When Dutch speed skaters Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt took part in an independent off-season event last year, they knew they were challenging the status quo in most organisations within the pyramid of sport governance. In several disciplines, professional athletes are barred from participating in competitions other than those organised or recognised by the association or federation they belong to.

Let's take football for ease of reference. Players cannot participate in competitions other than their domestic league or UEFA and FIFA competitions at club and national team level. When the top European clubs flouted the idea of setting up a league of their own outside UEFA - because they have enough demand and economic firepower to do so - they were 1) threatened with eternal suspensions, and 2) accommodated enough to stay put as UEFA bent over backwards to appease them.

Tuitert and Kerstholt were similarly threatened of being suspended from the International Skating Union (ISU) and consequently being unable to compete in major competitions such as the Olympics and the World Championships. Only that in their case the threat was carried out. 

For the record, Tuitert is the Olympic Champion in the 1500 meters and Kerstholt was World Champion in short track with the Dutch national team. Not that it matters much. Their claim would have been the same if they always placed last: here is an organisation, the ISU, that is abusing of its monopoly in regulating the sport, they maintain.

The two skaters complained to the Euorpean Commission. As they said in an open letter, "the numbers speak for themselves: an individual short track speed skater winning all the ISU competitions in a typical season would earn around €25,000. This is less than what the same skater would receive for merely appearing in a single, two-day Icederby event".

The European Commission is indeed investigating the complaint “because it raises specific allegations of breaches of competition law at the international level rather than wider issues of internal governance or rule-making in a sport federation". Back in June, as soon as a third of the FIFA Executive Committee was arrested in Zurich, the European Parliament has expressed the same concerns. 

When sport becomes an economic activity, it has to balance out its traditional autonomy and specificity on one hand, and compliance with market and employment rules on the other. Athletes can only compete at the highest level for a limited number of years, so there must be good reasons for preventing them to take part in events.

This case could well fizzle out if the European Commission deems there were good reasons behind the ISU position. It could be, however, that if the Dutch skaters' claims are considered justified, international sport governance would need to be redefined. International federations such as FIFA  would be restricted to governing the rules of the game, leaving the organisation of competitions (and the mountains of revenues) to others.

If that happens, you heard it here first.

Football is the game, FIFA is the shame

Don’t you just love America for going after FIFA? Even if only for that.

Take the press conference given by the Department of Justice. Whereas I would usually cringe at the way they make a spectacle of what should be a bland presser announcing an indictment, this time I enjoyed every minute of it. To think that they actually prefer baseball.

Americans just have a knack for it. “The World Cup of fraud” – that is how the Head of the Investigation Division termed it. There, you have the headlines ready to go to print. 

Here they were trying to explain in the best of terms the picture that ensued following years of investigation. The people at FIFA, tasked with upholding the rules to protect and promote the game, have instead corrupted it to serve their interests, turning football (ok, Americans keep saying ‘soccer’, but we can turn a blind eye to that, just this time) into “a criminal enterprise”, as the US Attorney General described it. 

Earlier, as people in the US were still fast asleep, a solitary FIFA Director of Communications gave his own press conference. Conspicuously alone, sitting at a grand podium that usually accommodates a gang of self-important, vain officials, I almost felt a degree of empathy for him. Almost.

He had none of the flowery language that would be used across the ocean. His were mostly one-word answers. The ‘line-to-take’ was that FIFA is actually the damaged party in all this. He must have repeated it half a dozen times, almost as many times as the instances he stressed that Sepp Blatter is not involved in the investigation.

Good old Sepp has been working at FIFA since 1975, first as technical director, then general secretary  for seven years, until being elected president in 1998. Today he is vying for his fifth four-year term. That would take him to the grand total of more than four decades, half of which he spent actually heading the organisation.


But he’s “not involved”. Even though a host of his current and former Vice-Presidents and Executive Committee members are currently under investigation. Accountable? What’s that?

Few would have thought the 65th FIFA Congress would turn out to be this exciting. We all predicted another circus that would smoothly re-elect Blatter. Not that he is going to budge. His lame speech in the only public appearance he made in the past two days proves it. Welcoming the delegates to the Congress he refused – once more – to take the blame. “I cannot monitor everyone all of the time”, he 
told us. He did acknowledge, however, that “more bad news may follow”.

The buck must stop with Blatter. Something tells me it soon will.

His only way out is to stay in. Yet, even if today he scrapes another election victory, staying in might not be enough this time round.

Whether his replacement is the antidote for the game is another matter (on its own, it is definitely not), but until then we’ll continue to savour the moment.

Għall-ġid tad-diskussjoni

Id-diskussjoni fuq il-bidliet f'ċertu aspetti tat-tmexxija tal-futbol Malti qanqlet reazzjoni qawwija, għallinqas jekk niġġudika mill-kummenti fuq Facebook.

Dan id-dibattitu qed insibu vera interessanti. Fl-aħħar qed niddiskutu 'l fejn irridu mmorru. Ma naqblux, ma jimpurtax, imma essenzjali li jinqsmu l-ideat. 

Dan hu tentattiv biex id-diskussjoni tkun ftit aktar infurmata. Se nipprova nkun oġġettiv kemm jista' jkun u nżomm mal-fatti. Mhux faċli tillimita ruħek li ma toffrix il-veduti tiegħek, imma se nipprova (u mhux se jirnexxieli).

1. Ir-riforma mhix biss fuq in-numru ta' barranin fil-Premier (jew fid-diviżjonijiet l-oħra). 

Il-proposta li jkun hemm 8 barranin fil-Premier ġejja mill-kumitat li jirrappreżenta l-klabbs tal-Premier. Din trid tiġi approvata mill-Kunsill tal-MFA (jiġifieri l-klabbs kollha u member associations bhal dawk li jirrapprezentaw lill-coaches, amateur leagues, referees, youth football, football f'Ghawdex, ecc.).

2. Ħafna mill-kritika li nara kontra l-MFA nsibha kemxejn sgwidata. Ħa nispjega.

L-MFA għandha President u Viċi Presidenti eletti (iva, mill-klabbs u l-member associations). Għandha wkoll segretarjat immexxi mis-Segretarju Ġenerali. Dawn flimkien jagħtu direzzjoni, bħal fil-każ tar-riforma kollha li qed niddiskutu.

Id-deċiżjoni aħħarija hija tal-Kunsill jew tal-Laqgħa Ġenerali. Jingħad spiss li peress li l-Kunsill u l-Laqgħa Ġenerali huma magħmulin minn rappreżentanti tal-klabbs, mela allura huma dawn li jiddeċiedu kollox.

Minnu. Hemm raġuni għal dan. Idealment, il-forum li jiddeċiedi jkun jinkludi fih l-istakeholders kollha tal-logħba, imma mhux bilfors kulħadd rappreżentat indaqs. Jekk dan hux tajjeb jew ħażin nistgħu niddiskutuh fit-tul ukoll, imma l-ħsieb tiegħi hawn hu biss li nagħti stampa tal-affarijiet kif inhuma.

3. Inutli nħambqu li fl-aħħar mill-aħħar tort tal-klabbs ("għax huma jiddeċiedu"). Mhux billi naspiraw li l-players isiru professjonali, jekk il-klabbs stess li jimpjegawhom m'humiex. Għall-kuntrarju l-klabbs huma x'aktarx l-aktar ħolqa dgħajfa fil-katina - mhux daqstant għax m'hemmx nies validi jmexxuhom, imma proprju għax huma mmexxija fuq bażi volontarja. 

Dan irridu nżommuh f'moħħna meta per eżempju nitkellmu fuq amministraturi full-time (jew part-time) fil-klabbs. Min se jħallashom? L-unika triq li nara hija li jkun hemm pooling tar-riżorsi - u l-unika pool huwa l-MFA. Imma forsi hemm ukoll soluzzjonijiet oħra int he long term. 

Veru li mhux sew li xi players jispiċċaw imxekkla milli jiċċaqalqu minħabba l-flejjes li kultant jintalbu għalihom. Veru li jekk klabb irid iżomm il-plejers tajbin tiegħu għandu joffrilhom kuntratt u mhux iżommhom miegħu minħabba xi dritt divin li jkollu. Imma xi ħadd irid jistaqsi: minn fejn ġejjin il-flus? Liema klabb Malti jiġġenera l-flus b'mod li jiffinanzja l-operat tiegħu b'mod sostenibbli? Sponsor jiġi u jmur. President ġeneruż jiddejjaq u jitlaq. L-ebda klabb f'Malta ma jiġġenera biżżejjed, sempliċiment għax kważi impossibbli - ħadd ma jista' jibdel l-economies of scale tagħna.

Jekk m'hemmx minn fejn, inutli nittamaw li l-player jilgħab fuq bażi professjonali. X'aktarx qed nippruvaw nirregolaw livell li lanqas biss ilħaqnih. Bir-regolamenti biss ma nsirux professjonali (inneħħux il-parametri, is-salary capping, eċċ, eċċ.).

Tant biex nagħrfu nkunu ftit aktar realistiċi.

The aftermath of a (de)feat

There are very few occasions when our athletes compete against the very best. Football is arguably one of the few disciplines in which we get the opportunity to face world class opponents from time to time. The last two home matches against Norway and Italy were a case in point, which inevitably awakened the hidden coaching qualities in all of us.

Waking up to the day-after comments of hundreds of closet-Mourinhos would have been exasperating enough. Some were happy with the result, others simply called for the manager’s head. But quite a few tended to outdo themselves with all sorts of strategic advice to players, coaches, administrators, politicians, and the lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if even the national team mascot got the blame for our lack of good results.

These are some of the suggestions we all came across in some form in the past week: more professionalism; the need to have players play abroad; better development of youth players; more investment; better club set-up; etc, etc.

So here I am, pitching in with my proverbial tuppence worth.

In any sphere of activity, making it to the top is hard. Very hard. Football is no exception. It is clear that, as in other areas, investment is crucial. Yet, do we ever ask ourselves: where does (or should) the money come from? The demand side of football is dwindling, and even if it weren't, our economies of scale are what they are. That is where so many actors involved in the game find endless stumbling blocks, despite being well-intentioned, well-prepared, and determined to research and implement fresh ideas, models, and methodologies.

Of course we'd like to have serious planning and development policies in our clubs! But there are very very few clubs that have constant and reliable revenue streams allowing for a decent non-amateur set-up.

This is not a rant about our limitations. In fact, I hate self-pity as much as I hate the complete lack of a sense of perspective.

Is it that difficult to accept that losing 1-0 to Italy or 0-2 in Croatia is a feat in itself when you consider the real gap between the respective levels? Would it be the end of the world if we acknowledged that losing 0-3 to Norway was simply a fair reflection of the quality of the teams on the pitch? This despite, or thanks to, the diligent and generous performance by the lads on most occasions.

  

Does this mean that I would be happy if we kept losing ad aeternum against any opposition? Of course not!  At the same time, I think close results like the one obtained/suffered against Italy (depending on the category of Mourinhos you belong to) tend to skew our judgment as they invariably lead to the illusion that we can compete at par with anybody every time.

I do think there are huge margins of improvement. If there is one thing we can learn from the much-vaunted success stories of the likes of Iceland (yes, they beat Holland) and Belgium (yes, they made it to the World Cup Quarter-Finals), it is the need for integrated planning. It does not mean that we’ll beat Holland or that we’ll make it to the World Cup. But it could mean that we maximise our potential better – whatever that potential is.

Laudable efforts have been made throughout the years, but these were mostly isolated in separate silos: technical, administrative, infrastructural; each aspect is developed without much interaction with the others. It is easy to point fingers at only one of these branches: some blame our lack of good results on the level of our coaching, others on the dismal administration of some of our clubs, or on the players, or the MFA, or the government, and on and on we go. 

Truth is that all these aspects need to grow together. Government and sports associations, for instance, cooperate only on one-off infrastructural projects or initiatives. Rarely, if ever, do they get together to implement long-term policy. It is easier said than done, but it can be done - as it has been elsewhere. 

Photo: Mark Cassar Photography

The MFA has so far been the only actor that has been able to invest in the various aspects of the game. It has the facilities and it has the required revenues(an ancillary benefit of the overall economies of scale that football enjoys at European and international level). Yet, pointing fingers exclusively at the MFA is rather restrictive. It is true that the association is to be at the forefront of any strategy aimed at improving the level of our game, but it also needs the cooperation of all the stakeholders involved. There are, after all, improvements that can be made by others at minimal costs – I’m thinking nurseries, clubs, but also parents and educators.

Integrating football in schools, for example, is something that we never really managed to achieve in a structured way. This applies equally to other sports. Before anybody gets too excited, it needs not necessarily take up school hours. And it need not even be a burden on the state. Rather, it could be a way to fuse the efforts of nurseries within our schools.

Our resources and manpower (which is increasingly harder to come by) are too fragmented to afford to leave stones unturned in seeking ways to improve. If we can only manage a handful of players that make the cut to play abroad, how many decent coaches can we produce? How many ‘fit and proper’ administrators are able to manage our clubs? Ironically, the less resources we have, the more stretched out our efforts are: 53 clubs in the MFA leagues, each with its own nursery. Countless others in other amateur leagues.

How many times do stakeholders sit together to discuss things holistically: coaches, administrators, public servants, academics, players, parents? Do we ever, at all? I'm not referring to some grand conference once every blue moon, but to direct, constant consultation with all involved. Around the same table. That is what I call an integrated approach. Each of them has a role. Administrators cannot take on the pitch themselves – only players can; players are not expected to worry about where their salary is coming from – administrators should; club officials should care more about development and less exclusively about winning cups; the same goes for parents.

It is not easy to assess or measure improvement and success. Our objective should be to move as close as possible towards the conviction that we are really doing our best. With our limitations, but to the best of our possibilities.

We would not even need a Mourinho in that case.

Ball vs keyboard

11 on the field, more than 300 million cheering them on. #WorldCup #USMNT – this was Barack Obama’s tweet minutes before the start of the USA’s first World Cup match against Ghana.

With over 43 million followers, the US President’s Twitter account is the third most followed. No need to stop reading to look up who precedes him. I’ll save you the hassle. It’s Katy Perry and Justin Bieber. Ah, well,  who else? Yes, more than 50 million users waste screen space everyday reading gems like “Da rum punched me in da face” (now you can sob quietly). I really hope for her sake she was actually drunk when she wrote that.

Footballers make another breed of avid social media users. A much-followed Facebook page or Twitter account are a must for any strong brand. Just take the unprecedented amount of online adverts and clips gone viral in the past month. All because the timing is particular. The World Cup is the ultimate opportunity for online engagement , whether through sharing statistics or debating whether Rooney is still able to take a simple corner kick. Speaking of which, the England forward has a decent crowd of 9 million followers on Twitter.

Meant now not snow
— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) June 15, 2014

Gutted to lose game last night. We move on to Uruguay now. We have to believe snow stay positive
— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) June 15, 2014

Rooney couldn't even spell properly after the defeat to Italy.

Social media gives the idea that the barriers between athlete and fan have been brought down, notwithstanding that an army of experts and PR gurus might be behind every tweet or post. And yet, despite their abundant entourages of advisers, star footballers still try their best to end up in the deep end of some controversy through their overzealous use of technology. Whether it’s a wrongly-timed selfie, a misplaced comment, or typing in a bout of rage following exclusion from the starting line-up, the slightest slip-up could land them in trouble, sometimes with their own employers.

During the London Olympics, Swiss footballer Michel Morganella was sent home for tweeting racist remarks about his Korean opponents. He was not the only one. A Greek triple jumper did not even make it to the opening ceremony – he had already posted some other racist remark.

In Brasil, where the squads have to travel endlessly between their training bases and the different stadia they are playing in, players have time to kill. Which is why photos of bus rides and flights are the most common. In reality, in-between noble thoughts for some feel-good initiative (slipped in by the PR officer) and a nice word for a colleauge, the most interesting – or amusing – messages are those which really capture the moment .Which is the whole point of social media.

Germany’s Lukas Podolski managed admirably well. With adrenaline still running high following their drabbing of Portugal, he managed a selfie with none other than Chancellor Merkel. She actually half-smiled, not knowing whether this was a good idea in the first place. Way to go Lukas!

US Vice-President Joe Biden paid a similar visit to the team’s dressing room (probably satisfied that his President’s tweet had paid off). With his visibly embarrassed daughter trailing him, he had a chit chat with the still-sweaty lads as they were preparing to shower. It proved to be good PR, to the extent that it was streamed on the White House Youtube channel.

You can’t say theWorld Cup is not a universal event...

Football ought to help - not squeeze - economies

Whether it is Valletta vs Floriana at the stadium or Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich on TV, football remains in demand. Then there’s the banter at the bar: pesudo-technical assessments of players’ and teams’ performances, authoritative-sounding judgments on multi-million transfer deals, cheeky jibes on trophies won (or not). But it probably stops at that.  

Most don’t give a hoot whether a match could possibly be fixed. The game’s entertainment value remains. It’s the same as enjoying a Hollywood blockbuster. Nor do many of us apparently care if Brasil is spending billions of dollars while Brasilians struggle to get by. We've been there already. Despite FIFA's claim that host countries benefit from big tournaments, an audit on South Africa's 2010 World Cup showed it cost the taxpayers £3bn for a return of £323m, followed by an economic downturn.

Mistrust in the way football is run globally is certainly not a recent phenomenon. Heaps of books have been written and countless column-inches have been dedicated by newspaper editors to charges of corruption, nepotism, and so many acts of Macchiavellian proportion which have taken place at FIFA. This organisation manages a product that has untold global demand. Its flagship event, the World Cup is a guarantee of massive financial turnover.

The latest revelations of The Sunday Times have taken allegations – if ever there was the need – to unprecedented, incontestable level. The London newspaper is reportedly in possession of millions (their term) of emails that could prove that the bidding process to choose Qatar as the host country for the World Cup in 2022 was fraught with irregularities through a network of payments to buy the votes of a number of FIFA delegates, mostly representing developing countries.

Yes, in case you never cared, these decisions are voted on by just 209 delegates, each representing a national football association. The agenda is steered by an Executive Committee of 28 persons, some of whom have managed to remain glued to their seats for decades.

FIFA is based in Zurich as a non-profit organisation. And yet it possesses reserves of $1.5 billion. Why an international organisation with a role to promote and develop the game of football should pile up such amounts of money is beyond me. Until 2000 corruption of foreign public agents was not prosecuted in Switzerland and offering 'commercial' bribes was an accepted way of doing business. If that was not enough, organisations such as FIFA had their bribes deducted from tax. Google it if you don't take my word for it.

Such a universal game cannot be run like a fiefdom.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has been around since the 1970s, first as FIFA Technical Director, then as General Secretary for 17 years before taking his current role in 1998. Just in case that was not enough, he intends to run again for re-election (re-investiture might be a better word). "I am ready to continue my mission" he was reported saying.

Recently he also admitted that choosing Qatar to host the World Cup might have been a mistake. Whether he had an inkling (or something more than that) that the decision might have to be revisited remains to be seen. 

The saga goes on. The countries which competed in the bidding with Qatar, including England and Australia, are now calling for FIFA to come clean. Their top politicians are doing their best to put pressure on FIFA. The UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg described the recent claims as shocking and Prime Minister David Cameron hinted that the voting may have to be held again. 

To add more drama, a few days before the start of the World Cup in Brasil, the outcome of an investigation into the matter is expected to be unveiled. The investigation commenced some 3 years ago and is led by former US federal prosecutor Michael Garcia (he was at one point tipped to head the FBI). Garcia was due to quiz members of the Qatar 2022 organising committee this week. Now, following the latest raft of allegations, it is still to be seen whether the meeting will take place and, above all, whether he will be taking all the new evidence into consideration.

Imagine if, instead of all this, football can be governed by a more open organisation that gives voice to its consumers, i.e. the fans, or at least those of them who bother enough. Imagine if, instead of crippling whole economies to organise an ego-boosting mega event for just one month every four years, it had to fulfil a more direct and concrete social role by using the opportunity to aid those very countries where the tournament is held. Imagine if it had to invert its way of distributing its huge proceeds by pumping the bulk of the money into basic infrastructure for kids playing football all over the world. Yes, FIFA does distribute money for grassroots football, but follow-up is lacking and cases of money ending up in people's pockets are not unheard of.

I think we should start caring a bit more. This is not just a game any longer.

Life through the Panini album

That moment when you start tearing your first wrappers and it seems you’re only unveiling endless Japanese and South Korean players. Or when you realise Lucas Neill still features in the Australian national team. The despair after mistaking a sticker for the wrong number. Slowly slowly, you start establishing who are the ones with the funniest hairstyles (the Japanese still rank high here) or names (my favourite so far is Carlo Costly of Honduras – thank God I already have him).

Nothing beats the Panini sticker album to get into World Cup mode. The first edition goes back to Mexico 1970 and it has since then provided millions of kids (and slightly older collectors like yours truly) around the world with innumerable magical anecdotes of hard-fought negotiations over a missing badge, or a literally ubiquitous player (I have a high-definition mental image of the 1986 Hungary goalkeeper with the beard having found half a dozen images of him).

Gradually, you start grasping the fact you’re getting old and becoming a mature young man ready to face the grim reality of life when you stop assigning disproportionate value to the Italy, England, or Germany badge as you used to do with the lucky image of Maradona, Gary Lineker, or Roberto Baggio. Oh, the struggle to find Baggio in 1994! The misery each time I got doubles of the other Baggio, lanky midfielder Dino.

Looking back at previous editions, you will find greats and nobodies, the have-beens and the eternally promising. There are photos of players who are today, 20 kilos later, still very much part of the football scene, such as coaches or club managers. Others vanished or faded out professionally, quite a few have passed away. 

You will find countries that are no more – think East Germany, Zaire, Yugoslavia, not to mention the USSR. Along the years, newer editions sported new badges and new team shots. The latest entry is Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Despite all this, the Panini album is one of the very few things in football that remained pretty much the same throughout the years - the concept is the same we always knew since we were kids. It is one of the very few things that enable kids to actually meet and speak face to face to exchange their stickers and flaunt their latest treasures. Until someone comes up with some virtual album that allows you to buy stickers online, pay them via Paypal, and exchange them on Facebook.

Until then, I will treasure my collection of Panini albums.

NB: For the record, the goalkeeper with the beard was Peter Disztl. How can I ever forget his name?

A future Golden Ball winner could be playing in Malta next month

 

It is certainly one of the biggest sporting events ever to be held in Malta. Not to mention that it will be the highest level at which a Maltese national football team - in all categories - would have ever competed. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, and Wayne Rooney have taken their first steps in past editions.

The list of teams competing in the UEFA Under 17 Championship finals being held in Malta between the 9th and the 21st May is complete, and the 2 groups drawn. The so-called 'Elite Round' of qualifiers has already reserved its share of judgments. Among the decisive fixtures, there was an England vs. Italy, a preview of the senior level World Cup match in 2 months' time. For the record, England qualified at the expense of a star-studded Italy following a 2-1 win.

As host nation, Malta will have the right to join the other 7 finalists in May. We have been drawn to play England, The Netherlands, and Turkey in the group stage. Not an easy task. Not at all.

To get to this stage, these 7 had to go through two successive qualifying stages. Just to get an idea, only once did Malta manage to pass through one - the first qualifying round, in 2010. It was the first Malta side to progress through a round of a UEFA youth competition after obtaining a 2-1 win against The Netherlands (that on its own made history) and a 0-0 draw against Andorra. That team included players who are today playing Premier League football, such as Zach Muscat (Birkirkara) and Sacha Borg (Floriana).

I hope that a sense of perspective is kept when the zealous pundits start fretting to assess Malta's performance. A lot of attention has been given to the group of players lucky enough to make the squad for the tournament, some of which have also made it to clubs overseas. Yet, these kids have a mammoth task in front of them, a task which calls for the maximum support the Maltese public could give them.

The logistical strain on the MFA is huge. The opportunity, however, is unique. The tournament will be shown live on Eurosport and it will be the last one with an eight-team format before the expansion to a 16-nation event in Bulgaria next season. So another occasion to host such a high-profile competition will be rare to come by.

Who will be the stars this time round? Will a future Golden Ball winner be gracing our pitches?

The most reputable club messes up (and they're not the only ones)

The club was accused of breaching FIFA rules which prohibit international transfers of players under 18. The investigation on Barcelona started last year when no less than 6 youth players were banned. Their transfers were brought to light by FIFA's web-based 'Transfer Matching System' - a database to which all association and clubs in the world (including Malta) have access to encode transfers of players from one country to another.

Barcelona are certainly not short of admirers of their football. I am one of them. However, they were recently in the news for the wrong reasons when they were handed a 14-month ban on transfers. That covers two transfer windows: this summer and January 2015.

Pundits are busy assessing how this could affect Barca’s chances on the pitch next season. I am less inclined to do so. Firstly, because the decision is subject to appeal, and therefore possibly changed. Secondly, because even if it doesn’t, Barcelona is not exactly lacking in quality players as to be in some dire need of inward transfers.

Rather, I have an inkling that transfers of under-age players is a widespread phenomenon and that such a high-profile case could be an opportunity for people to start taking notice of it. In some cases it may amount to nothing short of trafficking.

The rationale behind these rules is to protect minors from displacement from their country of origin. The players concerned in this case hailed from as far as South Korea, Cameroon, and Nigeria.

There are of course exceptions to the rule. For example, when the player’s parents move to the country in which the new club is located for reasons not linked to football (say, one of the parents moves for professional reasons). Another applies where the player lives no further than 50km from a national border and moves to a club in the neighbouring country within 50km of that border.

Special conditions apply within the EU for players aged 16-18. Such transfers are allowed only if the new club provides the player accommodation and adequate football education coupled withacademic/vocational education that would allow the player to pursue a career other than football.

Beyond big clubs and elite football, the movement of players (including minors) is huge. Hundreds of players seek better pastures in lower leagues all over Europe each year, especially from South America and Africa. But not only. Young players move within Europe as well to try to make a living out of football, at the risk of ending up stranded in a country they do not know when things go wrong.

It is not easy to determine what is more favourable to a promising young player. A transfer may present the golden opportunity to pursue a career in football. There is also the possibility, however, that the kid falls by the wayside and into oblivion in case s/he doesn’t make it. My impression is that the latter cases are far more numerous and make less headlines.

Every international transfer involving a minor is subject to the approval of a subcommittee of FIFA’s Players’ Status Committee. “The interest in protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor as a whole must prevail over purely sporting interests,” the Committee was quoted saying in FIFA’s statement. The Spanish FA, through which reporting of similar transfers should be made, was also reprimanded and fined.

The big question is how many athletes are really affected by such poaching or head-hunting practices? What happens to the ones who never make it to the cut-throat world of big stadia? Perhaps this is slightly more relevant than trying to decipher whether Barcelona will be able to challenge for the title next year without being able to buy more players.

The UEFA Nations cash cow

This post was featured on maltatoday.com.mt 

If your wife complains that there's too much football on TV, just don't read this post.

A new (additional) competition for national teams has been announced by UEFA this week. The 'Nations League' will be played every 2 years replacing most international friendly matches as of 2018.

I won't go into the convoluted format being proposed. The innovation lies mainly in the fact that national teams will be split into four different divisions according to their ranking, with the possibility of being promoted or relegated. Mini-tournaments will be played between groups of 3 or 4 teams, with the winners then playing for the title of each division and the possibility of earning a place in the European Championship and possibly the World Cup finals. Complicated? Let go.

Judging by current rankings, Malta would be playing in the bottom division with the other 'minnows' (but also a few not-so-small countries). This gives competition a whole new meaning for our national team. It will have more opportunities to go out on the pitch to win games rather than simply to mitigate the damage, as is often the case nowadays.

The idea looks promising. It should inject some much-needed interest into local football and a sense of belonging vis-à-vis our national team. Let's face it, how many times do we go to the stadium with a real conviction that the boys in red could win points? The occurrence is very rare, usually once or twice in each qualifying campaign.

I believe this could also be a good opportunity for the development of the local game. The team could start preparing matches with a slightly more adventurous game plan.  

The Nations League will not replace the traditional qualifiers for both the European Championships and the World Cup. Another good compromise, which ensures that we will still enjoy the odd big-name fixture, such as the upcoming match against Italy in September.

The move was (also) attractive from a financial point of view, there's no two ways about it. This competition will reshift the balance between club and national team football. The big bucks being made from the Champions League could be replicated via national teams. A different set of allegiances, banking on national fervour, but with the same potential for television networks.

This aspect should also work out well for us though. As of the Euro 2016 qualifiers, UEFA has started to sell TV rights collectively for the entire competition (rather than having each national association negotiate rights for its own home games) - this should bring better returns to the Malta FA and other small countries sharing the same pot with the big guns.

UEFA President Michel Platini is certainly banking on this grand scheme and the unanimous support of the European football family in view of next year's race for the FIFA presidency. He is still to announce whether he will take on the ever-present Sepp Blatter. But let's leave that for another time.

Despite a million problems, football remains in demand. Let's just hope we're not heading towards an overkill.