Politics is never far from the football pitch, but the events before and during the ongoing FIFA World Cup have taken matters to a different level, to the extent that the line between the two has become very blurred.
Following the president’s appeal, the world body revoked USA forward Folarin Balogun’s red card Donald TrumpHere’s what happened before, and in between, the Round of 16 game against Belgium Argentina and Egypt It has led many fans to believe in conspiracy theories and allege that forces away from the turf have a hand in deciding winners and losers.
“After the Balogan case, who knows which judgments are legitimate and which are credible and which are not?” Simon Chadwick, a professor of Afro-Eurasian sports at Imlion Business School in Shanghai, told Al Jazeera.
Even Lionel Messi’s Argentina would not have been ideal from a marketing and revenue perspective, a day after Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and co-hosts the United States crashed out of the tournament.
Already, ticket prices have plummeted by up to 50 percent after the home team and the biggest star in the contemporary game were knocked out of the World Cup.
But some have also pointed to the political angle, with Argentina’s fire-right president Javier Mille a staunch supporter of Trump, while Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has dedicated his team’s progress to the suffering Palestinians. Trump has described the popular Argentine leader as his “favorite president”.
While reluctant to attribute intent to the refereeing calls in Tuesday’s game in Atlanta, Chadwick said the duration of the game was “unusual”, especially when Egypt’s second ‘goal’ was disallowed.
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“There was something different between the goal and the VAR decision, which was amplified when Argentina scored one of their goals,” said Chadwick, who is professor of sports enterprise and co-director of the Center for Sports Business at the University of Salford in Manchester.
“In the build-up, an Argentinian player committed a foul, which could be interpreted as the same offense as the Egyptian player had committed earlier. At the very least, the standard of refereeing during the game was somewhat inconsistent, although critics are clearly making more serious claims.”
Chadwick said football fans had a right to know about discussions between French referee Francois Latexier and the VAR booth on the field. Why did the VAR officials raise the issue when Egypt’s Marwan Attiyah lightly pulled his shirt and stepped on Lisandro Martinez’s leg, not the on-field officials, but the VAR officials?
A British academic suggested a protocol for “fans and viewers to listen to the assessment of the alleged crime, listen to the various arguments and have a clear insight into the basis of the decision”. He said that “the VAR decision created a sense of injustice.”
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“This technology was supposed to reduce suspense and bring consistency. Instead, its use during this match had significant cognitive and behavioral effects. Indeed, rather than brandishing cards and escalating the situation, the referee should have used his discretion and judgment to defuse the situation.”
Chadwick admitted that Messi’s consistency in the competition added to the shine, but refused to give credence to accusations that the Argentine side had fixed the result.
“There’s no doubt that Messi is a box office attraction that the competition really can’t afford.”