World Cup 2010: Governments Meddling in Football
First it was the French Government and now it is the Nigerian government that is meddling in international football. With the Nigerian president suspending the country's international team for a period of two years because of their dismal performance at the World Cup 2010, it seems more governments will follow the precedent set and start interfering very soon. Why do governments interfere in the football team of their country and is there any way to stop it?
First it was France that performed so poorly in this year's World Cup that they got knocked out in the first round. The problems started with the sending home of Nicolas Anelka after he swore at the coach. The players mutinied and were sent packing in their final group game against South Africa with a heavy loss. The problems just increased from then on with the French Minister of Sports calling for the resignation of the president of the FFF (French Football Federation). FIFA stepped in and severely reprimanded the French government for its meddling in international football affairs. It seems national pride and pressure from the fans back in France prompted the Minister to make the resignation request.
The French government hit back by saying that it was not interfering in football affairs but in its own team's affairs. The government stated that it was simply looking to understand what happened to result in the disastrous performance of France in this World Cup and it was nothing more than that. FIFA takes a very strong line when it thinks that a government of a country is interfering in its affairs and tries to put an immediate stop to it.
The Nigerian government has also found itself in hot water with FIFA recently because the President of the country, the fantastically named Goodluck Jonathan has suspended Nigeria's football team for two years. The move is being done in a bid to reorganise the country's foot-balling squad and football in Nigeria in general. This recent incident did not go down to well with FIFA who have always told governments to stay out of football. This brings us to an interesting point, do governments have any right to dictate terms and interfere in their own country's football programs or is that the sole domain of FIFA.
Some say that Fifa has become too strict over the years in its rules by enforcing things such as penalising a team if its spectators misbehave and ruling the game with an iron fist. One reason for this could be that the game has evolved and FIFA's rules have to be tightened along the way. In these rules, how can FIFA enforce itself over a country's government that supports its own football team with money and training and perks and benefits? It is a tricky one in this regard. A nation's football team is supported by millions within that nation and people who have elected a government to lead them feel that their government should step in when the team does not perform. The government is happy to oblige because it gains them support they need from the general public if they can be seen as doing something that will make the people feel better. On the other hand FIFA feels that if a government meddles too much in its business, then it will lose control and power over the game and the game will become a free for all. FIFA likes it when there are foot-balling governing bodies in a country that are run by people who like to keep the affairs of the state and football separate.
It makes sense from FIFA's perspective to keep football out of politics because at the end of the day football is only a game and should not have any bearing on international politics. When governments get involved it becomes a matter of international politics, which frankly it should not be. The governments want to increase their popularity in their countries so they meddle in football, but maybe they should try using a different approach by leaving football to the football pitch and concentrating on general politics for a change.
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