4 ms·

While the football business is horrible it's nice that this may fail like the Super League. Now if only that could put a dent in Infantino reelection...

runarberg 2mo ago
I am not sure a replacement for Infantino is enough. It seems like FIFA has a culture of corruption and Infantino is merely the latest manifestation of said culture. Some serious reform and restructuring seem needed.
- jamesblonde 2mo ago
  Fifa is a reflection of the world. All members (nations) get a vote. Most countries are corrupt. Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa.
  - runarberg 2mo ago
    I am all in favor of a global revolution to overthrow capitalism with a solidarity of workers of the world. But I think we can have a non-corrupt FIFA without one.
    - retr0rocket 2mo ago
      [dead]
  - plufz 2mo ago
    Still there are plenty of world wide organizations that are less corrupt than fifa.
    - tialaramex 2mo ago
      I'm actually not even sure I can think of an organisation more corrupt. Maybe the IOC is up there?
      - basisword 2mo ago
        The FIA (motorsport governing body) is giving them a run for their money. Recently removed presidency term limits and made several other rule changes to prevent challengers. And like FIFA, despite the majority opinion seeming to be against the corruption the decisions get rubber stamped anyway.
  - darepublic 2mo ago
    The world is a reflection of the laws of physics. When complex self propagating systems coexist in an environment with limited material competition arises, and corruption is simply one inevitable result of that.
  - LanceH 2mo ago
    > Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa To be a bit cynical on this, I'm going to say that UEFA is worried the international scene will infringe on the European league scene. They've found something to be outraged about, but the reality is more about the threat to their own bottom line than it is about the international game.
    - bornfreddy 2mo ago
      This is probably at least partially true. And they know that if they get together with South America, they can easily replace FIFA with another governing structure.
      - LanceH 2mo ago
        I'm a bit surprised to be downvoted on this, except maybe that it's seen as an attack on Europe. There have been other attempts at a league superior to the individual national leagues -- like a permanent champions league. Establishment of anything more regular at the international level would be one more way this could be accomplished. Each European league (and leagues from other confederations) has a vested interest in keeping the World Cup not just "free" but rare as well. The time to be on the high horse against FIFA isn't 2026, it was against he labor conditions in Qatar, or the corruption to award the 2018 and 2022 hosts, or any number of other things. However correct they are, they only complain when it's against their own self interest.
  - hvb2 2mo ago
    > Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa Do you know who Platini is? This is only because Europe cares about soccer. If this was basketball, ice hockey or baseball then I don't think Europe would care and would be the country to bribe
- zimpenfish 2mo ago
  > It seems like FIFA has a culture of corruption I think any large multi-national organisation that deals with handing out events that generate vast sums of money inevitably succumbs to the rot. See also: the IOC.
  - sizzzzlerz 2mo ago
    FIA has entered the room
  - FabHK 2mo ago
    Reminiscent of the resource curse, the observation that many countries "blessed" with an abundance of natural resources actually fare pretty badly (including lots of corruption). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse
- mcmcmc 2mo ago
  Here’s a solution: bar FIFA from selling viewing rights to their competitions and allow any station or channel to stream for free. That would grow the global game. Take away the money and FIFA doesn’t have much to bargain with. They need to remember they are a purely administrative organization.
  - bdangubic 2mo ago
    > That would grow the global game. The game is already as global as it gets, 1.5bn people watched the wc final…
    - jurgenburgen 2mo ago
      So a minority of the human population?
      - illliillll 2mo ago
        Now consider time zones.
        actionfromafar 2mo ago
        Standard Eastern Tribe
      - bdangubic 2mo ago
        ~2bn are under 12, ~1bn are over 65 so not really a minority :)
    - Someone 2mo ago
      > The game is already as global as it gets There is a tiny bit of room for expansion. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c5y03dermmeo https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c5y03dermmeo: “Football is almost non-existent on this Pacific island. Nauru has never fielded a team in an official international match and it has just one – hard sand – pitch. While there is interest in big Premier League matches, and children wear Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo kits, any attempts to actually play football tend to be mocked, unless it's Aussie rules.” (Nauru is about 21 km², 21,000 people)
bluedevil2k 2mo ago
The Super League was a wonderful idea! Imagine watching the best teams in Europe playing each other multiple nights a week for months on end! Instead you’d rather watch 1 or 2 teams spend 10x more than anyone else and dominate the league every season. How is that fun or exciting? Would you rather watch a Bayern v Bremen match or a Bayern v Chelsea match? Or PSG, is it fun watching them not even bother playing their best guys in games against Lyon? It makes no sense to me that people favored the (much) worse product because “tradition”.
- crote 2mo ago
  Easy: it was going to be a (mostly) closed competition. Competition gets boring real fast when it is always the same handful of teams. When there are no real consequences to losing, winning becomes meaningless. Bayern v Chelsea matches stop being as interesting when every game is a Bayern v Chelsea match and most of them have no real impact either way. On the other hand, football becomes most interesting when it's a Bayern v Bremen and Bremen wins. People love an underdog after all, and nothing is more exciting than seeing an elite team take the game for granted and being punished for it. The Super League is only a more interesting product from the "big name play ball" perspective. It is great when you want to make a fortune in tv rights and licensing, but it sucks for everyone who cares about football as a sport.
  - bluedevil2k 2mo ago
    That’s the same justification my German friend made. I guess it’s American viewpoint vs European. The Super League would have been like the NFL in the US, where every team can beat any other any given night. That’s much more appealing to me, but to each their own.
    - dpark 2mo ago
      The NFL is so balanced not because it’s a “super” league but because every team has the same salary cap. The best team and the worst team all have to spend essentially the exact same amount of money on their players, ensuring that no team can buy their way to the top. Even there it’s still not really true that the best team can lose to the worst team in any given night. The best team is generally favored a lot and justifiably so. In soccer teams can also be quite mismatched and a lucky goal by the worse team can be the only score and win the match.

runarberg 2mo ago

I am not sure a replacement for Infantino is enough. It seems like FIFA has a culture of corruption and Infantino is merely the latest manifestation of said culture. Some serious reform and restructuring seem needed.

jamesblonde 2mo ago
Fifa is a reflection of the world. All members (nations) get a vote. Most countries are corrupt. Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa.
- runarberg 2mo ago
  I am all in favor of a global revolution to overthrow capitalism with a solidarity of workers of the world. But I think we can have a non-corrupt FIFA without one.
  - retr0rocket 2mo ago
    [dead]
- plufz 2mo ago
  Still there are plenty of world wide organizations that are less corrupt than fifa.
  - tialaramex 2mo ago
    I'm actually not even sure I can think of an organisation more corrupt. Maybe the IOC is up there?
    - basisword 2mo ago
      The FIA (motorsport governing body) is giving them a run for their money. Recently removed presidency term limits and made several other rule changes to prevent challengers. And like FIFA, despite the majority opinion seeming to be against the corruption the decisions get rubber stamped anyway.
- darepublic 2mo ago
  The world is a reflection of the laws of physics. When complex self propagating systems coexist in an environment with limited material competition arises, and corruption is simply one inevitable result of that.
- LanceH 2mo ago
  > Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa To be a bit cynical on this, I'm going to say that UEFA is worried the international scene will infringe on the European league scene. They've found something to be outraged about, but the reality is more about the threat to their own bottom line than it is about the international game.
  - bornfreddy 2mo ago
    This is probably at least partially true. And they know that if they get together with South America, they can easily replace FIFA with another governing structure.
    - LanceH 2mo ago
      I'm a bit surprised to be downvoted on this, except maybe that it's seen as an attack on Europe. There have been other attempts at a league superior to the individual national leagues -- like a permanent champions league. Establishment of anything more regular at the international level would be one more way this could be accomplished. Each European league (and leagues from other confederations) has a vested interest in keeping the World Cup not just "free" but rare as well. The time to be on the high horse against FIFA isn't 2026, it was against he labor conditions in Qatar, or the corruption to award the 2018 and 2022 hosts, or any number of other things. However correct they are, they only complain when it's against their own self interest.
- hvb2 2mo ago
  > Thank go there is still a bastion of democracy/fairness left in Uefa Do you know who Platini is? This is only because Europe cares about soccer. If this was basketball, ice hockey or baseball then I don't think Europe would care and would be the country to bribe
zimpenfish 2mo ago
> It seems like FIFA has a culture of corruption I think any large multi-national organisation that deals with handing out events that generate vast sums of money inevitably succumbs to the rot. See also: the IOC.
- sizzzzlerz 2mo ago
  FIA has entered the room
- FabHK 2mo ago
  Reminiscent of the resource curse, the observation that many countries "blessed" with an abundance of natural resources actually fare pretty badly (including lots of corruption). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse
mcmcmc 2mo ago
Here’s a solution: bar FIFA from selling viewing rights to their competitions and allow any station or channel to stream for free. That would grow the global game. Take away the money and FIFA doesn’t have much to bargain with. They need to remember they are a purely administrative organization.
- bdangubic 2mo ago
  > That would grow the global game. The game is already as global as it gets, 1.5bn people watched the wc final…
  - jurgenburgen 2mo ago
    So a minority of the human population?
    - illliillll 2mo ago
      Now consider time zones.
      - actionfromafar 2mo ago
        Standard Eastern Tribe
    - bdangubic 2mo ago
      ~2bn are under 12, ~1bn are over 65 so not really a minority :)
  - Someone 2mo ago
    > The game is already as global as it gets There is a tiny bit of room for expansion. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c5y03dermmeo https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c5y03dermmeo: “Football is almost non-existent on this Pacific island. Nauru has never fielded a team in an official international match and it has just one – hard sand – pitch. While there is interest in big Premier League matches, and children wear Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo kits, any attempts to actually play football tend to be mocked, unless it's Aussie rules.” (Nauru is about 21 km², 21,000 people)

bluedevil2k 2mo ago

The Super League was a wonderful idea! Imagine watching the best teams in Europe playing each other multiple nights a week for months on end! Instead you’d rather watch 1 or 2 teams spend 10x more than anyone else and dominate the league every season. How is that fun or exciting? Would you rather watch a Bayern v Bremen match or a Bayern v Chelsea match? Or PSG, is it fun watching them not even bother playing their best guys in games against Lyon? It makes no sense to me that people favored the (much) worse product because “tradition”.

crote 2mo ago
Easy: it was going to be a (mostly) closed competition. Competition gets boring real fast when it is always the same handful of teams. When there are no real consequences to losing, winning becomes meaningless. Bayern v Chelsea matches stop being as interesting when every game is a Bayern v Chelsea match and most of them have no real impact either way. On the other hand, football becomes most interesting when it's a Bayern v Bremen and Bremen wins. People love an underdog after all, and nothing is more exciting than seeing an elite team take the game for granted and being punished for it. The Super League is only a more interesting product from the "big name play ball" perspective. It is great when you want to make a fortune in tv rights and licensing, but it sucks for everyone who cares about football as a sport.
- bluedevil2k 2mo ago
  That’s the same justification my German friend made. I guess it’s American viewpoint vs European. The Super League would have been like the NFL in the US, where every team can beat any other any given night. That’s much more appealing to me, but to each their own.
  - dpark 2mo ago
    The NFL is so balanced not because it’s a “super” league but because every team has the same salary cap. The best team and the worst team all have to spend essentially the exact same amount of money on their players, ensuring that no team can buy their way to the top. Even there it’s still not really true that the best team can lose to the worst team in any given night. The best team is generally favored a lot and justifiably so. In soccer teams can also be quite mismatched and a lucky goal by the worse team can be the only score and win the match.