If Plutarch Were Watching Sports on TV
[by Dr. A. Ilchev, my dad]
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It is not uncommon for a referee to make a blunder while officiating at a decisive game - Maradona’s 'hand-of-God' goal versus England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal in Mexico City is a notable example. However, the case of the last sixteen match between Germany and England at the World Cup 2010 in South Africa takes the repercussions of the fallibility of man to a completely new level.
There was no doubt about the validity of England midfielder, Frank Lampard's goal - TV cameras confirmed it from every possible angle and it looked 'in' in both real-time and in slow motion. What’s more, the ball was not just a hairbreadth, or an inch, or even a foot but almost a yard behind the goal-line. One wonders what the referee and his assistant were doing at the time. Maybe they were thinking what they could do with the FIFA pay-packet which was already allocated to them. A few excesses at Sun City, perhaps? The unpardonable error will always haunt them until the end of their careers (if they have not reached the finishing line already).
Yet, my concern is not with the referee. It was a bit too late for him to revise his decision and he did not want to embark on a procedure with no actual precedent and with the possibility of a Pandora's box unravelling before the eyes of the world. I am not blaming the FIFA officials who supervised the game – they did not want to start a precedent with unpredictable consequences either. After all it was they who were digging their heels in, opposing any ideas of introducing TV replays and a television official in football as has been common practice in both cricket and rugby union for a considerable length of time now. My concern is about the unique chance blown by the German football players who could have made history and, possibly, would have changed the world of this popular sport forever. I would like to adopt Plutarch’s parallel mode in clarifying my point: cricket versus football.
It was during an epic international test cricket mach between the West Indies and England - the kind of clash which offers ample opportunities for a brilliant player to shine - that a certain talented member of the West Indies’ team (one Brian Charles Lara) single-handedly destroyed the opposition. Well, not exactly single-handedly - he was using both hands whilst batting. At the end of the game, the English cricketers lined up in a guard of honour to demonstrate their great respect and admiration to this single opponent who brought about in such a spectacular and memorable way a magnificent victory for his side.
Against the backdrop of the above, I would like to super-impose the German football players who are paid more per week than a professional cricket player grosses in a year. Their names are all over major brands' billboards. These men are worshipped by millions of fanatics who would go to unfathomable lengths to catch a glimpse of the celebrities' aura. Yet the German footballers' class of 2010 does not appear to love football as a sport for if it did then the natural reaction to the travesty of justice perpetrated upon Fabio Capello's England should have been as follows:
The German team heads for its changing-room at half-time, discusses what took place on the field of play and agrees that the officials will not take any action. Thus there is a risk that the whole game would be compromised. The Germans then decide to take the matter in their own hands. As the teams return to the arena and the match official resumes proceedings, the Germans take possession of the ball, then they kick it into touch. They then line up together, goalkeeper included, and give a sign to the English players to quickly score a goal in order for the match to continue without the burden of the referee’s earlier appalling decision. There is nothing in the rules of football which stipulates against such action so the referee would have had no other option but to award the goal to England. Had this happened, the benefits would have been far-reaching:
1. The whole world would have hailed the gallant German sportsmen
2. The football hooligans would have been moved. Maybe they would have realised that smashing furniture, shop-windows and each other's heads is not the ideal way to show the world how much they love the game of football
3. Millions of young children would want to excel in football and not only be motivated by financial incentives
4. In the spirit of the classic English adage “It's just not cricket” one would be right to say "It's just not football”.
For the first time in my life (I am 64 now), I wish I were a player who had made it to the top and was in the German starting eleven in Bloemfontein on June 27, 2010 when a stunning opportunity to change football and in a way the whole world would have stared me in the face. The German footballers blew that once-in-a-blue moon chance to pieces.
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