Argentina and the refs: this is the moment England has to make a choice

 

 

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There is a headline to an article in the Telegraph today which reads, All 31 dirty tricks Argentina unleashed on England

Now we all know that there are indeed many dirty tricks in football, and we all have ideas about what they are.  But this article carries with it an extra danger.  For it suggests that a regular football journalist can spot the dirty deeds and write them up while Fifa obviously know all about them, but do nothing.

The Argentine FA entered the WC clearly knowing England’s position and the Fifa rules on political protest, but became involved in political acts any way.   And what is Fifa doing?   Seemingly nothing.   

So what does this imply?

First, and most obviously, that the referees and game overseers are either not really up to the task of dealing with the Argentine football association, which effectively means Fifa is not fit for purpose.   To redeem themselves Fifa would have to have a full blown enquiry into the tactics and if they find that the Telegraph’s accusations are right, Argentina shuld be banned for a number of years including at least the rest of this World Cup and the next one.  Until this happens the FA should withdraw England from all Fifa events.

Second, if it is decided that the accusations are unfounded, then presumably it would be England that would be ejected from Fifa.   So eithere way there is going to be a split.

But we must also recognise that the 14 British overseas territories that still exist in that category have each chosen to be part of the United Kingdom.  Do we now say that their history and the views of their inhabitants don’t matter because the present situation is disrupting the smooth running of a football tournament? Here’s the list of places, in case you’ve lost touch…

• Anguilla 
• Bermuda
• British Antarctic Territory
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Falkland Islands
• Gibraltar
• Montserrat
• Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
• Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• Akrotiri and Dhekelia (Cyprus)
• Turks and Caicos Islands

Article 34.3 of the tournament’s rules prohibits the display of any political messages or slogans by players before, during or after a match.  Now Argentina were fined by Fifa after holding up a banner with the same slogan after a friendly against Slovenia in 2014 so clearly that punishment was not sufficient a deterrent.

 Now what keeps countries in Fifa is that it is of course, a monopoly – if you want to be involved in international football you need to be part of Fifa.   So if a group of countries argue that the Argentine FA had gone too far, and Fifa had done nothing to stop them, then the next thing to be done would be to invite the senior figures of Fifa to step down.   And if they did not, England should leave since Fifa would be in breach of its own regulations.

That would then raise an interesting issue – are there other countries that see Fifa and its agencies and employees as inept and incompetent or indeed a breakers of Fifa’s own rules and regulations?   If not, England would presumably leave on its own.  If they do there would be a fairly big walk out.   So we might have Free Fifta where countries can pretty much get away with whatever they fancy, and Legitimate Fifa in which we have the countries that realise that Argentina and maybe some others have been getting away with proverbial murder and need to be reprimanded.

Then what?   There would be two organisations pitching to individual countries, each saying “join us not them”.  Now that could be interesting, because we know that  by and large, competitions work as a controlling mechanism. And if the rival to Fifa started picking up members, it would be an announcement to everyone: if you want international football without dodgy doings going on all over the pitch, plus goodness knows what off the pitch, it means getting rid of Fifa and setting up something new.

But how would we ensure that Fifa-2 didn’t fall into the same traps as Fifa-1?   Certainly what is needed to begin with is a central organising committee that is not bought out by the wealthy nations.   And we have a model for this sort of approach with the legal system in many countries.

There is one body that draws up the laws or rules, and another that implements them

Now this sounds rather good except for the fact that this is what we have with referees in England – the international body draws up the rules of football and a separate organisation of referees then makes sure the rules are carried out in each game.

So for example, article 34.3 of the current tournament’s rules prohibits the display of any political messages or slogans by players before, during or after a match.   As a result, Argentina were fined by Fifa after holding up a banner with the same slogan after a friendly against Slovenia in 2014.

So this is simply a case of following the rules of the competition – rules which, as we know President Trump took it upon himself to overthrow earlier in the tournament.

Argentina are clearly guilty and so should forfeit the match, and be ejected from the competition.   If FIFA refuses to acknowledge that they obviously it will be up to countries within Fifa to decide if it wants to be in a Fifa in which rules are there, but only as general advisory arrangements as in the Donald Trump model) or whether they have a fundamental input into what goes on in football.

Certainly the English contingent which clearly have a position within this argument need to be expressing a view, and backing it up by a decision.that shows that the rules of the competition are there to be obeyed not there to be contemplated as possiby relevant and of interset in differnt ways at different times

And I write this not as a person who has a deep-rooted belief in the leftovers of Britain’s colonial past but as someone who rather likes rules to be clear, to mean what they say, and to be obeyed by all contestants.   Because if that doesn’t happen here, then what happens next time?  Does France claim Jersey?

This if Fifa’s moment of truth.   Either they uphold their own rules, or else the British nations, with a strong vested interest in this matter, should get themselves out of Fifa and all its competitions.