Winter Sports - Football
GR SSCUTTER Sport in a bit of a fix?
Our anonymous, and somewhat grumpy groundsman, Mr AKA Grasscutter, has a bit of a chunter about, well, pretty much everything!
Why is it that, every time I turn on the news, pick up a paper or go online, I am bombarded with stories and allegations about corruption in sport?
I work pretty damn hard to prepare a pitch for our team to play on week in, week out. Most of the lads are a half decent bunch who play half decent football. Regardless of the result, the game is usually an enjoyable watch, played with a good degree of passion, honesty and commitment from both sides.
We play at a level where the officials - not allowed to call them referees and linesmen anymore - accept the odd crunching tackle, and most players will shrug off the attack and get on with the game. They might limp around for a while, but there’s rarely a need for medical staff, and a stretcher is seldom seen, although we have one somewhere! (Only joking, if H&S are reading this).
Perhaps they haven’t been on a ‘crash’ course at RADA yet; a prerequisite to playing football at the top level, it would seem!
Writhing and diving (aka cheating) is rife at the top level of football and needs to be stamped out before the sport becomes the laughing stock of the world, if it hasn’t already. Maybe a training session or two with the All Blacks would make them realise what idiots they look as they squirm around on the ground feigning serious injury from a brush with a shirt sleeve.
And now, hot on the heels of the ongoing FIFA corruption scandal, comes an athletics doping one, with the Moscow Antidoping Center having its accreditation suspended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). FIFA are horrified at this development, which may mean that there is no accredited laboratory available for the 2018 World Cup in Russia; the bidding process of which is, itself, under investigation.
FIFA has asked for clarification from WADA, whilst Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an internal investigation; which is a bit like Ronnie Kray asking Reggie Kray if he’s ever done anything untoward!
That well known oxymoron, the FIFA Ethics Committee, has called for a lifetime ban for Michel Platini over a dubious £1,300,000
80 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2016 “
payment, whilst his comrade in alleged arms, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has, chronologically, protested his innocence, had a ‘small breakdown’ and suggested that he will stand for re-election in February.
UEFA want to allow Michel Platini to stand for the presidency of FIFA, whilst some unpronounceable Arab prince looks favourite to take over the reigns at FIFA; or should that be the whips?
There is even talk of legalising performance enhancing drugs because their use is so difficult to detect. Come off it! Whilst we’re at it, why don’t we legalise burglary; that should save the police and George Osborne a few quid.
Then there’s Lance Armstrong, Justin Gatlin, Mohammad Asif, spread betting, bungs, tax avoidance and match fixing. Mind you, I’m not sure you’d ever know if our lot were trying to fix a match though.
All youngsters are introduced to sport through their school or local club, with parental support a given, so it must be deeply depressing to all involved in grassroots competition to see this degree of corruption at the highest level.
Rugby appears to be one of the few sports that has not been tarnished in recent years by seedy allegations, and the passion showed by Australia and New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final made for a thoroughly enjoyable, almost ‘old school’ watch.
Writhing and diving is rife at the top level of football and needs to be stamped out before the sport becomes the laughing stock of the world
Clearly, money is the root of all evil, but it is probably too late for capped salaries and foreign player quotas, certainly in football. I am, sadly, not confident of a return to old fashioned values. Neither am I sure that the fans would accept those restrictions put on ‘their’ team.
Amidst all this doom and gloom though comes Jamie Vardy, a young Englishman who has risen through the leagues to play Premier League and international football. Starting out at Stocksbridge Park Steels in his home town of Sheffield, he has been in scintilating form for Leicester City and is a shining example of what can be achieved by pure hard work. I’d also add Harry Kane to the list of ‘good news stories’. Sadly though, there are not enough of them ... yet.
Jamie and Harry have prompted a frantic search for other home grown talent playing in the lower leagues and academy sides. There have been more scouts at my place in recent weeks than at a Baden-Powell memorial event.
Whilst on the subject of FIFA, WAFA, UEFA and other sporting acronyms, when did the BBC decide that these were ‘words’ and that lowercase was acceptable? The use of Fifa, Wada, Uefa et al, in their reporting, really gets my goat. Sort it out Bbc!
Keep the faith, and keep cutting the grass. After all, that’s all we do!
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