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Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous
truth. I can see both sides, I just wish FIFA would cut Africa some slack and let the African teams and nations catch up, because futbol means a lot to africans, it is truly their only international and even national sport, and if anything what Africa needs today is a rallying cry and a source of pan-African unity. What FIFA did to Ethiopia was demoralizing, Ethiopia is like the US, they will NEVER overcome the climate and culture of political corruption, but they do have a chance to develop themselves for African futbol, being the oldest independent nation and the home of the AU in Addis..
FIFA fucking with Nigeria just put another bad taste in my mouth is all..
thanks for the intelligent conversation btw, I haven't been having so many here the past week  |
No, I do think it's an interesting issue, which was why I said it needed more subtlety from both sides. FIFA is a weird body that, being based in Europe and headed by two Europeans, can lead to assumptions that it's Eurocentric when its policies (under Blatter anyway) have been quite the opposite. Blatter has a vision of internationalising football that the big nations publicly endorse but privately see as (at best) naive and (at worst) threatening their own fortunes. Personally, while I approve of Blatter's vision (who couldn't?) I do think he's at times guilty of the very kinds of naivety he's accused of, leading to things like the Ethiopian, Togaian and Nigerian affairs which definitely saw FIFA having to involve itself in areas it's not used to or equipped for.