Tackiness-the New World Order

I thought I had done with the topic, etiquette in sports. I thought wrong. Whenever you are confident that you have said and done the right thing, in any given situation, a “spoiler” comes along to prove you wrong. This is a common enough phenomenon in day-to-day affairs, but when politics takes precedence over protocol, it is but fair and just to demonstrate against foul play.

The Football World Cup is proceeding smoothly enough. Minor hiccups are bound to take place: a FIFA referee is not granted a visa, the Iranian national team can be treated shabbily, or a player can rant about the racist remarks of some nondescript politician. But when the President of the United States of America can stoop in the hope of conquering, the world-at large-takes notice.

Sport is all about winning and losing. It is also supposed to be about fair play. The winner takes it all, all the time, while the loser stands small, as the ABBA song complains. But what if the winner wants more? Then the problem is exacerbated.

Have you ever witnessed a football player confess that he had committed a deliberate foul? Never, is my guess. The most cynical foul is committed and the player who has committed it, will throw his hands up in the air and plead with the on-field referee, that it was unintentional. Since the referee is only human, he has two assistants, plus the benefit of VAR. Goals are given or disallowed, players are cautioned with cards of many colours, and still fouls are committed. In this day and age, with cutting edge technology available, it is a shame that fouls are allowed to go unpunished. The rules are strict and are meant for everyone, coaches included. If partiality is shown, it tarnishes the image of the game, and everyone agrees that football is “the” beautiful game. But then, ugliness creeps in and even victory is tainted.

What is far worse is when there is partisan interference of the political kind. No one even imagined it could be possible. And yet the President of one of the host countries openly confesses that he made a specific phone call to the head of FIFA, that he wanted a decision overturned! Everything was “trumped” up, as it were: the actual red card, the automatic one-match suspension, the acceptance of the verdict by the player involved, and the fallacy that sports can be dictated to by power-play of the highest ( I actually mean lowest) kind. What have we come to, dear Readers. If Dante is right, and there are indeed seven rungs of hell, we may have to create an eighth one for such crass, conniving nonchalance.

Who is the fall guy in this melodrama? Just another footballer. His name: Folarin Balogun. Not a typical American name, but they continue to impress, don’t they? He accepted his sentence with equanimity, but he will be remembered as the villain of the 2026 Football World Cup.

Was there motiveless malignity on his part? I think not. He was just doing his duty. He was ordered: “Play”. He played. The overall outcome? It was just a lesson in excellence. The American team was drubbed and the scoreline read 4-1. Some banners read: Belgium 4, Trump 1.

Poetic justice?

I doubt it. In fact, I don’t know what to think.