FIFA punish the little guy

SO THE European World Cup Qualifying campaign for next summer’s tournament in South Africa has ended, but for eight qualifying group runners-up the playoffs promise an anxious wait to see who will join those that are already packing their bags. However, that anxiety has already been eased somewhat by football’s world governing body FIFA’s late decision to seed teams for these playoffs.

The prospect of a mouth-watering Russia versus France clash will now be replaced by what is likely to be a drab, predictable affair in which the big teams are provided the easiest passage through. By keeping Russia, France, Greece and Portugal in one pot, FIFA are decreasing the chances of one of these teams being eliminated by ensuring they cannot face each other. This leaves lesser nations such as Slovenia, Ireland, Ukraine and Bosnia & Herzegovina with an uphill struggle to reach the finals in June.

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Under their mission statement FIFA talk about ‘developing the game globally’ yet their actions are making it harder for developing nations to reach the finals. The impact of a World Cup on a smaller nation would be substantial and allow them to develop further towards the elite of Europe. An example of this is Cameroon, whose run in the 1990 World Cup was a catalyst for African football to become a bigger player in the world game and created opportunities for many African players to play in Europe’s top leagues.

A World Cup without Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Andrey Arshavin is something FIFA clearly do not envisage. The potential commercial losses from such names not being in South Africa is undeniable and FIFA have acted to ensure as much money as possible is squeezed out of the World Cup. Clearly FIFA are more interested in pleasing their sponsors and global partners, who have spent billions to have their logos splashed across every section of the World Cup than giving smaller nations an opportunity on a global stage.

If FIFA insist on seeding teams for the playoffs, this should be by ranking the teams based on qualification results. This would give developing nations reward for their efforts in the group stages rather than suffering because of their overall record over five years.

The 2010 World Cup promises to be a great tournament, but it is disappointing knowing that some teams who didn’t qualify for in South Africa will have been punished because of an inherently unfair seedings draw.