Thursday, July 2, 2009

World Cup 2006 Blog

World Cup 2006 Blog

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

July 2009 FIFA World Rankings

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 11:30 AM PDT

Apparently FIFA was unimpressed with the footballing performances of the Confederations Cup. If not, how would you explain June’s World Rankings? Brazil knocked Spain off the top spot - as much was to be expected as Brazil have quietly been by far the best team in the world for a few months now - but no one else impressed. The United States made a 2 spot leap to #12 for their Cinderella run, but then Greece made a 6 spot leap to #11 for doing precisely, err, nothing.

The same happened to South Africa, who only jumped two points, while Italy lost absolutely nothing. Which would lead one to believe that the committee looked at the Confederations Cup as an independent set of games, rather than one whole tournament. Perhaps falling in line with the theory that the Confederations Cup games really are meaningless.

Or maybe FIFA’s rankings are just rubbish.


[Link]

Should Footballers Be Allowed to Celebrate With Religion?

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 07:21 AM PDT

There was a familiar site on display after Sunday’s Confederation Cup Final (above). Not just Brazil lifting another trophy, but Kaka’s famous “I Belong to Jesus” t-shirt, which he apparently got back from the dry cleaners just in time to wear for the final. Several of Kaka’s teammates also wore Jesus themed t-shirts, and the team got down on its knees to celebrate together in prayer, which you can see at the end of the video above.

No harm in that, right? Well, depends who you ask…


I’m sure most people, like me, thought nothing of it. If Brazilian players want to wear t-shirts about Jesus and all kneel down together, then it’s none of my business.

But Denmark Football Federation Secretary-General Jim Stjerne Hansen has pointed out that religious displays contravene one of FIFA’s laws.

Here’s FIFA Law 4, Decision 1:

Players must not reveal undergarments showing slogans or advertising. The
basic compulsory equipment must not have any political, religious or personal
statements.
A player removing his jersey or shirt to reveal slogans or advertising will be
sanctioned by the competition organiser. The team of a player whose basic
compulsory equipment has political, religious or personal slogans or statements
will be sanctioned by the competition organiser or by FIFA.

[from page 20 of the 2009/10 FIFA Laws of the Game (released today!)]

And here’s what Jim Stjerne Hansen had to say yesterday:

“Personally I do not think that sport and religion should be mixed to such a degree that we more or less see a manifestation of a religious stance,” says Hansen.

“Just as we reject political manifestations, we should also say no to religious ones. There are too many risks involved in clubs, for example, with people of different religious faiths,” he says.

Obviously FIFA hasn’t cracked down on the Brazil team, because that definitely would have made the newspapers. In some ways this is tricky stuff, and so FIFA appears to be tuning a blind eye.

But mostly it’s just common sense. If a team wins a trophy, and wants to celebrate by holding hands and kneeling in a circle, then that’s up to them. They’re not mocking any other religion or pushing their beliefs on anyone else. And if Brazilian players want to wear t-shirts saying “I Belong to Jesus” and “I Love Jesus” then that’s up to them too. It’s a personal message. If the message was “You Belong to Jesus” or “You Should Belong to Jesus”, then we’d have a problem. But it’s not, so we don’t.
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