FIFA president Sepp Blatter is at again. As if picking Qatar wasn’t wrong enough, FIFA now will be looking into changing the point system for the 2014 World Cup. In addition, Blatter has criticized the amount of games in domestic competitions. Let’s take a listen, shall we? (Thanks to the Guardian for this story)
“Its {FIFA} objective is to assess tournaments and the way in which the game is organised.
Let me give you a few examples. At the moment three points are awarded for a win and one for a draw, which is something we can discuss and decide whether it’s a good thing or not.
Is extra-time the only option we have when a game ends in a draw? And if we stick with extra-time, how should we end games? Is it worth taking another look at the golden goal? Some people like it, some people don’t.”
The task force is made up of football administrators, players and ex-players, referees and medical experts. It was set up after last year’s World Cup finals in South Africa, where there was criticism about the quality and competitiveness of the group matches.
“The other big issue is the calendar. In my view, and this is something on which [Uefa president] Michel Platini agrees: domestic championships are too long because there are too many teams and too many matches.
“Teams in leagues with 20 clubs play 38 games, on top of which they also have national cup competitions and league cups, etc. This also creates a conflict of interest between national teams and clubs, some of whom complain that their players come back tired or injured.
“That’s not the fault of the international calendar, however, and it’s a subject that ought to be discussed.”
Let’s think about this all. Blatter is first proposing to change the point system which virtually every major soccer league has followed for years and years. Why? Will points be awarded to the number of goals a team wins by? Will a win only be worth 2 points instead of 3 or will it be worth 4? Are 2 ties the same value as a win? What will a tie be worth? This is something that will be interesting to hear from Blatter’s mouth in the coming years. By interesting, I mean inevitably the wrong decision.
As for the league structures…good luck trying to get all the leagues to change the number of games they play each year. This was another Sepp Blatter rant. See you in (inevitably) a month or less.
