Neil Humphreys: Cristiano Ronaldo’s chalked-off ‘winner’ shames game
Unavailability of goalline tech and VAR at World Cup qualifiers shows that greed still rules all
Almost every aspect of the fallout from Cristiano Ronaldo's disallowed goal is sickening.
One of the few to emerge with any dignity is the man himself.
The Portugal skipper scored a last-minute "winner" against Serbia in their World Cup qualifier yesterday morning (Singapore time), only for the officials to chalk off the goal.
The ball had clearly crossed the line, but there was no goal-line technology to make the correct call, thanks to some patronising fluff about cost limitations.
We'll get to that. First, let's deal with Ronaldo. He lobbed his captain's armband and "stormed" off, to borrow from the hysterical vernacular, apparently shaming himself and his country.
He did neither. He threw the armband because it was the only object within grabbing distance. He wasn't making a symbolic gesture.
He didn't storm off either. He left the field in the dying seconds of injury time of the 2-2 draw, following one of the most inept decisions in recent memory.
Ironically, the sport's greed had wronged one of the world's richest sportsmen.
Or, to put it another way, an organisation with billions in reserve cannot apparently afford goalline technology at World Cup qualifiers to determine the participants at next year's cash-fest.
According to reports, Fifa has adopted an all-or-nothing approach to the World Cup qualifiers. There are national associations and venues that are not in a position to buy or incorporate goalline technology.
And so, like the selfless Three Muskeeters, Fifa established a one-for-all rule on the expensive tech. No one would enforce it during the World Cup qualifiers.
At face value, such an equitable arrangement seems entirely reasonable during a cash-strapped pandemic, with games being played inside empty venues. Across the world, national football associations are hurting from lost match-day revenues.
But the gesture doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The hypocrisy is hard to swallow as the game plays its latest round of moral gymnastics, bending itself all out of shape.
Portugal, Serbia and even San Marino and the Faroe Islands for that matter are not playing to participate in a pub-team tournament, but a global event that raised around US$6 billion (S$8.1b) for Fifa in 2018.
Many people and businesses have grounds to plead poverty during Covid-19. The folks at Fifa are not among them. There is enough in the pot to pay for goalline technology at World Cup qualifiers, surely.
COFFERS SWELL
Obviously, the pandemic hasn't helped. According to an AP report, Fifa has forecast a US$120 million drop in their revenue plan through to the 2022 World Cup. But the Qatari extravaganza is still expected to swell the coffers by around US$4.7b.
So the gravy train doesn't stop, not for the implementation of goalline technology and certainly not for the 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that have reportedly died building the stadiums in Qatar.
Did you feel that awkward shift in tone there? From a dodgy goalline decision to deaths on World Cup building sites, why are the two being pulled together?
Maybe it's because a brave minority of outraged footballers and their respective associations are finally deciding that even though both issues are essentially about the same thing - money - it's probably time to focus more on the one that's killing people.
SUPPORT
In recent days, Norway and Germany have both displayed support for exploited workers building the Qatari stadiums, pointing out that a) the World Cup really isn't worth dying for and b) maybe those who are not dying could be paid more than £130 (S$240) a month.
Other countries may join the protest in upcoming qualifiers, but the overwhelming indifference towards the systemic exploitation of Qatar 2022 workers remains.
The outrage over the World Cup labour camps will probably never reach the outrage generated over a multi-millionaire being denied a last-minute goal in a qualifier. The moral compass is still skewed.
But the underlying similarities are hard to ignore. Whether it's Ronaldo's goal or 6,500 dead workers in Qatar, corners are still being cut on behalf of a gluttonous behemoth looking to clean up next year.
Whatever the mistakes, injustices and human tragedies along the way, the World Cup will go on. Like Ronaldo's goal farce, the process isn't particularly fair or equitable. And the money always wins.
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