• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

FIFA: Destroying Football Since 1904

And there it is, the crux of why its an issue. He has bought the whole tournament into disrepute

There is no "says as much about VAR as it does about him" one is a mistake, this is full on corruption of a tournament by the host nation throwing political power about.

You are seeing a lineal story when the reality is there is a much BIGGER issue at play in all this than VAR being wrong to enable it

I get it. But I don’t think this is just about Trump or the US. They let Ronaldo play in the first two games of this tournament. They didn’t send Messi off. They added in ‘hydration breaks’.

FIFA want as much money as possible out of this. Crazy ticket prices. Ad revenue. They want the top stars playing and they want the stars for the host nation playing. That much is clear.

I think people should think that the Ronaldo and Messi situations are just as bad as this, but I wasn’t seeing the same level of criticism. Trump made a call, but my point is that he is as able to make it because the original decision was stupid. But he’s just playing into FIFA’s overall greed.
 
I don't think the game should be officiated on context, I believe it should be officiated on objective facts, were these criteria met, if so the sanction is x

and I think if a player's studs ever make contact with another player's ankle, it should be a red card
People can cry its soft, but by the letter its a Red, slowed down or not. There is no "accidental" leniency and the rule is "A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent" which it did.
 
I get it. But I don’t think this is just about Trump or the US. They let Ronaldo play in the first two games of this tournament. They didn’t send Messi off. They added in ‘hydration breaks’.

FIFA want as much money as possible out of this. Crazy ticket prices. Ad revenue. They want the top stars playing and they want the stars for the host nation playing. That much is clear.

I think people should think that the Ronaldo and Messi situations are just as bad as this, but I wasn’t seeing the same level of criticism. Trump made a call, but my point is that he is as able to make it because the original decision was stupid. But he’s just playing into FIFA’s overall greed.
You can conflate it with the rest, and I agree they are all an issues, but we are talking about this specific point and it fcuking stinks to high heaven. This is corruption in the sport, the worst thing that IMO can taint any sport, it cant be underestimated and it shouldn't be a thing in 2026.
 
People can cry its soft, but by the letter its a Red, slowed down or not. There is no "accidental" leniency and the rule is "A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent" which it did.

Same question to you as I’m genuinely interested. Is there anything that can happen on a football pitch where a player gets hurt that wouldn’t deserve a red? What about two players going for a header, and clashing heads and both getting knocked out? Do they both deserve red because they endangered each other?

I just think, sometimes there’s a reasonable play, and unfortunate things happen. Not sure it definitely needs to mean red, if it was unavoidable. And especially if the hurt player added to the tangle by putting themselves in that position.
 
I get it. But I don’t think this is just about Trump or the US. They let Ronaldo play in the first two games of this tournament. They didn’t send Messi off. They added in ‘hydration breaks’.

FIFA want as much money as possible out of this. Crazy ticket prices. Ad revenue. They want the top stars playing and they want the stars for the host nation playing. That much is clear.

I think people should think that the Ronaldo and Messi situations are just as bad as this, but I wasn’t seeing the same level of criticism. Trump made a call, but my point is that he is as able to make it because the original decision was stupid. But he’s just playing into FIFA’s overall greed.

Ronaldo's was dealt with long before the WC started

Messi should have been sent off as well, would Milei have been able to call that one back, I think we all know the answer

Hydration breaks are essential in the conditions some games are played in, it's logical and fair to have them in every game

I don't think the Messi and Ronaldo situations are anywhere near as bad as this
 
Same question to you as I’m genuinely interested. Is there anything that can happen on a football pitch where a player gets hurt that wouldn’t deserve a red? What about two players going for a header, and clashing heads and both getting knocked out? Do they both deserve red because they endangered each other?

I just think, sometimes there’s a reasonable play, and unfortunate things happen. Not sure it definitely needs to mean red, if it was unavoidable. And especially if the hurt player added to the tangle by putting themselves in that position.
But it wasn't a clash of heads
 
Ronaldo's was dealt with long before the WC started

Messi should have been sent off as well, would Milei have been able to call that one back, I think we all know the answer

Hydration breaks are essential in the conditions some games are played in, it's logical and fair to have them in every game

I don't think the Messi and Ronaldo situations are anywhere near as bad as this

There’s an argument that the Messi situation is worse because the profile of the player stopped them refereeing him with consistency.

I’m not sure I agree on hydration breaks. It’s awfully convenient that the country notorious for playing games in quarters managed to make the World Cup they host require them too.
 
There’s an argument that the Messi situation is worse because the profile of the player stopped them refereeing him with consistency.

I’m not sure I agree on hydration breaks. It’s awfully convenient that the country notorious for playing games in quarters managed to make the World Cup they host require them too.

the Messi one just got missed, it was a mistake, had he seen red Argentina would have not have reacted the same way the US did

can you be notorious for playing games in quarters? are Mexico?

hydration breaks are really common in football, we have to factor them in in youth matches and training sessions
 
Maybe this will be the wake up call that the game needs to stop allowing completely dumb VAR controversies to happen. They have the technology, and they have all the time they need to make sure that they get decisions right, and apply the rules consistently. These refs and VARs keep failing to do so.

I think it is completely grubby what Trump and FIFA have done. I don’t like to see my football competition’s compromised this way. But this is not the decision that exemplifies it. Messi staying on, and Ronaldo having his ban suspended should be equally as egregious to people upset by this. FIFA are trying to make as many money as possible out of this World Cup. It means hydration breaks, ad revenue, and it means viewers. They went their best players on the pitch, and they’ve decided money is more important than pure sporting integrity. So it puts paid to the idea that the Portuguese FA are going to ‘stand with Belgium / UEFA’ against FIFA. Equally, we’ve seen Starmer get involved to get the kick off back in its original spot, and Mexico seemingly try and game the system to their own advantage too. It is all horribly grubby, but that seems to be the game at the very top in this day and age.

However, I’m more angry at the application of VAR than I am with FIFA. I’m seeing a lot of ‘this is just football, we all accept it’ when players have to deal with unjust cards. But the game needs to be better in this era. We can’t keep getting this stuff wrong. The player doesn’t deserve to miss out on a match at a tournament that comes around every 4 years because officials who don’t play the game made an idiotic decision.

It is completely grubby. But if it takes Trump throwing his weight around to start getting consistency and common sense applied to the application of VAR, then good. These dumb decisions that ruin football matches need to stop.

That Messi staying on was a huge moment, 90% of the time that type of stud rake is a red and it barely got mentioned.
 
Back