FIFA to Punish Oceania for Being Rubbish

By: Daryl | December 13th, 2007

Blatter hates Oceania I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: FIFA have got in for Oceania. Sepp Blatter and buddies treat the confederation like the fat kid you went to school with, the one who was always picked last for sports. Not content with offering them just half a World Cup spot, they also force Oceanina’s Club World Cup participants Waitakere United to endure a play-off game just to make the quarter-finals, while the European and South American equivalents sit happily in the semi-finals without kicking a ball. No wonder Australia moved schools to Asia. But having already taken Oceania’s lunch money and taped a “Kick Me!” sign to the confederation’s back, Blatter is now considering an atomic wedgie, by questioning whether they even deserve to be at the Club World Cup at all.

“We have to make sure to protect the competition at the highest possible level,” the Seppster told reporters in Japan. “If you want to have a FIFA Club World Cup, we need to have professional clubs playing.” New Zealand’s Waitakere United were beaten 3-1 in the play-in match vs Iran’s Sepahan this week, and Blatter wasn’t too impressed. “This year it was evident that there is a difference of the level of competition and this is one matter that will be immediately discussed in the (FIFA) organising committee first and then by the FIFA executive committee,” he grumbled.

Certainly the aging pros, schoolteachers and builders that made up Waitakere United this year were the worst team in the tournament. With all due respect, they sucked balls. But they weren’t embarrassed. To lose 3-1 isn’t all that bad. I once lost an Under-13s match 24-0. Now that is being outclassed, and an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But that’s not what has happened to Oceania’s representatives at recent Club World Cups. The last two teams fared similarly to Waitakere. Australia’s Sydney FC lost 1-0 in 2005 and Waitakere’s fellow Kiwis Auckland City FC lost 2-0 in 2006. Defeats, but not disasters.

Even worse, Blatter is using Australia’s withdrawal from Oceania as a stick to beat the confederation with. “Definitely, since Australia left Oceania, we have a problem at least at the level of club competition,” he said. But didn’t FIFA cause that? By denying Oceania a full qualifying spot for the World Cup, FIFA forced the Socceroos out and weakened the confederation. What’s more, Blatter’s job is to help the smaller confederations, not punish them. The $500,000 Waitakere received for their time in Japan will hopefully be invested into the club, making football in New Zealand that little bit better.

And I’d use the same argument that holds for the World Cup. If you want to have “World” in the title of the competition then every confederation has to be represented. If one confederation is worse than the others then so be it. No tournament was ever hurt by having an underdog to cheer for. The FA Cup, one of the most exciting cup competitions in the world, revolves around the prospect of the underdog biting a chunk out one of the big boys. Hopefully one day a team from Oceania will get its teeth into someone at the Club World Cup, but not if FIFA prevents them from competing altogether.