Expert Blogs

Would the following nations please step forward: Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Spain. The rest of you can stand down and pack your bags. Your boarding passes back to the rest of the world are now available.
 
Don't get me wrong. I don't want to dismiss the World Cup quarter-finals as non events. But I'm hard pressed to believe the final four won't involve the aforementioned teams.
 
The Dutch and the Germans certainly have legitimate claims, but their respective routes are blocked by the two best teams in the tournament in Brazil and Argentina. Ghana dreams of going where no African team has ever gone, but Diego Forlan and his Uruguay teammates will surely be a bridge too far.
 
The Spanish are just warming to the task. Their shocking defeat against Switzerland suddenly seems a long time ago and even without Fernando Torres firing on all cylinders, the European champions are beginning to show their pedigree.

The case for replay
 
There's nothing wrong with a little crystal-ball gazing on a day when FIFA's top brass went into hiding. They had no stomach to answer a barrage of media questions about the pressing need for video technology to help match officials make the correct decisions.
 
FIFA had no wish to fan the flames of the debate. Their media officer was instructed to advise reporters at the daily briefing that he was "not competent" to deal with such a line of inquiry.
 
Well, then find someone who is! Like the president, or the controller of referees, or someone who can, at the very least, acknowledge it is an issue needing urgent attention. We know the rules are not going to change in the middle of the World Cup, but please admit there is a problem.
 
Do any of Sepp Blatter's advisors have the nerve to tell him how the rest of the world is viewing his quadrennial showpiece? Can he appreciate, in his ivory tower, that there is a worldwide demand for change? Even football's traditionalists are beginning to confess it is time.
 
Surely, by now Blatter must recognize we have crossed the line between healthy pub debate and the sport's global integrity. Like it or not, and clearly FIFA does not, there is no going back. Blatter and his supporters are in danger of making a mockery of the World Cup.
 
Those of us who closely follow the game understand the process. Football's law makers, the International Football Association Board, meet once a year to consider amendments and alterations. The 2010 meeting has come and gone - the next is not scheduled until the spring of 2011.
 
But FIFA must make us believe they are competent guardians of the sport. FIFA does not own football - it belongs to the world and the world has a right to know it is in safe hands. FIFA's president therefore must stand up and reassure us appropriate remedial action will be taken.
 
It's not as though FIFA hasn't said sorry before. As pre-World Cup tickets sales sagged in South Africa the distribution process was radically overhauled. FIFA has also finally admitted the controversial Jabulani official match ball may not be as technically perfect as its creators claimed.  
 
So come on, Mr. Blatter. Take a lead from your friends in Canada and say you're sorry. Tell us you're listening and understand our concerns. Don't hide from the world at your World Cup. An honest apology would win you a little respect and perhaps a lot of votes when you stand for re-election.