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Another bad idea from Blatter
Comments (5)
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 | 10:57 AM ET
A German journalist once famously said of Sepp Blatter that the FIFA president, "has 50 new ideas every day and 51 of them are bad."
We can now add No. 52 to the list.
In an article published in Germany's Kicker magazine this week, Blatter proclaimed that European soccer leagues should play through the summer months – traditionally, the soccer season for the top leagues in Europe runs from September to May.
Blatter wants every European league to run simultaneously from February to November. By doing so, argues Blatter, it would give clubs a longer winter break that could be used for national team games.
"I've just proposed to the clubs: play through the summer, make the season like the calendar year," said Blatter. "This would leave enough time for players to recover and there could be blocks of three weeks of [international] qualifying games in winter."
Blatter's attempt to unify the league schedules across Europe might resolve the age-old problem of club vs. country (clubs are none too happy about releasing their top stars for national team duty during the season) but it would cause more problems than it would solve.
Does Blatter honestly expect teams in Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey to play in the sweltering months of July and August, when temperatures in those countries can reach as high as 40 C?
Has he considered the inevitable backlash from players who would be asked to sacrifice their summer holidays?
And what about the small matter of the World Cup and the European Championship, traditionally contested in June? Do we just break from tradition and move them to December?
Blatter claimed to have the support of "big European clubs" but he didn't actually name one.
It's hard to imagine teams in the English Premiership would be all that supportive of Blatter's plan – the highlight of the English league schedule is late December when clubs play three of four games during the last two weeks of the month.
The Christmas slew of games is a major cash cow for the clubs and league that draws major media attention. Does Blatter think Premiership clubs are just willing to kiss that goodbye?
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John F. Molinaro is a reporter for CBC Sport Online whose chief love is international soccer. John served as senior editor of Sports Online's Euro 2004 website, which helped him win a CBC.ca Award of Excellence, and was the driving force behind our coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He holds an honours BA in sociology from York University and a print journalism diploma from Sheridan College, and is also the author of The Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time (Stewart House, 2002).
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Comments (5)
Marc McWilliams
Alberta
The author's point is well taken, with an objection to the following sentence:
"Has he considered the inevitable backlash from players who would be asked to sacrifice their summer holidays"?
Sacrifice is a strong word to use of those who are paid outrageous sums to play a game.
If the poor darlings had to rearrange their holidays, or even forego them, we still can wonder how much of a 'sacrifice' it is to play soccer for millions. To most of humanity, playing soccer and getting paid for it is like a dream holiday.
The arguments about clashes with the World Cup and the climate in Turkey etc. have merit, and make the point well enough.
Marc McWilliams
Posted December 8, 2006 09:36 AM
FU
Toronto
I actually think it's long overdue, it will level the playing field between leagues that currently play in different seasons and it will allow for better Euro and champions league tournaments as players will be readily available and not as tired. As for the southern climates, they can always play evening games when it's much cooler.
Posted December 11, 2006 06:20 AM
marty
Dear Sports Desk;
Is Blatter still president of FIFA? It's a challenge to keep up with which sports minister from which country gets such a plumb assignment. Hmmm! well, not knowing much about Mr Blatter, it would be unfair of me to critique his track record, however, changing the footie season in Europe, may be something akin to declaring Christmas in July, which might not be a bad idea come to think. The holiday (winter) footie games are a long held tradition for many Europeans, as they sit around the warm glow of the telly opening their Christmas presents. This may be unlikely to change for several centuries. Happy Holidays, Marty.
Posted December 11, 2006 10:17 AM
GerryH
Calgary
I think the soccer press is a little harsh on Blatter. Yes, this idea is a little ill-advised, and will probably be quashed, but at least Blatter is constantly thinking about how the game can be improved. He could just sit on his thrown and govern the world's sport, but that's not his way.
Rather than easily shooting down Blatter's ideas one-by-one, why not add to the ideas, or propose something else, exchange ideas around.
I know it's easier to just take pot-shots, but why not seize the opportunity to get some ideas going?
Posted December 12, 2006 10:18 AM
GerryH
Calgary
I think the soccer press is a little harsh on Blatter. Yes, this idea is a little ill-advised, and will probably be quashed, but at least Blatter is constantly thinking about how the game can be improved. He could just sit on his thrown and govern the world's sport, but that's not his way.
Rather than easily shooting down Blatter's ideas one-by-one, why not add to the ideas, or propose something else, exchange ideas around.
I know it's easier to just take pot-shots, but why not seize the opportunity to get some ideas going?
Posted December 12, 2006 10:22 AM