Once again, the West Asian powers in the Gulf that be have flexed their muscle and cowardly FIFA have buckled to their demands.
Despite Australia’s upcoming World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia taking place at AAMI Park in Melbourne, the kick-off has been pushed back to the absurd time of 9:30 PM – to better accommodate the viewership in the Gulf.
The need for kick-off times being synchronised on the last match day of a group stage is well documented, but FIFA only notified the FFA of this change in scheduling a few days ago.
It’s understandable why they do this for the Gulf region. But to only tell Australia about the switch in the eleventh hour is irresponsible and ultimately, will be of detriment to the FFA’s bottom line.
People will simply not turn up because of the adjusted start time. Those with work the next morning will not fancy getting home after midnight to attend what is essentially a dead rubber. Likewise; parents will not want their kids out until the small hours on a school night.
Crowds affect how the game is perceived in the media – if say, 9,000 people turn up instead of 20,000 the anti-football drones will have a field day.
My main gripe isn’t with the mandatory kick-off time, but with the failure to give the FFA proper notice. Had we had to deal with a later kick off from the start, the solution would’ve been simple: play the game in Perth. Problem solved.
Unfortunately, FIFA has once again displayed the lack of foresight that makes them such a laughing stock and as usual, we are the ones that suffer.
A synchronised kick-off time is an option, but not one that had to be enforced – until the West Asian faction of the AFC decided to coerce FIFA to see their point of view.
And if there’s one thing that Qatar 2022 has already taught us, it’s that Sepp Blatter and his cronies absolutely love our friends in the Gulf.
When it comes down to it, football is much like life with the haves and the have-nots. Qatar gets handed World Cups and the powers that be are so determined to make it a reality that the ridiculous notion of playing the game’s greatest tournament in January has been floated.
And then there’s us – broken promises by Blatter back when we were in Oceania, countless dubious refereeing decisions in major tournaments against the ‘thuggish’ Socceroos and a legitimate and well thought out World Cup bid left on the floor with the ignominy of just a single vote in the first round.
Whether or not Australia should have hosted the World Cup is not an issue – simply that Qatar were far more undeserving.
Laughable concepts like taking the stadiums apart and sending them to Africa after the tournament, or the prospect of playing in 40 degree heat were ignored. And this latest slap in the face from FIFA to Australian Football is no different.
There are clear comparisons between the Arabic influence in FIFA and the Sub-continents stranglehold on the ICC. Australia obviously has a far greater pedigree in our national sport than in football, but the principals are essentially the same. I’m not trying to paint us as the victim here, but it’s hard not to.
Despite being the most dominant cricketing nation of the last 30 years, Australia has hosted just ONE World Cup, Champions Trophy or t20 World Cup (when they had to share hosting rights of the 1992 World Cup with New Zealand). That’s one tournament of the 19 that have been held across the three formats.
But back to the football – Australia simply cannot compete with the petrodollars and shady backroom handshakes that result in liberties extended to certain members of FIFA from the executive body.
Never mind that the TV numbers of this game against the Saudis will drop significantly, the crowd will be chopped in half and once again, the naysayers will get to laugh about how ‘sockah’ in Australia isn’t making any progress. That isn’t FIFA’s concern: we are an afterthought.
All we can hope for is that the West Asian influence on our beloved game wains once Sepp Blatter retires, which surely can’t be too far away. Surely the next man in line will give us that impartiality that we crave?
Oh, the Vice President is Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan. I guess not.
Kasey
Guest
Nordster: I think you're reading to much into that comment mate. I saw it as similar to many comments I hear at Norwood oval during the footy season..here in SA many of my SANFL following colleagues derisively refer to the AFL as the VFL. as in, "did you hear Collingwood beat xyz in the VFL today?" or Q: "whats the Crows score?" A: "who cares about the VFL mate?" relax.
Kasey
Guest
double post deleted.
BrisbaneBhoy
Guest
Why are so many people crying over this. It is just a couple of hours. I don't recall this much whining when Brisbane had to change kick-off times and/or days in the past (with less notice). Change of time was to suit Foxtel and the TV audience of the southern states (change of day was due concerts booked at same venue). ---- Being a small not so powerful player seems to upset alot in Australia. Maybe we should move back to Oceania were we can be the big boys again. So we can tell ourselves we are the big boys of our sport so we can feel the same as those who follow the rugby codes and/or cricket.
BrisbaneBhoy
Guest
What a top post. Well said.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
Was it? Sorry, I just read what I read on Soccernet a few days ago and saw that the Australia time was still at it's original time so when I saw the Oman time I figured that was it's original time too. I guess they'd just updated the Muscat time earlier.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
The kick off time for OMA v THA was originally scheduled for 1900. The previous 2 WCQs in Muscat against KSA & AUS were played at 1900 & 1800 respectively. So, the Omanis have moved their game 4.5 hrs earlier & we've moved ours 2 hours later. It's not perfect but it's called compromise. Aussies need to get over their victim mentality that FIFA & FFA are out to get us.
nordster
Guest
"coerced" there u go again ... they *requested* it. And entirely within their rights to do so.
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
A good point, but that time was always scheduled for kick-off in Muscat. I've no idea why. For parity's sake, I just went back and had a look at this stage of qualifying in the 2010 WC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_AFC_Third_Round) Seems we played our last game against China a few hours before Iraq took on Qatar. In fact, in none of the five groups was the last fixture of the group synchronised. But that's not the point - nobody is saying that simultaneous kick-offs are a problem!! We just have an issue with the fact that it was moved less than a month in advance, because the Saudis coerced FIFA into making the decision. As everybody that has agreed with me has noted, a 9:30 start would've been fine if we'd known from the start - and we could've played it in Perth, who so sorely deserve an international.
nordster
Guest
yes i guess when we prove ourselves to be willing to show some grace and humility in situations like these. Thankfully FFA are proving to be better at it, as the commentariat has some ways to go. :)
nordster
Guest
the problem is this has been a rule thats always been there by the sounds but seemingly never enforced. So over so many time zones like in AFC there's going to be some "teething problems" to put it lightly. The principle is solid enough, play games at the same time when its down to the wire like this. Its a big enough deal for the Saudis to bring it up, i think they should be accommodated. If it were to be Australia asking for the rule to be enforced, then more than likely YES we would get the same treatment. You haven't even come close to proving "favouritism" to anyone in particular, nor your assumption ... based on other people's reporting ... that Qatar purchased the 2022 finals! Holding an orthodox opinion like u do ... yes most people agree with this so far unproven fallacy... doesn't make u immune to a spot of (xenophobic) delusion yourself. :)
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
It's a global game and that means inconvenient time zones for everyone - not just Aussies. Maybe there is an Omani sports website where they're whinging about having to play at 1430 in the afternoon, when everyone is at work and at school? How would Aussies like if AUS v KSA was scheduled for 2:30 pm and OMA v THA was scheduled for 7:30 am? Would we be any happier or would we still complain? Why should AUS be given the perfect 1930 kick off?
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
A quick check on timeanddate.com tells me it will be 2:30 in the afternoon in Muscat.
Kasey
Guest
the give and take of the AFC?? I think it means we're supposed to be all "geez, thanks mister for letting us join your club so we could get the hell out of Oceania" Not sure how long until we are considered a full member by the nations of Asia. Maybe after we host the AFC Cup in 2015?
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
Fair enough - I know the game is meaningless but can you really imagine a situation where games would be moved in other time zones to accommodate the East Coast of Australia? And much more importantly, like AGO74 said below - "Does this mean that if we were playing away somewhere in the Gulf that in order to ensure a simultaneous kick off with a game in Japan or Korea that a game could be kicking off in Doha or dubai under a baking hot summer desert sun? Or alternatively for health risks the last round is set to kick off in the desert at nighttime that if we are a top seed (which is more likely) we could be forced to play a home qualifier at 3 or 4 in the morning." This game is a dead rubber, but the issue itself is very important because it's not like this is the last time we'll see it. I'm against favouritism at any professional level...I have the same distaste for FIFA that I do for the bigwigs in the AFC; does that mean I hate Swiss people as well? Happy with people to disagree with me, just recent being called a racist or a xenophobe.
nordster
Guest
its not the opinion so much that i take issue with as how its cloaked in all these insinuations about shady backroom deals, which whether u like it or not are part of world sport, politics and business. Just because its now West Asia and Arabs with a bit of power (and in this case they have a fair point), u want to get your panties all in a twist about it. :) fact is this is not a big deal, the game is meaningless for us largely. Your blog is really just another example of thinly veiled xenophobia masquerading as legitimate outrage. All this stuff about West Asia "coercing" FIFA, being "handed" the 2022 world cup LOL. Its just dripping with disdain...
Kasey
Guest
they'd just make the result null and void. FIFA come across as a bunch of doddering old fools, but blatant disregard for their rules and statutes would see us cop a real flogging from the power-brokers in Zurich:( Its already been established that we are pretty clueless as a country wrt international football politics, we're not exactly flush with friends in the corridors of power. What a black eye for the game that would be. We say stuff you and play it at the original time. FIFA null the result and suspend Australia from international competition. Considering we're top of our current qualifying group, that would be the "Soccer shooting itself in the foot (once again)" headline the media in this country loves! (and it would be true to a certain point. Final games in a league or round robin are supposed to be played simultaneously to reduce the temptation for shady characters to engage in match fixing. Waiting until after FFA had tickets sold to change the kick off time is a SNAFU, but we just need to buck up, go with the stiff upper lip and get on with qualifying for the World Cup. regarding allegations of the West Asians currying undeserved power in Zurich...did you watch the Qatar presentation for WC2022? Watch it, then watch ours. the gulf(pun intended) is huge. I really wanted Australia to win the rights to host the WC, and was bitterly disappointed that we lost and Qatar won, but their bid politics was so much stronger than ours. Our technical bid was better, but we just plain got out-politicked. Power and money equals influence, its no secret that the contenders for the US Presidency are mostly rich White guys backed by funding from big corporations. The USA has a large untapped population and a very large economy with companies willing to sponsor FIFA's tournaments(Budweiser is the 'official beer of the World Cup') how else do you explain the USA getting the WC in 1994, considering the terrible state of football in that country at the time? We are a small country with a solid but small economy(relatively speaking). I think Australians in general forget that this is not Rugby/cricket or any other commonwealth only sport, we don't have a historic cachet of influence in football. We've joined the party relatively late and we need to earn our political points. Only time and good politics can do that.
apaway
Roar Guru
So if the Melbourne game kicks off at 9.30pm, what time are the other games being played in the countries that are hosting them?
Matt Bungard
Roar Guru
Well, according to some that read this article you'd get less than 9,000. Which is of course, completely ridiculous. Perth deserves another game...they've not had one since that Indonesia match, and that was with the likes of Jon McKain and David Zdrillic playing.
AGO74
Guest
This is annoying but what do you expect from FIFA? I feel for any families who have pre purchased tix. Anyway my question is what happens in next round? From memory we played our last 2010 wc qualifier in Melbourne against Japan in June. Based on final qualifier also being played in June 2013 what if we are not top or 2nd seed for next round of qualifiers. Does this mean that if we were playing away somewhere in the Gulf that in order to ensure a simultaneous kick off with a game in Japan or Korea that a game could be kicking off in Doha or dubai under a baking hot summer desert sun? Or alternatively for health risks the last round is set to kick off in the desert at nighttime that if we are a top seed (which is more likely) we could be forced to play a home qualifier at 3 or 4 in the morning. No problem with the principle of this sepp but in practical terms it just doesn't work in Asia.....
Mick
Guest
After WC1982 this has been common place & FFA asleep at the wheel more than likely.. No need to blame FIFA, FFA or the Arab nations. In 1st round quaififying for WC2010 Aust V China did not need to be simultaneous with other game(s) as China were out & Aust top of the ladder & the result would not have effected other teams. In the 2nd group stage Aust V Japan the result would have no effect on any other team Nothing to do with gulf influence or any other excuses, poor planning I reckon