Valcke's "First Time"

I would much rather be talking about the recent MLS final, where Beck's exited in classic style (is LD going to stay though?) and the refereeing crew led by Silviu Petrescu did well, despite "premonitions" of the opposite.

A telling article with quotes is here, where while Houston was not happy with everything, it was clear they were not laying the issue at the feet of Petescu ... as they should not.

Enough about that however ... my eyes were on the Confederations Cup draw, led by our Brazilian insulting friend, and FIFA VP, Jerome Valcke.

Now from the jump, after what happened during World Cup voting, I would think that FIFA would be particularly sensitive to gatherings by FIFA when decisions are made.

I know, I know, this is not a "voting situation", it should be as simple as picking names from a bowl. I mean (8) teams were being picked into (2) groups of (4), and no (2) teams from the same region could be in the same group (Spain and Italy, and Brazil and Uruguay had to be in different groups). Easy peasy. Even Valcke declared as much by saying, "It's an easy draw ..."

How that one work out?

Not so good, as Uruguay was placed in the same group as Brazil, who was rightly atop Group A as host nation. A circus quickly followed, the full details of which can be read here, and here.

Ah poor Jerome, red faced in front of a worldwide audience for picking names out of a hat. I had to wonder how he would do as a referee.

His excuse, “It’s sad these things happen in life, this is my first time,” he said afterwards.

Well his boss was nonplussed about the whole thing saying, (the Confederations Cup is) "... not a rehearsal - it is a tournament of champions."

Way to tick off you boss Jerome.

Now listen, I am not picking on him because he made a mistake, we all do at times. My comment comes into play because FIFA needs to get this stuff right. Voting, selections, pairings, in front of a world wide audience needs to be done the right way.

This is the guy responsible for the WORLD CUP in about a year, and he can't get (8) teams straight, and ticks off the Brazilian government when cowering under a "translation mistake."

Come on.

I think we need a goal line technology equivalent for FIFA's EX-COM decisions to put them equally on display for the mistakes they make.

Maybe something like Veruca Salt ran into from the original Willy Wonka.
In this clip Mr. Valcke is player by Ms. Salt. Result of her decision is obvious.