More protests and complaints for Brazil

Brazil's World Cup Lag Grows Dire and Angry Words Fly

Brazil may be the world's soccer capital, but as the country gears up to host the World Cup in 2014, a war of words between the government and FIFA, soccer's ruling body, just keeps intensifying.

The hostilities have followed a predictable pattern: FIFA criticizes Brazil for being behind with preparations; Brazil gets in a huff; FIFA apologizes. Then it starts all over again.

In the latest round, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke caused a storm when he said that Brazil needed a "kick up the backside." Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo said the secretary general should be removed from his post. Marco Aurelio Garcia, a foreign-policy adviser to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, exclaimed:"This guy is a vagabond!" ...

See the whole story here, from Bloomberg.

Kicking Back Comments: Very best line in the article is ""We want actions, not just more words," Blatter said."

How great is that? The ethics of FIFA is falling down around him and he is willing to sit back and watch as the governing institution for The Game crumbles around him.

Yet, you get anywhere near his wallet, and watch out, its time for action.

It is laughable frankly.

I'll give it to FIFA ... they published it.

Well kudos where they are due, and I openly give it to FIFA for publishing the report the Ex-Com received from an independent authority the Basal Institute on Governance.

The report can be see here (.pdf) from the site.

It is a quick read with nothing in it that is shocking or scandalous. It contains some middle of the road (and very important) controls on organizations like FIFA.

Of particular interest to be was the creation of term limits, which I think is needed in any such position.

To put it in perspective, there have only been (8) FIFA presidents ... ever ... since FIFA was created in 1904 (source). This makes the average tenure of a FIFA president 13.5 years.

Longest serving president was Jules Rimet (sound familiar?) with 33 years of service!

Now, is 2 or 4 years too short for something like this? I would be included to say yes, and believe on the order of 6 years is on target for such a position. That said Sepp is going to be pushing 16 years by the time he will consider stepping down.

I'd bet a wooden nickel that Sepp will be happy to implement some of these changes on his way out the door.

I digress however, I really do give FIFA credit for posting the report. It is a good first step.

Brazil v. FIFA, Round 2

Brazil Senate Reignites FIFA Spat by Canceling Valcke Meeting

Brazil’s Senate canceled a meeting with FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke, reigniting a spat with soccer’s ruling body a month after the South American country tried to remove him as the lead representative for the planning of the 2014 World Cup.

A Senate committee overseeing preparations for the tournament said the institution needs to be represented at a hearing scheduled originally for April 11 by its President, Sepp Blatter, and not by Valcke, according to a statement on the Senate’s website today. A new hearing is still to be scheduled, the committee said in the statement. ...

See the full article here, courtesy of Bloomberg.

Kicking Back Comments: This is starting to get good. Sepp is standing by his man, but Brazil wants nothing to do with him. Any guesses on what is next? By the way, Brazil has still not amended its sovereign law to meet FIFA's whims of serving alcohol in stadiums. Is it a money thing, or just Valcke?

Please stop talking ...

So big kudos to Paul Levy in my book for another excellent take on a youth soccer incident. One that I believe he read just right.

Take a look at "When "violent" is not "brutal"" from NRAH.

Let me say that I largely agree with Paul's analysis and appreciate his candor in the matter. After viewing the clip embedded in the article and the article itself I had two similar follow on points.

First, I really dislike the media. I recognize in a way I am part of the institution with Kicking Back, but there is a stark difference. I write to provoke thought through strong and sometimes "tongue in cheek" analysis. I do not like "sensationalistic" commentary.

I have commented about this in the past with some of the reporting that is done around the MLS and is intended to get a headline, not perform genuine analysis. This story strikes me as similar, lots of flash, not much substance. To somehow turn a foul from the back (that was not deserving of the punches thrown by the opponent) into a violent attack where "law enforcement" had to be called in and people were calling for "punishment" under the legal system is just ridiculous. Player lost their cool, yes. Parents behaving badly, yes. Media grossly inflating a "school yard" skirmish, defiantly.

Second, and please put this in the advice column, DON'T TALK TO THE MEDIA as a referee.

Now for those who are not familiar, there is a policy for how to conduct yourself, and it can be found in the Administrative Handbook here on page 43, and states:

Guidelines for Contact With Media
Referees

Game Officials should use good judgment based on the referee Code of Ethics when speaking to the media.

Game Officials should:

1. Not, under any conditions, discuss the politics of the game or the sport. 
2. Stick to what you know as it relates directly to your personal experience in the game of soccer. 
3. Relate only factual information about a game. Do not discuss judgment calls that were made. 
4. Avoid making declarations, which amount to speaking for other people. 
5. Represent yourself, your state association and the game in a positive and enthusiastic way.

That aside, very little good can come from sharing an opinion with the media as a referee. Listen, I get it, it can be a thrill to be interviewed about something you love to do. I've been there, and made that mistake a couple of times, so I don't fault this referee at all as I am certain this was his first rodeo.

However, don't get caught off guard. This can indeed happen to any of us on any given day, and don't be fooled, reporters are not there to make friends with you when the cameras are rolling, just get a story. After the cameras are off, you're on your own and speaking personally I have found having a relationship with a reporter on a personal basis is not a bad thing. Like most things, it depends on the person.

So, if you find yourself in a similar situation ... heck even without the media, but parents asking "what the heck happened", your responsibility is to make a report to the league. Frankly that is your best response. If someone (other than the league) wants to know what happened, you are better off saying "I'm sorry, I can't discuss this until the league is made aware of the facts", or something to that effect. That of course is not reasonable if interviewed by the police ... but even there ... just the facts, not an opinion.

Don't forget, those who are asking may not be all good faith actors and may indeed twist your words to make a trap for fools. It is not unimaginable to find yourself on a witness stand defending your comments (or video of your comments) in some form of litigation.

You can't get in trouble for not saying anything to media/parents/coaches ... so play it safe, and don't.

Written reports and answering media questions are certainly a part of being a higher level referee, and aspects that we will address later in time as I personally have learned some brutal lessons there.

UEFA Experimenting with Referee Speed Drills

Well UEFA had to get in on the technology experiments like FIFA. Just take a look at the video below. In the same vein of adding more referees to cover move of the field, here is an experiment where UEFA still has (4) referees, but in the interest of having the man in the middle more mobile, is issuing a Segway to each to allow them to cover more ground per match.

No word from IFAB yet, the World's Law making authority, if the measure will be taken up next year at the annual meeting where goal line technology was approved just weeks ago to move forward in the international game.

See the whole story here, from the Sun.

Great Story from NRAH

A lesson for a coach

One of my favorite stories in my new book took on surprising relevance recently.  First here's the story:

Ali, aged 14, looked like Li’l Orphan Annie. Short, with a head full of curly red hair and freckles, she was refereeing a game of 12-year-old players. One of the coaches, a large middle-aged man, was persis­tently and angrily yelling from the sidelines about the calls she was making.

She calmly walked over to the coach, looked up at him and said, “Don’t you think you are taking this a bit too seriously?” ...

See the whole story here, from Paul Levy at Not Running A Hospital.

Kicking Back Comments: A great read, and a worthy lesson for us all.

A Frosty Firing Line

Special thanks to Elie for bringing this one forward.

Is this enough to abandon?

Well ... it did last two whole weeks ... right?

FIFA blows whistle on match-fixing hotline

MANCHESTER: FIFA president Sepp Blatter halted a whistle-blowing programme designed to help root out match-fixing in soccer before it could even start to work, FIFA's outgoing head of security said on Wednesday.

The plan to grant anonymity and protection to players and officials targeted by illegal gambling groups was announced amid great fanfare by world soccer's ruling body last September.

It was quietly put on ice two weeks later when Blatter decided to integrate it into broader efforts to clean up governance at FIFA, which has been dogged by allegations of corruption over the awards of World Cups to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 and its own election process. ...

See the whole story here, from the Times of India.

Kicking Back Comments: It's almost too easy sometimes. This is one of those cases to me.

Good for the US?

As I'm sure you've heard by now, the US was eliminated from Olympic qualifying the other day by El Salvador.

Is this a good thing for the US?

I would say yes ... but not for the disarray and disappointment the players were left with, it is for the US referees looking to go to England this summer.

As you can imagine, when it comes time to select tournament referees, aside form the European bias such tournaments have in selecting their referees, US referees I would think would do fine as the country now does not have a "dog in the hunt" courtesy of last nights result.

Lemonade from lemons, maybe. But also a very real fact of tournaments like this.

We'll see what happens this summer.

Tough Report, but Will FIFA Listen?

FIFA to get 'tough' report on corruption

The anti-corruption expert appointed by FIFA to advise on modernizing reforms and repairing its scandal-hit reputation promises a ''tough'' report to soccer's governing body.

Mark Pieth told the Associated Press that FIFA President Sepp Blatter's executive committee would be wise to accept ''most everything'' when the proposals are presented Friday. The Swiss law professor's 13-member panel includes soccer officials, sponsors and experts in clean government.

''It's going to be pretty tough. There are a few issues that will need heavy negotiation,'' Pieth said in an interview at his University of Basel office. ''If they are wise, they will pick up most everything that is put before them.'' ...

See the whole article here, courtesy of fox sports.com.

Kicking Back Comments: Here is another shining example if FIFA is paying attention to get a "get out of free" (almost) jail card. FIFA summarily rejected this previously from an outside source, but if they take it seriously this time, really seriously this time, they may be able to make some headway.

Even the interim report made sense for some things like, get outsiders, and, replace the old guard (to paraphrase).

This full report is due out on Friday and I hope they publish it as I look forward to see if FIFA is willing to "eat its own dog food."

Any bets?

Blame Kicking Back Junior, Not Me

Junior has turned me onto "Annoying Orange," a sample of which, in a World Cup theme is below.

In other adventures you can see Pear, Passion, and Marshmallow. These characters along with Orange pretty much sum up my family life.

All I can say is, I am not Orange.

10 Year Old Arrested ... Did they get the right person?

So as a follow up to the gruesome youth soccer event that took place in Hong Kong, "Yeah, they are 11 years old", we have a follow up courtesy of a couple of loyal readers. Special thanks to Dr. Rice and an International AR to be soon named.

Based on the article "Hong Kong 10-year-old arrested after violent youth soccer foul", it would seem the HK police have got their "man", but the question I have is, do they have the person to blame?

In my opinion that answer is no.

I base that not on American law where an infancy defense may be available (see here, or more generally the rule of 7's in both criminal and tort law), but on the more common sense notion that a 10 year old does not get these ideas sua sponte, or at least, not in isolation.

My question is, why isn't the ESF coach getting hauled in as well? To me, he is just as, if not more culpable, than the 10 year old boy he was coaching. Here's why.

Take a look at the whole clip starting about :36. Who commits the first (2) nasty fouls?

The #2 player for blue, yes?

Who commits the kick to the head? The #2 player for blue.

So lets say for argument sake that #2 blue was doing this stuff with intent and he was doing in of his own volition.

Why oh why didn't the coach pull him off after foul 1 ... how about 2? Both were nasty and should have stood out, right? After all the parents were so upset they came into the field to make it known how nasty these fouls were, right?

So either the coach was oblivious, like on Mars oblivious, or wanted it to go on.

I don't think he was oblivious. These players were skilled enough at a young enough age to make it clear to me there were trained well.

Still don't believe me? Take a look at 1:20 of the video with blue #3. He fouls and opponent, is not touched, and on the referee whistle, holds his eye like he was hit.

These kids are well coached ... I should say, professionally coached. There is nothing good about this coaching.

Based on the video evidence, these tackles were intentional, and I believe the ESF coach taught it, or at the very least, condoned it.

If he was truly concerned, the ESF coach should have pulled the offending players off, and sat them down until they calmed down.

In my opinion the ESF coach is the one who should be up in front of a magistrate. Instead the coward is letting a 10 year old boy take the rap.

If only FIFA had these b@ll$

Saints Coach Suspended for Season Over Bounties

Meting out unprecedented punishment for a crush-for-cash bounty system that targeted key opposing players, the NFL suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton without pay for next season and indefinitely banned the team's former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams.

Payton is the first head coach suspended by the league for any reason, accused of trying to cover up a system of extra cash payouts that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday called "particularly unusual and egregious" and "totally unacceptable." ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of ABC News.

Kicking Back Comments: Top marks for Roger Goodell! Imagine, just imagine, if FIFA has this courage to deal with its corruption issues. You could almost watch the sea part if Sepp had the gumption.

Heavy handed? Maybe.

Message sending? Definitely!

You can bet that all the other teams in the NFL who likely did this, and have any form of tangible evidence are shredding it as we speak here.

Imagine ... just imagine The Game without corruption.

You know, this works for on the field stuff too. If a player presents you with a gift wrapped opportunity to send an appropriate message to all the other players (an example may be for a hard challenge), by all means send the message (however you see fit).

At the end of your match, I'd bet that you would see less issues if you handle the first one with sufficient emphasis.

"The Commish" did here, and the game he presides over will be the better for it in the immediate and long term.

Now THIS is more like it

U.S. Soccer, MLS Create Professional Referee Organization to Manage Soccer Officials in the United States

The U.S. Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer announced today the formation of the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), an organization that will be responsible for managing the referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada.

CHICAGO (March 6, 2012) – The U.S. Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer announced today the formation of the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), an organization that will be responsible for managing the referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada.

The creation of PRO is designed to increase the quality of officiating in U.S. and Canadian professional leagues, develop more professional quality officials at a younger age and develop officials who will represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions. ...

See the whole article here, from US Soccer.

Kicking Back Comments: Here we go folks! NOW we are cooking with gas!

Our Nitwit to the North

Raising the bar for MLS referees

Admission of the problem is the first step to a cure. In the glass half full world of Major League Soccer, there are never really problems - only initiatives.

MLS, however, has a problem which needs fixing. Like anything worthwhile, it cannot be done overnight but the League wants it known a serious initiative is being launched to tackle the situation.

At the dawn of a brand new season, there's a new franchise in Montreal, a new stadium in Houston and a new broadcast partner across the United States. MLS continues to toot its horn on a range of issues from improved standard of play to the growing visibility of the sport in North America. ...

See the whole page of drivel here, from cbc.ca.

Kicking Back Comments: So I read this article, and you know what I got out of it?

A headache.

I'm not sure what is was. Either the snotty tone Reed takes mocking MLS for its "initiates," or "complimenting" the league for recognizing it has a "problem" (which Reed does not define), or his clear inexperience understanding what he is commenting about.

It would have been great to detail Mr. Walton's appointment and maybe do some research about what prompted it from the PRO or MLS perspective. How about some thoughts, some specific thoughts about what needs to be adjusted, and in some cases just plain 'ole fixed in the refereeing ranks.

[I'll give you a hint Mr. Reed ... consider making the referees salaried professionals ... and pay them.]

Nope. Just a fluffy piece back-handly mocking the work that has gone into where we are now with MLS, and asking the self serving question ... Gee will it be fixed now?

Who wants to bet this will be followed sometime mid-MLS season with a "Well I guess it's not working ..." piece?

I've read some of his other stuff and it's pretty good I think. I just don't understand why the wheels come off the journalistic cart when discussing referees.

Then again, in looking at his experience, he has watched a lot of The Game, and to nearly all, that qualifies them to understand the nuances of professional league refereeing, and comment openly about their "problems."

Reed gives us an "out" however in his closing statement that referees don't make the rules, they just enforce them.

If the comment in isolation does not scream "nitwit" (to The Game), I don't know what does. 

iWhat? No silly ... ITIP.

So as I write this, I have just finished up an intense class becoming a US Soccer referee instructor.

I'll be honest folks, it is a bit head spinning and intimidating.

You would think that after a lifetime of being on a field with refereeing and assessing matches I would know what to expect or how to teach referees the same, right?

Wrong!

I was blown away with the preparation, detail, and methodology required to pull off even the (relatively) simplest teaching topics.

After presenting several times and critiquing others doing the same I can say that I have not even scratched the surface, and find myself back at square one on the learning curve.

The method itself is called ITIP, and is described here, in Madeline Hunter's materials, and can also be found here at the US Soccer website.

This is worth a look to any referee who attends a recertification to begin to appreciate the work that is placed into how instructors do what they do so well ... to teach.

Yeah, they are 11 years old

Paul Levy in "On the pitch, we can all do better than this" brought this video to our attention. I find it grotesque.



11 Year old players do not know how to foul like this. It is taught, and is pathetic.

While it can be difficult for a young referee (of any age) to get their head around this, it can happen, so be ready.

Our season start in (2) weeks in this part of the world ... are we ready as referees to deal with THIS, should it arise?

I Don't think he should have apologized

Sir Dave Richards rant 'unfortunate', warns Britain's Fifa executive

• Richards attacked Fifa then fell into a water feature
• Jim Boyce says the outburst may open 'old sores'

Britain's Fifa vice-president, Jim Boyce, says he will try to limit any damage caused by Sir Dave Richards's "unfortunate" attack on Fifa and Uefa for "stealing" football from the English.

Richards, speaking at a security conference in Doha on Wednesday,also criticised China for claiming to have invented football, and told his hosts they had their "heads in the sand" over alcohol restrictions at the Qatar World Cup in 2022. The Premier League and the FA quickly distanced themselves from the remarks. ...

See the whole story (and fountain diving incident) here, from The Guardian.

Kicking Back Comments: While I understand why Sir Dave apologized, I wish he had not as I believe he is right that FIFA has "stolen" The Game. Taken in context, he would seem to imply that FIFA is exploiting The Game for things other than the sake of The Game itself. To that I agree.

Also, the FA and UEFA members are cowards for quickly saying that Sir Dave was there "in a personal capacity", and did not represent either organization in an "official capacity."

Rubbish. Of course he was there "officially."

I give him credit for telling it like it is, and not kowtowing (bad pun I know given the argument of heritage with the Chinese) to the openly corrupt FIFA, and openly cowardly FA.

FIFA Street is here!

EA Launches FIFA Street
By: Zacks Equity Research

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) recently released FIFA Street, the latest game from the FIFA Soccer franchise. The game captures the essence of “the beautiful game”, ala street style. The game can be played on Sony Corp.’s (SNE) PlayStation3 and Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) XBox 360.

FIFA Street, as the name implies, gives the gamers a chance to test their street football skills in 35 locations around the world with different modes (Panna Rules, Last Man Standing and World Tour story mode). The game won 9 points out of 10 by Official Xbox Magazine, which commended it by saying that FIFA Street is “setting the standard for all other sports games”. Meanwhile,PlayStation: The Official Magazine described the game as “chaotic, tense, and above all, super fun”.

EA SPORTS’ FIFA franchise has attained an almost cult status among soccer fans. Thus, the release of the latest version is not only going to amplify the present craze but also rake in the revenues for the company. Interestingly, more than 2.1 million gamers have downloaded the demo version of the game, making it the second-most downloaded demo. It is FIFA Soccer 12, also from EA SPORTS’ stable that currently holds the top rank in that list, according to Sony and Microsoft. ...

See the complete story here, at zacks.com.

Kicking Back Comments: I am looking forward to getting a hold of this one ... so is Jr.

Another take on WC14 from Forbes

The Fall of Brazil's Corrupt Soccer King And The Rise of The Green Cup

The most powerful man in Brazilian soccer fell today after skirting decades of corruption charges. In the federal capital, two young men are chasing down a different kind of green.

Construction delays and corruption charges be damned – if Ian McKee and Vicente Mello have their way, World Cup 2014 will go down as the first Green Cup in history. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of Forbes.

Kicking Back Comments: Brilliant or foolish? This one may go either way in the face of the nightmare that is the infrastructure of Brazil. I am certainly interested either way.