How interesting that the ASEAN Cup should ignite this debate in
England..
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Let's nationalise football - and give England call-ups to
Christiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry!
Orion Assante
Incidents on and off the pitch in Asia have highlighted a line of
thought that could change the face of international football as we
know it.
A football competition called the "Asean Cup" has just concluded on
the far side of the world. It is essentially a competition between
the South-East Asian Nations, with regional powerhouse Thailand,
the overwhelming favourites, meeting perennial chokers Singapore in
a two-legged final.
The result was a 3-2 aggregate win for - wait for the surprise -
Singapore! This competition would almost certainly have passed into
a footnote in the history books except for two issues that have
sparked debate.
The first was that in the first leg of the finals, when Singapore
were awarded a late penalty, the Thais walked off the pitch. The
game was delayed for about 15 minutes before, fearing a forfeit,
the Thais returned. There has been speculation as to why the Thais
walked off. The penalty was certainly soft and Singapore were
playing at home in front of a highly-vocal crowd.
Was it gamesmanship on the part of the Thais trying to upset the
penalty taker? Was it just posturing that a powerhouse team
couldnt beat a team of chokers? Whatever the reason, the incident
was investigated by the Asian Football Federation. The outcome? No
action was taken. No fine, no suspension, just a reprimand or, as
we have come to know it - a slap on the wrist.
This strikes me as very strange. Wouldnt this incident set a
precedent in matches all around the region that players can protest
the referee's decision and get away with a slap on the wrist? Mind
you, this is a region where football has been having a hard time
cleaning up its image.
Not too long ago, several Malaysian businessmen were caught trying
to fix matches in the EPL for profit. Also, not too long ago,
several players in the Malaysian and Singapore league were tried
for corruption. If teams are allowed to show their indignation
towards the referee's decisions and are allowed to go unpunished,
wouldnt this spell the beginning of the end of structured football
and respect for authority in the region?
European Football, and especially the popular European leagues,
have all discovered the importance of enforcing respect for
authority - even to the extent where the referee may be wrong. Let
the FAs of the various leagues review the referee's performance
after the match. Do not take matters into your own hands. That has
been the message and it has helped redeem the reputation of
football in Europe.
The second issue that came out of the Asean cup finals and this
is much closer to our European hearts - was the debate on foreign
talents. Numbered among the victorious Singapore ranks were at
least four "nationalised players" of different origins.
Debate raged as to whether Singapore deserved their triumph seeing
as how they had effectively "bought" success by drafting in
"foreign talent". An ex-Singapore international player seemed to
argue that a Cup win is nothing if the fans cannot identify with
the players. They are not one of us, he argued. "Some of them
dont even know the words to the National Anthem."
Yet it can be argued that with football players being so mobile,
why shouldnt they represent their country of domicile rather than
their country of birth? After all, look at the French. Also,
countries have adopted players based on a grandparent's place of
birth. Such players may never even have set foot in their country
of representation.
At the root of the debate is the question of what an international
match represents, anyway. If it's solely for glory, then why not
run a national team like a club? Bring on the best in the world to
be drafted into the national teams.
That argument immediately raises the exciting prospect of
Christiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Xavi Alonso all appearing in
the same England team. After all, other countries are doing it, not
only in football but also in all aspects of sport. What about the
New Zealand rugby team and even our own England cricket team that
has turned to foreign-born players for help. If we in football
dont open our minds, we will suffer eventually.
But if you take the conservative ideological and traditional view,
then aren't internationals supposed to be "bring the best that you
have in your neighbourhood against the best that I have in my
neighbourhood?" International players used to be identified as
being "see that boy from my town making good". We identified with
him and knew that he was one of us.
Can we say the same of someone who grew up in the streets of Brazil
representing the folks from Surrey? How valid is the argument that
just because the world is getting smaller and just because we need
to win a few international competitions once in a while, we should
allow whoever plays in our leagues to represent us in
internationals.
Britons were forced to confront this very debate when South
African-born Zola Budd was nationalised in time for the LA
Olympics. That thorny issue has since been swept under the rug and
forcibly forgotten. For football, England has never had to confront
the issue.
But the English team is dropping in standards compared with the
rest of World Football. We have already had one five-year stint
under a foreign coach with much indignation in certain quarters.
Can turning to foreign players be far behind?
If the direction of world football and the opinions in the world
debate are anything to go by, then the mediocre among the England
squad might need to watch out. The English leagues are full of
foreign-born-English-playing players ready to be recognised and
Steve McClaren should start looking at them seriously.
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