When an in-depth study of the murky side of football is made, one wonders why it is still regarded as ‘the beautiful game’, which is followed by millions around the globe.

Admittedly, the question of doping, though it exists in football, is not too common or of serious concern; certainly it is not a hazard which is rampant or widespread. However, the game faces other serious threats. Corruption is rife in most parts where the game is played and so are the ill-effects of legal and illegal betting.

It seems that serious doubts pertaining to fair and honest play exist in every league. Fixed matches and results are not uncommon. There seems to be a sinister group that actually controls a very big number of football matches. Apparently, FIFA and UEFA are well aware of this cancer; so much so that about 13,000 fixtures per year are meticulously monitored but unfortunately, the findings and relevant details about the culprits are hardly known.

Though we hear repetitive stories of players betting on anything connected with the game, like which side will obtain the first corner-kick, throw-in or free-kick and similar episodes apart from other shocking pieces of evidence, even with names of those involved being made public, there hardly seems to be any real measures aimed at suppressing this malady.

Corruption and fixed results ruin the game.

MAJOR THREATS

Betting is also a major threat to the game. Many strange happenings are being noticed, especially during the final quarter of an hour. Unfortunately, these are becoming more frequent and have become a serious cause for alarm. Such late happenings during matches are also obvious to those who govern the fortunes of the bouncing ball. One must add that even friendly matches have become the targets of those who run these illegal syndicates. One of these shocking scandals occurred last year and involved two fixtures when Latvia met Bolivia and Bulgaria played against Estonia. These matches were organised by corrupt manipulators and only meant to serve as betting certs. Bulgaria and Estonia shared four goals while in the other tie, Latvia confirmed the predictions by winning 2-1. A total of seven penalty kicks were awarded during the two fixtures. Seven million in bets were taken, mainly in Turkey and in Russia.

What do you conclude when you learn about these open scandals? The answers could well be given by a group of investigators who work 24/7 on betting trends and though the honest fan is shocked by the findings and decisions that are eventually meted out by the authorities, the problem continues. It seems that football administrators will never eradicate corruption from syndicates that control betting. Both parent bodies insist on zero tolerance, but it is evidently clear that the measures that have been taken so far against clubs, players and other culprits have not helped much to bring credibility back to the Game.

On occasion, referees and their assistants have been accused of scandalous decisions. They are the obvious scapegoats and more often than not, they are just victims of circumstances. The introduction of goal line judges and modern technology may clear most doubts concerning the validity or otherwise of whether the ball was completely over the line or not.

However, corruption is not limited to such incidents. There are other factors that give the game a bad image.

GREEDY

Players’ power is yet another plague.

The demands for improved contracts by players, even when Europe was hit by the now famous economic crunch, can hardly be accepted. Clubs, especially those which were bought by oil magnates and sheikhs, have a tendency of agreeing to new clauses in the contracts which are mainly concerned with higher wages. UEFA insists on what it calls ‘Financial Fair Play,’ which generally speaking, refers to a club’s income against its expenditure.

However, what can UEFA do when for example, members of the royal family of Qatar spend €100m and a lot more to become Paris Saint German’s new owners while Nasser Al Khelafi assured Leonardo of unlimited amounts to strengthen Carlo Ancelotti’s squad. It will be recalled that they didn’t waste much time in signing a number of top players like Ibrahimovic, Thiago Motta, Lavezzi and Thiago Silva, among others which made them ambitious for the title and the Champions League while they forced the Italian Serie A to become somewhat of a pauper. The Al Thanis are the same people who own Al Jazeera, Harrods, Volkwagen, Disney. Their present target is Leo Messi of Barcelona and the PSG owner got his advisors to study the Argentinean’s contract and to lure him to the French Capital.

Manchester City is yet another toy in the hands of another mega-rich owner, Sheikh Mansour, whose personal fortune is exceeds £17bln, while his family’s amounts to $1 trillion! City won the premier League for the first time in decades and Roberto Mancini can always attract his targets, as money is not much of a problem. Similar happenings are recorded by Malaga and Anzhi, as well as a few others. With such owners spending millions, competition is never on an equal platform. The history of football always showed that there are those who aim to win titles and others who just hope to avoid the wooden spoon.

In the meantime, most clubs in Europe are bankrupt.

Perhaps one will do well to take the advice of the television presenter Stephanie Chircop, who is preparing a sports programme with a difference named ‘Stejjer 2’. After listening to some of these stories about the shady side of football, she summed it all up by declaring ‘let’s talk about the weather!’

One would certainly agree that in such circumstances the conclusion made by the gorgeous tv personality is just an amazing idea!

Tony Formosa is a former national football coach