FIFA Shift The Goalposts - Examining The Seeding Of The Play-Offs

The above was one of the key decisions taken by the FIFA Executive Committee on September 29 in Rio de Janeiro, at a meeting chaired by president Sepp Blatter.

In two sentences, with only one advertisement crowbarred in, it summarises the revised format in the European zone for the second stage of qualification in the region for the World Cup.

The hasty decision to categorise the eight best-placed runners-up in terms of their world rankings came barely a month before the key ties were to be played and left certain nations with an axe to grind against FIFA and its perceived cronyism.

It would have been no skin off the noses of the four lower-placed nations had they known at the outset of the qualification period that they would possibly face a trip to France, Russia or even Portugal to secure a berth in the December draw; however, coming as it does at the eleventh hour, it has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the contenders.

The Ireland coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, has blasted the decision as one that threatens to 'kill' football while his goalkeeper, Shay Given, probably struggled to keep down his lunch when describing the play-off structure as 'disgusting'.

It appears, to the outsiders, that FIFA has arranged the new format to ensure that the 'big teams' continue have an easy as possible passage to next summer's beano in South Africa. Despite being grouped accordingly at the start of the qualifiers with respect to each world ranking, the heavy hitters have gained another wee reprieve; lubrication to grease the wheels of the vehicle carrying them to what should have been a straightforward trip to Africa.

The Netherlands and Spain both managed perfectly well in their groups, but France, Portugal, Greece and more made a pig's ear of doing what was expected of them; namely, to flat-track bully the second rate nations and leave the paupers to slug it out for the lottery of the play-offs.

Had it been Albania, Lithuania and Finland scrapping for the runners-up spot, would FIFA have amended the qualification process with only 180 minutes of game-time remaining? Probably not. Then again, Altin Lala, Marius Stankevicius and Roman Eremenko have considerably less 'appeal' than their more illustrious adversaries.

A World Cup without Lionel Messi is one thing, and regrettably, entirely plausible. A tournament without the possibility of he and Cristiano Ronaldo sharing the billing would be a shame for fans but also, would be too much to countenance for the money men at footy HQ.

Not only are supporters keen on seeing 'CR9', Messi and other stuttering stars at the tournament proper, it is fair to say that the likes of Nike and adidas are sweating on the participation of their poster-boys too.

This is the World Cup, a once-in-four-years opportunity for the advertising moguls at the biggest sportswear companies on the planet to plaster the mugs of their star-turns all over the place. Assurances need to be given from FIFA, however unjustified, that the cash will continue to flow in and around the tournament.

By structuring the play-offs to an extent whereby France cannot meet and beat Portugal or Russia ensures that the status quo at the summit of the world game stands more of a chance of remaining intact and the 'top stars' will continue to help their backers to peddle their wares.

Granted, FIFA are keen to ensure a delectable draw as possible for the World Cup, ostensibly for the 'fans', which roughly translates to 'ratings', which roughly translates to 'revenue'. However, the opinion of the Irish, the Bosnians, the Latvians and others seems to justifiably be: 'the big boys had their chance and stuffed it, tough titty.'

Miroslav Blazevic's excellent Bosnia and Herzegovina team will almost certainly face a trip to one of the hitherto most impenetrable belvederes of European football despite a fine campaign. Similarly, what will be Slovenia's reward for keeping top seeds the Czech Republic from the meaningful spots in their group?

Indeed, what is the point of the qualifiers at all? Why not make the World Cup invitation only to save the likes of the limp French and the misfiring Portuguese the embarrassment of failing to reach the tournament proper?

Curiously, the FIFA decision seems to be at odds with UEFA's newfangled policy on the Champions League. Michel Platini has dug a deeper cavity between the teams in the group stage of that cash-cow by facilitating the passage of the winners of the lower-ranked domestic leagues to the initial phase. Platini, on the face of it, favours a inclusive approach, and, nobly, would seem to relish the prospect of a Unirea Urziceni victory in the competition as some sort of self vindication.

His vision, however, does not seem to be shared at FIFA though. This is a fetid place where no dispensation is made towards the smaller nations, even if it has the temerity to use as its slogan, 'for the good of the game'. Admittedly, FIFA prides itself on boasting more member countries than the UN but that is all well and good only if the underdogs do not threaten to bloody the noses of the behemoths. There is a political agenda at work in Zurich, to which Gibraltar, Greenland and Tibet would testify. The play-off decision is another attempt to maintain the hegemony and FIFA has done so on this occasion quite flagrantly.

One wonders also if Blatter's right hand man, Jack Warner, will be attempting to re-sell his allocation of tickets for next summer's tournament as he did in 2006 to the tune of $1 million. Maybe he thinks that he will fetch a better price for a pair of Portugal - France semi-final passes than for Latvia - Ireland.

For the good of the game indeed.