UEFA’s attitude is the real disgrace

In response to UEFA’s ruling yesterday, I posted on how the club should seek to turn the situation to its advantage.

This is all a very contentious issue. For all Chelsea fans – me included – the injustice of that evening still burns bright. Drogba called Ovrebo’s performance ‘a disgrace’. It was. But turning to look at the bigger picture, the real disgrace is UEFA’s attitude in their running of the game. There has been no public admission that the referee’s performance was sub-standard and no hint that it has (or will) come under review. Which of us, in whatever walk of life, could make mistakes on that scale without serious repercussions?

UEFA is a strange, confused kind of organisation. On the one hand, it seeks to be the stern ruling body of football. Trouble with this is, they accept no accountability for their (or their referees’) actions and punish anyone who dares to criticise them – a very dictatorial style of government.

On the other hand, UEFA sees itself as the ‘protector of the game’, as embodied by the ongoing public ramblings of Platini. But much of this they get wrong. For the UEFA chief to be publically backing teams ahead of the biggest games of the season is misplaced favouritism on an epic scale. Imagine what the reaction would be if, in recent times, Gordon Brown or Barack Obama had publically discussed a private hope that a certain bank would survive the recession because it employed the people wearing the most colour co-ordinated ties and working in the mot stylish offices? Any governing body – whether of a country, profession or sport – must first and foremost be objective if it is ever to gain lasting respect. Unfortunately, and unlike politicians and their governments, there is no comeback against UEFA.

Where am I going with this? In essence, it’s a simple point: there must be parity in football. If UEFA scrutinise clubs like Chelsea for their actions, they should accept a level of scrutiny of their own. They should be an accountable body, open and willing to look at failings and challenge itself to improve. Perhaps a UEFA statement on a review of Ovrebo’s performance will be forthcoming. But I wouldn’t bet on it.

As a final point: most crucially, UEFA’s lack of accountability spits in the face of football fans. When Chelsea went out of the Champions League to that late Iniesta goal, it was after a 12 game campaign that saw Blues fans watching 18 hours of football. Supporters going to all the home games would have paid at least £300 (plus programme, food and travel costs). It is an investment of time, money and emotion that was made redundant by a single inept performance of a referee. UEFA would do well to not take that so lightly.

Have a view on this? Post a comment.

Comments

[KD]

Imagine I was told by my boss at work to interview candidates for a job - and that I should use my own judgment to decide who's best for the job. Then imagine that my boss happens to mention that he prefers one of the candidates. Of course I would take my boss's opinion into account. I might think that it I should pay extra attention to that candidate. I would probably go into the interviews with the preconceived notion that they would be the best candidate. This is what Platini did. If UEFA talk about the wonderful football Barcelona play, referees are inevitably going to see them in that light. If UEFA talk about diving almost exclusively in terms of Chelsea, then inevitably referees will come to expect it - witness Drogba not getting any penalties, ever. Platini's conduct is reprehensible. How can a governing body be biased about who wins their competition?

[CFC_Forever]

We shouldn't believe everything UEFA say. Platini kept on talking about Utd/Barca as being a dream final. Why? Apparently because they play the beautiful game. This is nonsense - all journos watching English football will tell you Arsenal play the beautiful game too (and they don't have debt, use young unknown players - all UEFA's favourite things). So why want Man Utd to beat them? Because it's really about money. Whether Chelsea fans like it or not, Man Utd and Barca are internationally bigger sides than us. All UEFA really want is to maintain the status quo and have the same old teams year in year out - Man U, Liverpool, Barca, Real, Inter and AC. We're just not part of their club.