Spanish Inquisition: The FIFA Virus - An Unfair Attack By Clubs On The Game’s Governing Body

It gets to the stage where you begin to think that football lives in a world in which people never learn from anything, and repeat the same scenario over and over again.

For example, why do players and managers go on about referees? Everyone knows that no matter what you say, it’s not going to change anything. A good case in point, what does Manchester United gaffer, Sir Alex Ferguson actually gain from accusing referee Alan Wiley of being unfit after the game against Sunderland? The match still finished 2-2.  

Instead, he has had to come up with a blithering excuse of a half-baked attempt at an apology, which only got stuck in his throat anyway. Far more entertaining now would be for the referee to take the United manager to court for making such allegations. That would not only teach him a lesson once and for all, but probably in an instant stop the rest of the pack.    

And so now at the restart of major leagues around Europe following the international break, we hear a familiar cry ringing out. It’s time for coaches to pay homage to their ritual braying against FIFA. Out come the complaints about the ‘FIFA virus’, and about the players who have been injured while on international duty. 

The most high profile case surrounds that of Cristiano Ronaldo. His club side, Real Madrid are unhappy that he played just 26 minutes against Hungary before being taken off injured, which only proves that he wasn’t fit after all, and as a result is now out for a month.

And yes they do have a point. Ronaldo missed the beating in Sevilla because of an ankle injury but Madrid are arguing that it was the same ankle that was injured against Hungary and it wasn’t a recurrence brought on by a tackle. During the game, Cristiano just stopped at one point, sat on the ground and began to feel his ankle, looking towards his bench.

Madrid believe it was wrong for him to have started the game to begin with. Again it is a fair point. They also pay his colossal wages so feel they can shout from the rooftops about the injustice of it all.  

But what do they expect the Portuguese national team to do? The clash against the Hungarians was a make or break deal for them in terms of World Cup qualification. If Portugal had lost or even drawn they would have been out. They started two points behind second placed Sweden and although the Swedes went on to lose to Denmark, Portugal could not afford a draw as they would still have been one point behind going into Wednesday’s final round of group games. They were also facing a team which had the same number of points as they did, and were in contention for a play-off place themselves. Coach Carlos Queiroz wanted to field his strongest eleven and why shouldn’t he do so? 

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In Friday’s pre-match news conference, Ronaldo admitted that this was the most important game he was about to play for his country. Given the circumstances it’s understandable that even if the player was not fully fit but felt he could contribute, then he would do so. And if the coach felt he could make a difference even if just for a limited time, then he would take the chance.

In the end it paid off. Ronaldo created the opening goal that settled his team’s nerves, and put them on the road to victory. Let’s not forget that the winger missed the first two matches of the qualifying campaign for his country because of injury playing for his club, albeit it was Manchester United at the time. 

It’s unfortunate that things turned out as they did for Ronaldo and for Madrid. Yet by insisting that the player remain in the Spanish capital and not return to Portugal to support his team-mates on Wednesday against Malta, is not only a childish request, it smacks of a lack of charity.

What’s more laughable is that this comes from a club, in a country, in which its own media attacked two Barcelona players for being allowed to go home because of suspension and injury. Surely they should be hailing Ronaldo as some sort of a national hero for desperately wanting to go back to Portugal and be with his colleagues.  

If Real Madrid are so unhappy that he showed his loyalty to his country above taking care of his injury, then there is a simple solution for the future. Don’t buy players of the calibre of ‘CR9’. Don’t buy the best players in the world who will play for their national team and who may get injured in the process. Stick to a system of non-internationals who you can have around the club at all times. That way when FIFA comes knocking on the doors saying “Come out, come out wherever you are, its internationals time!” you can tell them exactly where to go.      

We are still only in October but already you can sense the distant rumblings coming from clubs who will soon lose players to the African Cup of Nations. Barcelona may soon be telling us how difficult life is for them without Seydou Keita or Yaya Toure for a whole month. Inter’s Mr. Personality himself, Jose Mourinho may well wag a finger from Italy about losing Samuel Eto’o. Or Carlo Ancelotti may look on with disapproval over the loss of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Jon Obi Mikel at Chelsea.

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But these are top international players. If clubs can’t bear that they play in a continental championship once every four years, that happens to fall in the middle of the season, then don’t bother buying them. Many African internationals are often torn between club and country. They don’t want to let their team-mates down at club level, but are dying to represent their nation with pride and honour at the same time. Why should they be punished for being such talented players?

It’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it? Big clubs rely on the best players in the world to become the global brand that they are but the footballers depend on the big clubs to mould them into said best players.

There is no simple answer. International football represents the game at the highest level and any player wants to wear his country’s colours. But all said and done, clubs are the bread and butter of world football. They pay players their wages, and feel they have the right to complain. But until the day when players choose not to play for their country, then maybe the best solution for clubs is to just accept the inevitable and get on with it.  

And it’s worth remembering, as always in such cases, that it’s the fans who lose out. Real Madrid will face the might of Milan in the Champions League, and the Madrid derby against Atletico, without Ronaldo which will be a concern to their supporters. While this weekend Barcelona fans know their side faces their first big test of the season so far, away at Valencia, with doubts over the fitness of Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Xavi… all victims of the dreaded ‘FIFA virus’. 

Ashish Sharma, Goal.com