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 couldn’t 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. WouldnÂ’t 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, wouldnÂ’t 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 don’t even know the words to the National Anthem."
Yet it can be argued that with football players being so mobile, why shouldnÂ’t 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 donÂ’t 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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