While refereeing standards have been the subject of much debate at this World Cup, and some have decried the paucity of goals, the re-assertion of ‘Old Europe’s’ footballing pre-eminence has escaped serious analysis.
These have been very disappointing finals for non-European nations. Not one team from outside Europe got past the quarter final stage of this tournament, and only six of sixteen teams managed to qualify from the groups stages. When one considers that exactly half of the 32 teams that qualified for the World Cup were not from Europe, the results look even worse for the non-European nations.
At present, CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Carribean) is awarded three and half places, CONMEBOL (South America) receives four and half, CAF (Africa) receives four and half, AFC (Asia) four and a half, UEFA (Europe) receives 16 and OFC (Oceania) receives half a spot. Much criticism has been leveled at FIFA over the present arrangements, with some arguing that the present division of places is designed to ensure that lucrative TV markets in North America and South East Asia are well served. The result is better TV ratings, but a drop in the quality of the football played early in the tournament.
While some would say that the pre-eminence of European teams at this tournament proves that the places allotted to the various federations should be re-distributed, there are strong arguments to the contrary. The counter-argument made is that FIFA’s job is to ensure the continued expansion of the game throughout the world. While the occasional team may qualify and then perform less than brilliantly, on the whole there is much to recommend the present arrangements. Saudi Arabia, to take just one example, performed quite poorly at the World Cup in 2002, highlighted by a rampant German side scoring eight goals against them. At this World Cup, however, the Saudis have given a much better account of themselves; in the time between the two tournaments, the Saudi federation invested much money in both the domestic league, and in coaches for the national teams.
It could be argued that the approach FIFA has taken is in some ways similar to the approach the AFL has taken to developing this code of football in Australia. For years, the AFL gave a ‘helping hand’ to the two teams in the ‘heathen’ northern states; the result has been that the AFL has emerged