I do not disagree with you in most of what you have said Steve.
My only contention is that if the player(s) have accepted the challenge and having being selected, and then they must perform. There is no alternative, nor excuses.
It is this way in ANY professional sport, and probably, in any kind of professional activity.
Again, you do make important points, the players, may not even realize how tired they are. But that has to be addressed in a different fashion. Like you, I have no immediate "solution" other than a few suggestions.
FIFA, as the governing body should be studying the situation and [hopefully] will NOT act as burro-rats and will find a solution that will work.
At this point in time, the suggestions that come to mind are the following: (either one, or a combination of both could apply)
1. A. Coordinate all countries that wish to participate in future WC's as to when to play the respective league championships. As it is, there are countries that have a major "league" championship and then they have a "Cup" tournament (or whatever the hell is it that they call them, frankly I lose track of them.
1 B. Coordinate International events... i.e. Copa Libertadores de América and UEFA (or whatever other applies) perhaps combining specific tournaments with WC qualifiers...
OR...
2. Create TWO levels of play (along the lines of the Olympic games... following the concept: i.e. only amateurs play in the Olympics [supposedly]) The reason I am saying this is because of the VOLUME of players now actually playing and indeed the public following the tournaments...
This single sport brings in as much public (and probably revenue) than the entire Olympic games. I do NOT have the exact figure, but I bet you with a little research, one would be surprised at what one finds...
Personally, I am very positively surprised at the level of play in Africa and Asia... an I suppose there may be a lot of FIFA officials as surprised as well...
So, I would expect that something would be done once the proper people put their minds to it. It can only be positive for the sport.
There is one point of disagreement between you and I...
It's all very well to say that with the amount of money top players earn they should be prepared to give their best at all times, but you can't increase the endurance of a human body by paying it more.
The best example I can give you is what is going on in Formula One.
The sums of money that are paid to some drivers are astronomical and indeed the money that is plugged into by the teams in research and development has reached ridiculous levels, to the point that it is beginning to have some serious effects in the sport in terms of financial capabilities by some of them to stay competitive. (i.e. only Ferrari, Williams-BMW and McLaren --marginally) can keep pace... and frankly, this year, Ferrari has an edge like no other time, all due to the massive amounts of money injected into it.
And the point is in terms of performance?
Quite incredible, in fact it is flat out amazing how these drivers can control these beasts, 950 HP or better, speeds of well over 350 KPH (219 MPH) and cornering capabilities producing G forces that only an F-16 can better...
The physical demands for a driver of these machines are truly gigantic, you must be in top physical shape and your reflexes extremely quick and so on.... I can assure you that the money paid, (and the same applies to the footboy stars), will force the human being to push the limits of performance... What these limits may be? Don’t know really, but compared to athletes of say, 10 or 20 years ago... they are considerably further than what they were then. (Example a Formula One of say... 1970 had an engine HP of around 450, today, these beasts range in the 950 HP) The abilities needed to control the newer machines have to be sharper, and ever quicker... granted, there is more machinery aiding but still, they are always pushing the limit further and succeeding. |
