Kelong Kings by Wilson Raj Perumal

Author:Wilson Raj Perumal [Wilson Raj Perumal, Alessandro Righi, Emanuele Piano]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Invisible Dog Srl
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER IX

My own boss

International friendly matches do not affect a team's FIFA ranking unless they are played on FIFA international match calendar dates; if they aren't, they don't count. These friendly games are the product of an agreement between two associations affiliated to FIFA or of the mediation of a FIFA match agent. The best thing about international friendlies is that, save for the final score, nobody reports to FIFA what happens on the pitch. Unless it's an official fixture, such as a World Cup qualifier, there is no match commissioner appointed by FIFA, UEFA, AFC, CAF or by any other continental football governing body to evaluate the performance of the referee, give him a grade and file a report. The match commissioner is the most powerful man in a football game. He has the power to call off a match if he finds the security to be inadequate, the conditions of the pitch to be unsatisfactory or any other natural cause to hinder the regular unfolding of a game.

I happened to be sitting in the office of the Bahrain FA General Secretary once as he was busy assessing the performance of a Singaporean referee. The match had taken place on the previous day and the General Secretary, who was the designated match commissioner for the fixture, was scrutinizing the recording of the game like a vulture. Every five minutes he would evaluate the ref's performance, then, after the end of the match, he filed his report. Fortunately for me, it is very rare for two FAs to engage the services of a match commissioner for an international friendly.

Bookmakers are usually keen to offer bets for international friendlies; betting companies are profit-oriented businesses and will bring up as many games as they possibly can on their websites to attract punters. All matches played in Europe and North America are customarily available for gambling, as are a good portion of those played in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Since all league activity is suspended during international FIFA calendar days, the only revenue for gambling companies on those dates is represented by international fixtures. Gambling companies want the turnover and the revenue. If they decide to offer betting on a particular fixture, they don't care to know who plays who; if monkey plays monkey, they will open up the odds on which monkey is going to win. But organizing an international friendly game or tournament and picking the right monkeys to play in it is no simple matter; there are plenty of hurdles to clear.

This is how I usually go about arranging an international friendly match: first, I contact the person in charge of a host country's national team or their FA's General Secretary.

"Do you need a sparring partner?" I ask. "I can take care of that. I will pay the bills, fly the team over for you and take care of their accommodation".

In normal circumstances, when an FA invites another country's national team for an international friendly, they will have to

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