FIFA Fair Play: The Hypocritical Code

Nov. 18, 2009 was supposed to be a good day for a lot of us.

It was my birthday, and I was anxious to see Egypt qualify to the World Cup. I was also anxious to see who the other matches fared.

It turned out to be a disastrous day.

"FIFA Fair Play"—ironic, isn't it? One of the most controversial entities on the planet has a motto that contains "fair play" in it.

What's even more ironic is that 2009 has witnessed the biggest cheating incidents to date, not by number, but by impact. Egypt should have qualified without playing an extra game, and Algeria conceded a goal from Zambia that was ridiculously ruled as offside. That would have made Egypt ahead with two points, a refereeing mistake that proved to be vital.

When Egypt later went to Sudan to play the final game against the Algerians, they got the beating of a life time. It was literally a physical beating by the Algerian players, while the Algerian hooligans beat the Egyptian fans to a pulp.

The referee was so scared by the Algerian hooligans, that the match was being played more like a battle royal, not a game of football. When the Algerian hooligans attacked the Egyptian fans after the game, the Egyptians living in Algeria got their work visa cancelled.

While most of this has nothing to do with FIFA, had they had a firm grip on the situation this wouldn't have turned into an all out war between two countries.

Ireland's match proved to be disastrous as well. They were supposed to play a decisive game that would decide who was to go to the World Cup. FIFA made a ridiculous seeding rule to make strong teams such as Portugal and France avoid playing against each other.

While the Irish still decided to fight for their right to play in the World Cup, they shocked the world by out-playing the French in their own backyard.

But in the first half of extra time, Henry led France to score another controversial goal that proves that FIFA needs to allow camera replay. But they wouldn't do anything that makes sense; after all, that's not like them.

In 2009, we have seen Eduardo, Rooney, Henry, and many more cheaters ruin the meaning of football. We also saw that a referee's mistake can not only define the outcome of a game, but it can also define the outcome of players' careers.

Dunne, Duff, and many other players from the Irish team have lost their chance to play in a World cup, seeing how they are all over 30 years of age. This is all because of a player who didn't have enough decency to admit that it was a false goal, and because of a referee that was standing in the wrong place at the right time.

Instead, Henry said that the referee said it was a goal; what was he to do?

He could've told the referee that it wasn't a goal. He would've earned our respect at the very least.

FIFA Fair Play—Does it even exist, or is it just a myth? Is the world of football so overcrowded with people searching for power, that the end result is nothing but speculations and controversies?

If fair play existed, Chelsea would've been in the Champion's League final last year.

If fair play existed, Rooney, Eduardo, and the rest of the divers would've been punished for ruining a game with a single dive.

If fair play existed, Ireland would've had a fair result against an already favored team by FIFA.

If fair play existed, FIFA would've allowed camera replays a long time ago.

How can fair play possibly exist?