It struck me after watching several World Cup matches that FIFA soccer is the perfect sport for....European elites.
Why is that?
Well, because this is an international sport where many of the rules are...shall we say as politely as possible...indeterminate.
The two biggest examples of this:
1. Offsides - there IS no offsides line marked on the field. Whether or not a player is offsides is determined often only AFTER a goal has been scored and the fans of the scoring team have been celebrating like crazy for several minutes. Then a video replay review determines one of the players on the scoring team was 'offsides' and the goal is taken off the board.
So the offsides line moves around, there's no way to determine it in advance, which is why it's not marked on the field. Pretty cool, huh? The line is where the officials TELL YOU IT IS. At that given moment.
For a stellar example of how this works, review this segment from the game between Portugal & Croatia.
youtube.com/watch?v=FAI6iN…
2. The game clock - nobody seems to know how long a game will last. The clock is flexible. Some games keep having 'extra time' added to the clock, and some games end abruptly. One team asks for more time, it is granted; another team asks for more time and is denied.
The game doesn't really 'end' until the officials SAY IT IS ENDED.
I've watched both cause massive controversies over the past few days.
European fans are USED to their sports officials doing this crap?
Americans would NEVER put up with shit like this in their sports.
The officials are gonna determine the outcome of games based on a moving line only they can see? The officials are gonna determine how long the game lasts, and if they wanna add another 10 minutes, they will?
Americans would say screw that shit, put a line on the field everyone can see, and set a real limite to game time using the clock and stop adding more minutes every time you feel like it.
Huge difference in mindset for Americans, hence our frustration.