Does FIFA Like Bad PR?

As a sports fan and a public relation professional, I understand that sports governing bodies cannot always make the popular decision favored by the public because they are the ones who are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the sport and the game. And not just for today and tomorrow but for years to come.

That's why I was OK with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig not overturning Armando Galarraga "perfect game" that umpire Jim Joyce admitted that he made a mistake on the play which should have been the last out of the game.

But over the last two weeks, sports fans have been dealt a huge injustice over the way soccer's international governing body FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has handled the poor on-field officiating by its referees.

American soccer fans were introduced to how bad soccer officials can be on the sports biggest stage on multiple occasions. And if the officiating mistakes stopped there during the 2010 World Cup, the argument against FIFA would end with the Americans just have bad luck.

But poor officiating through the majority of matches has ruined the World Cup this year and FIFA has done nothing but make matters worse.


In every American sport, there is some form of instant replay -- all of which, but in some cases not limited to, can be used to determine if a score has been made or not.

Soccer (or football in the rest of the world) is the most popular sport on the planet. Yet FIFA exacerbates that problem that has marred the world's biggest sports tournament that comes around only every four years.

Soccer fans have begged for instant replay or the use of technology to assist referees on the field of play for many years. But despite bad call after bad call by referees, FIFA holdfasts with not implementing a new caveat to the game that would clearly make it better.

What FIFA doesn’t understand is that an increasing number of fans want some type of technology used to review plays that effect the outcome of the game. Goals are so few and far between in soccer that one play really does make a huge difference.

What FIFA doesn’t understand is that its arrogance (or ignorance) on this issue turns new fans away. And despite soccer being the most popular sport in the world, international soccer needs American interest and dollars. Sometimes the popular vote doesn’t win the election. But just when American Soccer fans started to fall in love with the sport, FIFA’s inactions at the 2010 World Cup turned out to be more like a slap across the face.

Maybe FIFA doesn’t think they are in a public relations battle. But they are taking a heavy soccer ball kick right to the mouth in the media over the last two weeks. Someone should tell FIFA that even though they clearly do not have any interest in being in this PR nightmare of a battle, they are in fact in it and losing badly.

If FIFA had implemented instant replay years ago when calls first came for it, we would all be talking about what a great tournament the 2010 World Cup has been. Even if FIFA had said in the last two weeks that they will explore instant replay following the competition of the World Cup, it would have been better then nothing. Instead FIFA issues statements that say instant relay will not be discussed.

Instead, we’re talking about why referees changed the outcome of a game instead of the players.

FIFA’s stubbornness not only hurts them, it hurts soccer fans. And without the fans, would there be a World Cup to generate the billions of dollars in revenue?