The Euro Football Cup is underway in Switzerland and Austria. The opening match saw the hosts lose 0 to 1 to the Czech Republic. The streets of Zurich were filled with surly looking people, huddled against the constant drizzle. It looked like a parade for the dead. About 20,000 people walking, but no words to be heard. Just the parading of the boots as it hit the wet, cobble stoned streets. Maybe they were on their way to send emails to FIFA (the world body of the football council, which happens to be headquartered in Zurich) protesting the refereeing.
Maybe a sport that has billions behind it in terms of sponsorships and payments should have recourse to electronic medium that can verify the calls of the referees. Unless, of course, as I was told there could be some crime syndicates involved in ensuring that the game stays subjective and prone to human error. It works better for the odds and the betting mechanism.
Some of the calls did seem a little absurd to me, not that I am a football person, as such, so not really an authority on the sport.
"It was not a good game", said the traffic attendant as he watched his fellow countrymen trudging in silence, "we lost".
A matter of fact, shrug-the-shoulders statement. We lost. No excuses for the bad calls that may have occurred. A country waits for 2 years to host a tournament. They wait for 2 years to see their team win.
All that training by the various team members. All that hard work. And then, poof, a few bad calls and the game is over. One hit in the knee and the captain is sidelined for the entire tournament. Yes, he did cry in frustration as he was taken off the field. I felt sorry for him. He was the innocent victim.
Just like the investors in the Indian stock markets.
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