Institutional favouritism at the world cup

[Majestic-milf]

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

Is it not Argentina versus Algeria that you are taking about? I did not watch the match, but I saw exactly what you are saying here online not long after the match.

Is it favoritism that make Algeria not to be able to score just 1? Argentina players are stronger than Algeria players was what I saw in that match and Messi scored 3 goals.

We're not talking about the performance of the Algerian team, rather the foul that was committed by Messi. Truth be told, if it were another player, that should have been punished. Watched the game and the result was that the tackle wasn't heavy, only a slight brush. Yeah, I admire Messi but let's be real, that foul should have done with consequences and not just a mere free kick.

[liasbaa]

It is a common practice that FIFA officials are flexible when it comes to a popular team or player. Not in many matches but in some matches the referees' decisions seem biased but it is not certain that there may be any such unfair instructions for them. In reality, most people do not support the weak team and even they do not perform well in most matches.

I think a person can have a personal favourite team even if he is responsible for his work. For example, if a coach likes the Argentina team and he is the referee on the day of the match of that team, naturally he may make some biased decisions. Such decisions can happen in many matches so it may not be fair to blame FIFA for this in general.

[_act_]

We're not talking about the performance of the Algerian team, rather the foul that was committed by Messi. Truth be told, if it were another player, that should have been punished. Watched the game and the result was that the tackle wasn't heavy, only a slight brush. Yeah, I admire Messi but let's be real, that foul should have done with consequences and not just a mere free kick.

I know what Messi did is not good, but some people are saying he should get a red card, not even a yellow card. But if indeed Messi got a yellow card, Argentina would still win that match because they have a better team than Algeria. If I did not post about the foul, you supposed to know that I admitted that Messi fouled, but still Argentina will still win. Expect Jordan and Algeria to be the one competing on the J group stage.

[CryptoYar]

Idea of FIFA selling out tournaments for the sake of best TV ratings and business income is open secret now. Clear fakeness in the way officiating in important matches, with famous superstars being allowed to book in style while underdogs are punished for tiniest of protests, is not just human error but more case of protection racket for high value brands. Big slap in the face of rule book that is all things to all men for star player such as Ronaldo is clear reduction of normal multi match ban. Though it has been well known as hard to prove fixed bracket planning with appearance of random draws, math simply does not add up that many dominant TV markets do not end up on easiest routes to final. In era where money is ruling factor of sport, fair play is first thing to go.

[crwth]

I think this is where technology comes in, because a video assistant would reduce biases and correct mistakes that live referees make. This should be the priority, especially in controversial cases where favoritism is occurring.

Isn't there an evaluation system for referees to prevent them from making poor decisions?
^{(there might be crazy conspiracies with this)}

[Die_empty]

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

I think it is too early to conclude that some players or countries are being favoured in this World Cup. Officials could make mistakes and this might be what happened in the red card issues. I was also surprised that Messi was not booked for that clumsy challenge.

It is also not strange to see officials giving some players some special treatment. Due to the player's influence, wealth, and achievements, some officials might be intimidated, which might affect their decision. This has always been the situation when officials face players who have won the Ballon d'Or.

[leea-1334]

Well did you see England tackle against Ghana and no penalty, no VAR review, nothing absolutely nothing?

Of course there is institutional favoritism, in Olympics in World Cup in UEFA in FIFA in every single country and region,,, corruption is at the core of human beings and bias is what makes underdog wins even more special

[Filicius]

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

I think it is too early to conclude that some players or countries are being favoured in this World Cup. Officials could make mistakes and this might be what happened in the red card issues. I was also surprised that Messi was not booked for that clumsy challenge.

It is also not strange to see officials giving some players some special treatment. Due to the player's influence, wealth, and achievements, some officials might be intimidated, which might affect their decision. This has always been the situation when officials face players who have won the Ballon d'Or.

If you look at the image, it clearly looks like a dangerous and anti-regulatory attack, and that is why many voices in my country and also internationally called for the red card for such an action. But taking into account that there was no need for such a violent foul due to, as you say, the great superiority of the Argentine team, although I did not see the game, probably in motion it is intuited that Messi's intention was not to step on the other player, and that perhaps it was nothing more than he stumbled, so it was considered not to caution the player.

However, as I say, I did not see the match and they are nothing more than conjectures, although they would make as much sense or more than the conspiracy theories that some argue.

[Dunamisx]

There are growing suspicions that FIFA might have made some special deals to place certain countries in more preferential groups and asked referees to support them. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.

All these are just speculations in which people does not have any evidence to show improving why they are saying all these, to me I will put everything under assumption because we only thought of it, this is not the first time the FIFA administration will be making their decisions when it comes to the group stage, they know the indices they are going to use and to put in place to make everything done on an open and transparent manner that will not call for suspicion intention, you cannot just assume they should give Messi a red card knowing how professional is playing strategy is over the years and his integrity as well to play in a right manner than many other unpredictable players.

[Lucius]

FIFA is an organization that uses football to enrich individuals within that organization. If they cared about football, then these championships would be played in countries where football is popular, not in countries where interest in this sport is very low. As for the favoring of certain national teams, it became clearly visible when they favored Argentina in Qatar, apparently they do the same today with the help of corrupt football referees and technology that they use only when it suits them.

Football used to be a game that everyone enjoyed, today it has turned into a business where everything has its price. I hope someone will expose them one day, similar to what they did with UEFA.

[Mhizlove]

Honestly speaking football fans don't suspect favouritism whenever disputed or questionable decisions happens, most especially when Star players or big teams are involved. But you see most times what looks like bais can also come from human inconsistent refereeing, error and decisions that are being interrupted by people differently. The best way of approach is to seek for strong evidence before dreaming conclusions, because team loyalty and emotions can easily influence how fans see some certain incidents.

[xenomorfo]

Well did you see England tackle against Ghana and no penalty, no VAR review, nothing absolutely nothing?

Of course there is institutional favoritism, in Olympics in World Cup in UEFA in FIFA in every single country and region,,, corruption is at the core of human beings and bias is what makes underdog wins even more special

In my opinion this would be the least problem, i look with concern at what happens to players or entourage around the world who are arrested and sent back by ICE.
This is a terrible way to welcome guests to such an important event.
It doesn't really make sense.

[Achalugo BTC]

Well did you see England tackle against Ghana and no penalty, no VAR review, nothing absolutely nothing?

Of course there is institutional favoritism, in Olympics in World Cup in UEFA in FIFA in every single country and region,,, corruption is at the core of human beings and bias is what makes underdog wins even more special

That is how life its, I haven't seen anything that is not affect by corruption, which means everything in life its all corrupted and that makes one powerless because one can't do anything about it, other than to accept it just like that and I understand how you feel towards it, though I didn't watch it due to how busy I was by the time I'm less busy, the match has already ended. Also in football game, the refs are not exceptional too, as they can either be bribed or they do their own thing as it pleases them, as everyone has a way to play or do things to favour them.

[Alex077]

. For instance many have said Messi should have been given a red card for aggressive tackles and many Argentine played also were aggressive but referees didn't touch the. Instead their opponents were given cards just for speaking at times.
Then there's also the fact that certain countries will be placed at noticeably easier brackets if they pass on the second phase while others will have a notoriously harder path to victory from the start.
The final straw was FIFA commuting the standard three match ban specifically for Christiano Ronaldo after he was the recipient of a card.
There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

As we can see in many times football history already has examples a lot of corruption and controversial decisions, so questions about transparency are understandable sometimes... But at the same time, we need to separate real evidence from simple frustration over bad refereeing. That’s why any controversial decisions involving such players always attract much more attention and create more discussions.
In the end, the biggest problem is not only whether favoritism actually exists or not - it’s about football maintaining the trust of the fans.

[Crakryptvest]

I see what you are saying but we can agree that this is just a suspicion from us the fans, if this is true or before it would be believed, there has to be a real evidence that should show FIFA is secretly supporting some countries and then using referees to help them, in the matches other Argentine players also did some aggressive tackles and I didn't see them get punished for it, so it indeed raises concerns for argument but there's no evidence to prove if there was a deal of favoritism between FIFA and some country but we still more games, so we are definitely going to see how this will end.

Does suspicious from the fans guarantee anything or is it a working document in something like this? I think is just a mere suspicious that should be treated as one, I have always known that we humans can never be satisfied with some things especially when it is not favoring us or when events are not going the way we expect it, I respect everybody's opinion but I don't think that it is right for anyone to start discrediting FIFA or printing accusing fingerd when there's nothing that called for that, let's not go this lane so that we won't start seeing this FIFA world cup tournament as an event that will only favour the team FIFA wants at the end.

[Agbe]

Lolz. This has happened to Argentina vs Nigeria in one of the World Cup at the group stage, I have not been hearing this for sometimes now. Referees are fun of doing this. Referees are the ones always causing problem in football. As a referee, they should not favour any team and they should officiate unbiased and neutral so that at the end of the match, they will receive praises. Referee was the cause of the AFCON final match problem.

[Odohu]

Is it not Argentina versus Algeria that you are taking about? I did not watch the match, but I saw exactly what you are saying here online not long after the match.

Is it favoritism that make Algeria not to be able to score just 1? Argentina players are stronger than Algeria players was what I saw in that match and Messi scored 3 goals.

We're not talking about the performance of the Algerian team, rather the foul that was committed by Messi. Truth be told, if it were another player, that should have been punished. Watched the game and the result was that the tackle wasn't heavy, only a slight brush. Yeah, I admire Messi but let's be real, that foul should have done with consequences and not just a mere free kick.

I think we have to wait till more matches to see the officiating before drawing conclusion. We cannot just use one match to conclude that FIFA is biased towards some players of team, doing that seems like hasty conclusion which is not good. I saw the tackle from Lionel Messi and I wouldn't be surprised if he was given a red card but for the referee not to deem it necessary, I think such decision must have good reason inline with their professional ethics. If we see something like that in coming matches, they it will be right to draw conclusion.

[rdluffy]

....
Then there's also the fact that certain countries will be placed at noticeably easier brackets if they pass on the second phase while others will have a notoriously harder path to victory from the start.
...

What action could FIFA take to help a team in an easier backet in this case?

I've read several theories and it's always a controversial topic, but I think people exaggerate too much
Here in Brazil, every Brazilian who sees their team lose thinks the other team bribed the referee, that they were favored, that there's some kind of conspiracy...

When the reality is that referees make mistakes, there are different interpretations, and so on

I'm not saying FIFA is free from errors because it isn't, but I believe most of these cases are just interpretations and coincidences

[uneng]

I've been watching the world cup's matches, and I didn't see any favouritism by referees or the organization of the championship. What I saw were key opportunities for every teams to score along the games, fouls for every teams and also lack of fouls when they deserved to be penalized. The refereeing is actually quite balanced this competition. The determining factor for results is being the skills of each teams, as it should be.

[hedgeh0g]

I've been watching the world cup's matches, and I didn't see any favouritism by referees or the organization of the championship. What I saw were key opportunities for every teams to score along the games, fouls for every teams and also lack of fouls when they deserved to be penalized. The refereeing is actually quite balanced this competition. The determining factor for results is being the skills of each teams, as it should be.

I also like the way the referees are running the championship, although there are certainly some minor issues, but I'm not overly critical of them. They're also assisted by other referees who are closely monitoring the matches. Of course, for many players, this is the biggest championship of their lives, and they, in their intense emotions, try to pressure the referees and their decisions, even if they're wrong. In any case, the referees are resisting the strongest pressure from fans. Overall, I'm glad that referees at this World Cup can tell players not to approach them and not to pressure them under the new rules.