Institutional favouritism at the world cup

[Majestic-milf]

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.

It is a red card offense actually. No matter how long or short the time was tht Messi's leg was on that player's own, the video shows he committed a bad foul. It's just like a bad record to give a decorated player like Messi a red card on the first game of the WC.

[Alpha Marine]

We all watched the World Cup draw. Every country that qualified had representatives there, and it was televised on TV and even livestreamed. We saw how each team was picked and allocated to different groups based on regions. Europe is the only continent that has more than one country in one group, and that is because Europe has 16 countries, and there are only 12 groups, so that means in at least 4 groups, there would be 2 Euopean country.
The draws were made months ago. Nobody knew who would top the group, or who would be second or who would qualify for the best third positions. So, how do people believe FIFA made some teams have easier paths while others have difficult ones?

No matter what happens, fans will always look for conspiracies.
I've seen on social media where some fans are asking questions like "How has Messi never played Brazil, England, Spain and Italy in 6 World Cups?". I see these things as retarded questions because if Argentina had faced these teams and did not play Germany, France, the Netherlands, or Croatia, they would have asked the same questions.
There are even those who believe the 2022 World Cup was rigged for Messi and Argentina. I'm sorry, but anybody who actually believes that has a low IQ, or he's just being biased. We all watched the matches, and we saw how Argentina played and improved after every game. In the final, France even got two penalties.
Fans will always complain when things don't go their way.

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

Yes, that is a clear penalty, but is that the first time that a penalty has not been given? Does it mean every time a penalty was not given, then it's corruption?
If the penalty had been given, by now the English fans would have been saying they were robbed; now that it was not given, people are saying it was corruption. These things happen in every league or tournament. You can't get 100% of your calls right. There would always be mistakes and controversies, but it doesn't mean everything is a conspiracy.
I have watched about 80% fof the world cup matches so far and I can pick up to 5 cases where it should have been a red card, but it was not given, even happend to the US who is the host country in their oppeining match.

[dzonikg28]

You can never hope that a team wins when it is about all or nothing. These are fighting for everything and they don't even know how important their actions are in this moment. I thank you for being so trustworthy, a great hosting and everyone wants the best. Thak you!

[Julien_Olynpic]

If you look at it objectively, you might get the impression that some elements of favoritism may indeed exist. But in any case, it's very difficult to prove, and, as far as I understand, no one has officially brought any accusations against FIFA. Perhaps the referees and the official organization favor top players a little, since these players make football matches more entertaining. Personally, I find this feeling hard to shake.

[alani123]

If you look at it objectively, you might get the impression that some elements of favoritism may indeed exist. But in any case, it's very difficult to prove, and, as far as I understand, no one has officially brought any accusations against FIFA. Perhaps the referees and the official organization favor top players a little, since these players make football matches more entertaining. Personally, I find this feeling hard to shake.

I'm just wondering, among all the players in the WC was it only Cristiano Ronaldo who had a three match ban active?
Why was he having his ban commuted anyway? Did it also happen for others? This certainly doesn't look like a standard procedure.

Some say it was done as a favour because FIFA expected more viewership if he was playing since he's one of the world's most famous players. Would that not be the case?

[Rubuchi]

You can never hope that a team wins when it is about all or nothing. These are fighting for everything and they don't even know how important their actions are in this moment. I thank you for being so trustworthy, a great hosting and everyone wants the best. Thak you!

In football that institional favoritism. You can't completely eradicate that because we are all humans and for a reason, or the other our emotions go in line with the interest of one team or the other and due to the position people like that hold, they really want to achieve their aspirations. Secondly is the case of the host country. I have come to the realization that countries that come in as hosts of these world cup are favored a different way to others that are not.

[Akbarkoe]

I have thought this but I have not seen my thoughts confirmed even though we can see many events that are favorable to one side in the match, I am also not blind to what happens in the match on the field, and when I hear news about something strange happening like that I immediately observe the replay for verification, it's just that whether the favortism is true or just the emotion of our disappointment in the defeat of our own favorite team, this can produce different out puts in terms of our reactions as fans, and again the sentence is refuted by indications that occur on the field.

Do we have to petition FIFA for a stance on all this?

[OsaiEmma]

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.

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.

I think the commuting of CR7's match ban is a good call. Do you expect FIFA to carry-over the match ban to this year's world cup, it doesn't sit right with me. If it were any other player, I think they'll still do the same.

If there is an appeal, it Will be reasonable to commute such ban. The red card wasn't an offence that is very critical. So that is not favoritism IMO, it's within the bands of reason.

About Messi's and Argentina favoritism, I don't think what you said there is reasonable. The placement of groups are done randomly and not intentionally. So they can't just pick and choose who and who will be in a group. Referee's call in the pitch have nothing to do with FIFA. Your claim just looks like a baseless conspiracy theory.

[Awaklara]

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

I don't know. I don't really think about things like that in big competitions. Maybe it could happen, or maybe we're just overthinking stuff like that. 
I enjoy matches and betting in a simple way. Place a bet, enjoy the game, and no need to think about things that make us overthink.

[noorman0]

Star players often receive preferential treatment, depending on who is officiating the match personally. Unfortunately, favoritism can arise from hidden benefits or purely psychological bias, even though they are expected to maintain neutrality.

I often stumble upon match clips and opinions from casual observers on TikTok about this. No one has concluded that these are FIFA instructions; I think this evidence is far from being directed towards FIFA's interests.

[TedMosby]

At some points, VAR is just a decoration, not only in FIFA World Cup but in major competitions like EPL and UCL too. There are always double standards on whether the same scenario will get a VAR check or not. And in that Messi case, I think it should be a red card or at least a yellow card.

Somehow I think the players are bigger than the competition itself. And FIFA knows that. So they need to maintain all these players and do whatever they can for these players to make their millions of fans stay. It's all about money they can generate from the broadcasting rights, marketing rights, licensing rights, and other income streams including ticketing. About this ticket, some people also "believe" FIFA is behind the insane FWC ticket prices. They deliberately play with it in the secondary market.

This thread is actually a bit sensitive, especially if you are too fanatic about a specific team or player. They can't stay neutral and admit all FIFA's mistakes as long as it favors their favorite player or team. IMO, the more popular sports become, the closer they get to becoming sportstainment. It's a sports show, just enjoy the game, including the pre game and post game.

[aipercoin]

I have thought this but I have not seen my thoughts confirmed even though we can see many events that are favorable to one side in the match, I am also not blind to what happens in the match on the field, and when I hear news about something strange happening like that I immediately observe the replay for verification, it's just that whether the favortism is true or just the emotion of our disappointment in the defeat of our own favorite team, this can produce different out puts in terms of our reactions as fans, and again the sentence is refuted by indications that occur on the field.

Do we have to petition FIFA for a stance on all this?

I believe that favoritism has always been there and will always be there, partly due to the economic factor and partly due to the fact that you always have opportunities to win whoever you like best, i always watch Infantino with Messi, his love for him is undeniable and this favors him in his choices and victories.

[POPOLUV]

There has been sentiment about this favouritism by fans to referees in almost every the tournament, but seeing the one that the OP illustrated was too obvious, for me, i see this favouritism as what is common within any football competition because without that i don't see reasons why Lion Messi will be exacted from referee awarding him a clear merited red card that was too obvious and sometimes referee can decide to ignore to blow whistle on what happen in his front and until people that is handling the "VAR CHECKS "  will call his attention for recheck and to do justice accordingly.

[Agbe]

There are some very clear signs of favouritism.

Yesterday, after making my comment here, and I was browsing the internet, then I saw some Ghana fans bitter complaining that the match between England and Ghana, the referee robbed Ghana but not awarding a penalty to Ghana and they shows the scene of the action. And if that is true then the referee should be sacked and replaced him a good one.
 You can see the videos from the link.
Cheated.
check here.
And here

[Bigjoe33]

There are international observers on board to believe this suspicions to be true.
Since when did we also begin to have this mindset that such a top match like the world cup can be so manipulated to favour a particular team? I guess it was just those unpopular leagues we have this kind of thought?
Anyways, some fans would say it is Ronaldo's fans that is having this exaggeration who are not happy for the so far history Messi had made over the 2026 FIFA World Cup while their Goat at Ronaldo had not scored a single goal.
So they want cause unnecessary fight.  

It still possible don't forget that the world cup isn't much different from other matches. Same rules applied the only difference is you play against another country not some clubs. But I don't want to believe an information that's just flying around. Though in most of the matches we saw alot of bias that could have been avoided if they were being fair. But it's still football and there's no need to call for too much attentions. The recent games have been creating alot of favouritism between fans. Everyone picking a side of who their favourite player is on the world cup and it's begining to look terrible with how many people have taken it personal. Every one at their own pace would shine. They all are legends so there's no need to the unnecessary arguments about who is the goat..

And that is major problem with them. Why the comparison? Why not just sit and enjoy the sweet game of soccer? Before Messi, Ronaldo was. Even before Ronaldo, we had Diego Maradona or Argentina, we had Ronaldo and Ronaldinho of Brazil, we had good players, and now is there era(Ronaldo and Messi), why not watch and have fun. Everyone is good at what they do. They have won individual awards and are representing there countries very well. So, what's the fight all about. This thing about Ronaldo and Messi fans is just so annoying. They should grow up pls

[rdluffy]

We all watched the World Cup draw. Every country that qualified had representatives there, and it was televised on TV and even livestreamed. We saw how each team was picked and allocated to different groups based on regions. Europe is the only continent that has more than one country in one group, and that is because Europe has 16 countries, and there are only 12 groups, so that means in at least 4 groups, there would be 2 Euopean country.
The draws were made months ago. Nobody knew who would top the group, or who would be second or who would qualify for the best third positions. So, how do people believe FIFA made some teams have easier paths while others have difficult ones?
...

Exactly, that’s my opinion too

I don't know how they’d go about bypassing this FIFA group system
And to be perfectly honest, look at how many theoretically weaker teams have given the big ones a hard time so far
Cape Verde against Spain, DR Congo against Portugal...

If it were all rigged, they forgot to let the players in those matches know, hehehe 

[Obim34]

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.

It's always favoritism when Messi is involved, FIFA THIS & FIFA THAT.

Football can never be entirely fair, this shouldn't be about Messi, Ronaldo or particular nation of concern, it can be unfair to any player or team, It's only seen as favoritism when it doesn't benefit you, and this is human nature.

[martinom]

We all watched the World Cup draw. Every country that qualified had representatives there, and it was televised on TV and even livestreamed. We saw how each team was picked and allocated to different groups based on regions. Europe is the only continent that has more than one country in one group, and that is because Europe has 16 countries, and there are only 12 groups, so that means in at least 4 groups, there would be 2 Euopean country.
The draws were made months ago. Nobody knew who would top the group, or who would be second or who would qualify for the best third positions. So, how do people believe FIFA made some teams have easier paths while others have difficult ones?

No matter what happens, fans will always look for conspiracies.
I've seen on social media where some fans are asking questions like "How has Messi never played Brazil, England, Spain and Italy in 6 World Cups?". I see these things as retarded questions because if Argentina had faced these teams and did not play Germany, France, the Netherlands, or Croatia, they would have asked the same questions.
There are even those who believe the 2022 World Cup was rigged for Messi and Argentina. I'm sorry, but anybody who actually believes that has a low IQ, or he's just being biased. We all watched the matches, and we saw how Argentina played and improved after every game. In the final, France even got two penalties.
Fans will always complain when things don't go their way.

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

Yes, that is a clear penalty, but is that the first time that a penalty has not been given? Does it mean every time a penalty was not given, then it's corruption?
If the penalty had been given, by now the English fans would have been saying they were robbed; now that it was not given, people are saying it was corruption. These things happen in every league or tournament. You can't get 100% of your calls right. There would always be mistakes and controversies, but it doesn't mean everything is a conspiracy.
I have watched about 80% fof the world cup matches so far and i can pick up to 5 cases where it should have been a red card, but it was not given, even happend to the US who is the host country in their oppeining match.

I don't agree with you, i believe that there was favoritism in particular with the match against the Netherlands, which was clearly won thanks to the favorable refereeing towards Messi and Argentina in particular, even on handballs not called in favor of Argentina.

[Lucius]

~snip~
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

Do you remember the 2018 World Cup? FIFA brought in some anonymous referee from Argentina, first they gave him the honor of refereeing the opening match, and then he refereed the final as well. In that final, he severely damaged Croatia by awarding a penalty to France, even though 99% of football experts and fans disagreed with that decision. The man was obviously brought in to make sure things went according to plan, at least as far as the opening and finals are concerned.

The very fact that VAR is used selectively indicates that the system is being manipulated - what was supposed to bring transparency brought even more suspicion among the fans.

[Dunamisx]

People can be found with their various way of approaching an event in such a manner that may not even totally align with the actual situation that is involved, anything that we have to say without any evidence barking it up is just an assumption, and what we feels like happening, and that is a normal way of human thinking against anything they are not too comfortable with the way the judgment or proceedings is being carried out.