donald trump said:
"i saw the play, and i'm a person that loves sports ... that wasn't a foul. that wasn't even an infraction ... this referee, who is a little bit suspect if you check his past. he made a call that nobody could believe ... he's our best player, or one of our best players. and he gave him a red card. i didn't know what that meant ... yes, i asked for a review by fifa."
infantino said:
"fifa's judicial bodies are independent. they operate autonomously, apply the fifa disciplinary code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected. yes, i regularly discuss matters related to the fifa world cup with the president of the united states, and on this matter, i did receive a call from president donald trump, just as i receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues ... whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of fifa at all times."
i read both a few times and honestly you do not need me, put them side by side and they answer each other.
trump made the call, and look how he talks. short, open, no fear. "yes i asked for a review." "he is our best player." the man who did the thing just tells you. infantino is the one who got saved from the mess, and look at him. long words, "independent", "autonomy", "rule of law". the man who benefits hides behind a dictionary. old lesson. the strong one speaks simple because he fears nothing, the one who depends on him hides because he must. so here the one who talks less is hiding more.
game theory has one rule i love, do not listen to what people say, watch what they do. words are cheap. and the action here is loud. for sixty years this rule did not bend for anybody, then the strongest man on earth makes one phone call and it bends. that is the answer, not the press release.
the reason is not even hidden. "he is our best player." not that the card was wrong, just that the guy is valuable to us. justice wears a blindfold on purpose, so she cannot see who you are or which team. trump took the blindfold off on live tv. he even called the referee "suspect". first you dirty the judge, then you delete his call. this is not modern law, this is old tribe law, the big man looks and the rule moves.
and my favorite line, "i did not know what that meant." he did not even understand the rule he broke, and it did not stop him. power does not need to understand, it only needs to want. hobbes said it centuries ago, it is authority that makes the law, not truth.
then infantino uses the words "rule of law" to defend the most lawless thing this cup has seen in sixty years. he is wearing the clothes of the thing he broke. small tip, when you must announce your independence in a statement, it is already dead.
and nothing here is free. anthropology has a simple rule, every gift is a debt. a shiny "peace prize", a good seat at the final, then the phone rings, then the favor comes. this is not friendship, it is an invoice, and infantino is paying it in public.
so, balogun can play, fine. the only thing that cannot play anymore is the idea that this was ever a fair game.
top: all
|
today
search in topic