Prince William is an Aston Villa supporter. Not a fanatic, mind you. Not the sort that can be found at the Holte End every other Saturday singing rude songs about Birmingham City, while Kate sits at home wishing they could just go off to Balmoral together and shoot stuff like a normal couple.
Suppose that was him, though. Suppose Prince William turned up for every Villa game in a claret and blue shirt, sat very prominently in the directors’ box and went potty for his team. Suppose Villa got to the FA Cup final and William, as president of the FA, arrived decked out in full Villa regalia in anticipation of handing the trophy to Gareth Barry.
Do you think that his presence, as heir to the throne, might not have the tiniest impact on the thought process of the match referee?
Officials are figures of authority after all. They like rules, they appreciate order; they would be the sort of people who respect hierarchical standing. Is it beyond the realms of reason that, even subconsciously, a referee might wish to make a decision that would please a future king?
Now consider this. At Juventus, the king is Michel Platini. That is his nickname, Le Roi.
Platini is a king in another way, too, as president of UEFA, which makes him the most powerful man in the European game.
And on December 29, in an interview with La Stampa, a popular Italian newspaper owned by the Fiat Group who control Juventus, this was what he had to say about the destination of the most significant trophy in club football: ‘I would love to give the Champions League to Juventus.’
Then, referring to the match on October 21, 2008, when Juventus defeated Real Madrid 2-1, aided by an exceptional opening goal from Alessandro Del Piero, Platini added: ‘I was in Turin when Del Piero stunned Iker Casillas and I rose to my feet, not only because I am Juventino, but I think it was the goal of 2008.’
So the UEFA president, himself a great footballer, is inspired by great football. Nothing wrong with that.
But the UEFA president is Juventino? The UEFA president would love to give the Champions League to Juventus? Is that not the most inappropriate language to be using for a man in Platini’s position?
It is UEFA’s and Platini’s good fortune that Jose Mourinho is not still the manager of Chelsea, the club that meet Juventus at Stamford Bridge tonight.
Michel Platini in action for Juventus
Mourinho, now with Inter Milan, is a man who sees conspiracy in every corner. He went into Inter’s game with Manchester United last night complaining about the leniency of distant disciplinary decisions affecting Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic.
Imagine what he would have made of the president of UEFA stating he wanted Chelsea’s first knock-out round opponents to progress. Imagine what he will make of it yet if Inter and Juventus meet at a later stage or, heaven forbid, at the final in Rome.
Platini’s mantra is fair play and, while many of his proposals for creating it are misguided, it is often suggested that he means well. He might have been playing to the home crowd in his La Stampa interview, and probably thought that to be depicted as a fan like any other was an endearing ploy.
After all, a UEFA president who did not have past allegiances to a club, whether as player, administrator or supporter, would rightly be a figure of suspicion.
Platini’s problem is that he went too far.
Even the phraseology, wanting to give the trophy to Juventus, rather than wanting to see them win it, was wrong. No doubt unintentionally, the result of Platini’s words is that there is now greater potential for travesty: and it is not as if his old club do not have form in this area.
Put it like this: even without Mourinho there to open a new front in his war against UEFA, Chelsea will be very much aware of what was said, and its implications. Will match referee Olegario Benquerenca, of Portugal, be aware, too? Who can say?
What we can suppose, though, is that if he is, he would not be human if the wishes of the president of UEFA did not register with him, even subliminally.
Say, for instance, there is a claim against a Juventus defender for handball and that Benquerenca’s instant reaction is that it is a penalty.
With all handball decisions there is the potential for error, a chance the offence may be interpreted as accidental or unavoidable, particularly after 20 television replays from every conceivable angle. It would require a very brave referee, then, to call that one in Chelsea’s favour, particularly if it proves the decision that thwarts Platini’s ambitions for his trophy.
Even if Platini is the sort of good sport who responds to fate with a Gallic shrug and the sage observation that these things happen, Benquerenca is not to know that.
Tonight he may feel pressured or believe he is making career decisions capable of preventing or assisting his progress up UEFA’s greasy pole. Is that healthy?
Now place that same penalty claim against Chelsea, not Juventus. What is there to lose? If a 50-50 decision goes in Juventus’s favour, who is going to be complaining?
This is not to doubt Benquerenca’s honesty. He is a respected referee who has been engaged by UEFA and FIFA on numerous occasions, including World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, Champions League and UEFA Cup ties.
Chelsea’s match with Juventus will be his fifth Champions League engagement this season. His father was a referee, too, and he has a good job as a partner in an insurance agency.
In this way, however, he presents the same c.v. as most referees in having a steady occupation, a smart short haircut and, no doubt, a secure belief in the worth of authority.
A quick look through the guide to Champions League referees provided by UEFA suggests a type. Bank clerks, policemen, office managers and teachers are in the ascendancy, not so many rodeo clowns, lion tamers and professional stuntmen.
Referees, by their very nature, are not men walking on the wild side of life. They will have respect for the office of the president of UEFA.
That is certainly one theory advanced as explanation for the way friendly penalty decisions have seemed to gravitate towards Real Madrid in domestic competition in Spain over the years (so many that they provoke the chant ‘asi gana Madrid’ which roughly translates as ‘that’s how Madrid win’).
In the 2003-04 season, a particularly memorable example occurred in a match against Valencia at the Bernabeu stadium.
Raul
Taking advantage: Raul was the beneficiary of an interesting refereeing decision against Valencia
Valencia were trailing Madrid by two points in the title race, but leading them 1-0 in a match when, in the second minute of second-half injury time, Raul Gonzalez fell over. He did not dive, but merely lost his footing backing into Carlos Marchena, the Valencia defender.
There was no appeal from Madrid. There did not need to be. A referee called Tristante Oliva, who had taken charge of his first La Liga game less then six months before, pointed to the spot. Real equalised, causing a huge outcry.
Those who thought Rafael Benitez’s rant at Sir Alex Ferguson was incendiary should have heard him after this one.
‘You’ll see a hundred of those and not a single penalty, ever,’ said Benitez, then manager of Valencia. ‘We have to do double to achieve half as much as at other grounds.’
Jaime Orti, the Valencia president, claimed his team had been robbed on four consecutive occasions at the Bernabeu.
In the royal box that day was Jose Maria Aznar, prime minister and a huge Real Madrid fan, plus various senior politicians and members of Spain’s royal family, all supporting the home team.
It is fair to say, given the nature of the backing the club has received for many years, that to take on Madrid almost makes one an enemy of the state in Spain.
Oliva, meanwhile, an inconsequential figure, with a neat centre parting and a toothbrush moustache, looked every inch the servant of government, right down to his post on a military base. Later that year, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, a staunch supporter of Barcelona, became prime minister, making frequent appearances at the Nou Camp, and almost immediately it was claimed Barcelona found it easier to win penalties.
Yet, while Zapatero’s allegiances are plain — he predicted Barcelona would beat Real Madrid 5-1 earlier this year — it is not as if he, nor Aznar, nor the royal family, ever overtly instructed an official to find in favour of their team, just as Platini did not issue commands to turn a blind eye to misdemeanours by Juventus at Stamford Bridge.
His words are ill-advised, though, considering Juventus lost two Serie A titles because Luciano Moggi, the disgraced former general manager, rigged games by orchestrating the selection of favourable referees. With that in mind, Platini should have been on guard against waving the flag too brazenly for his club.
Instead, he has perhaps planted the tiniest seed in the mind of a referee. It may bear fruit, we will never know for sure. What we do know, however, is that the president of UEFA would like to give his trophy to Juventus this year; and, whether that is Platini’s fantasy or his order, he is still one hell of a player to have on your side.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1...ue-colours.html
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Is this prat being serious?
This is the same guy who in yesterdays edition of the Mail tried to pre-empt an Inter-biased refereeing performance from Cantalejo because he was apparently pro-Italian. What actually happened is that he favoured Man Utd on several occasions.
So what is this, a second bite at the cherry? Another pre-empt to make up for his crap call yesterday?
So if Juventus have a favourable decision tonight you can put that in part down to the fact Michel Platini is head of UEFA? Give me a fucking break. The guy is mixing events of the last few years with a constant sniping of Platini by English journalists, they really do get upset when he points the finger at immoral English clubs. Oliver Holt is another who seems to make it a daily requirement.
So what was Juventus legend Michel Platini expected to say when asked by Turin-based pro-Juventus newspaper La Stampa if he would like to hand the trophy to Juventus? "No thanks guys"?
Yes the UEFA president is Juventino, for someone like Samuel who understands nothing about the club he does not understand the meaning, what it means to anyone associated with the club. Again he was speaking to Juventus journalists at La Stampa.
Does no-one else in football authorities support a team? The only mistake Platini made was giving his opinion to a newspaper, let's get rid of the pre-emptive excuses already.
I think Martin Samuel here is downright disgraceful in his assumption that referees will be swayed in European matches, he has a blind dig at Spanish football because there is a Spanish referee for this match? What the fuck? He should look closer to home and see some of the decisions that go the way of the big clubs in England.
I guess this is his job now he works for the Daily Racist; be controversial, ignorant, xenophobic and jingoistic.
