The skill and the atmosphere, the suspense and the uncertainties, sometimes even a randomness of poetic and physical forms.
Football will always be this but there are some parts of the game that now exist in a parallel universe to the game/play outlined above.
This is the football world of agents and 3rd Party Ownership, rigged matches controlled by cartels and consortia from various strata of the global underworld, doping without any valid testing regime, criminalised referees and players, referees owned by bookmakers, clubs, organisations, gangs, mafia...
The current football corruption trials in China reveal much of the format of the fixing of games - (incidentally China is also the primary foundation of much of the fixing in the big European leagues hence the pressure of more and more late morning/lunchtime kick offs in Europe's major leagues eg Spain and Italy starting at 10:30 and 11:00 GMT on Sunday matches this season).
The Chinese even have expressions for the types of corruption that we witness weekly in the EPL - "Hei Shao" means 'Black Whistle' (and the EPL has more black whistles than the Burkino Faso National Whistling Orchestra), while "Da Giaqiu" represents 'playing fakeball'!
There are numerous other expressions eg for matches controlled by two separate firms of agents that might effectively control up to half of the players on the pitch, for agreed draws and the annual sharing of points etc etc.
The beautiful game is infested with leeches sucking it dry of any nuances of integrity or sport, postmodern football is becoming a parody of the artform.
We have been provided with information regarding two firms of football agents active in the EPL who not only undertake shared third party ownership structures for individual players but who also work together to fix matches (sometimes with help from certain match officials).
We are not willing to reveal the firms, the agents, the players, the match officials or the clubs - only my work colleagues and professional advisers have been made aware of the murkiness.
But, for example, there is an event this weekend in the EPL in which the two firms of agents in question own ##### key players and ### of the refereeing team.
For one of the major big city EPL derbies, one firm alone owns ### central midfielders from one team and the goalkeeper and a ################################ on the other.
Just imagine the possibilities if you were a very naughty boy?!!?!
From the perspective of you the reader/fan, the key point is surely this - if these individuals are corrupt then these matrices allow the rigging of games for massive global profit running into the tens of millions of pounds in the underground betting markets.
It completely destroys the game.
One thing is certain in postmodern football - if a corrupt loophole exists or if one may be carefully constructed (even if it requires duopolistic combinations), there are those out there only too willing to exploit the opportunities.
Socrates (the one with the ciggies and the ball skills): "Beauty comes first. Victory is secondary. What matters is joy."
The good die young while Doug Ellis gets a knighthood, while Liverpool and Chelsea Fcs are proud to be racist, while child traffickers who think Black people are coloured slice the action all over the place...
... if you think the public face of your sport is tawdry, the iceberg is markedly murkier under the surface.
Happy New Year.
Enjoy the Fakeball.
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