Pretty strong evidence here but not conclusive! Certainly thought provoking though! http://www.ftbpro.com/posts/sam.san...deo?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
In my humble opinion the World Cup draw has often been rigged in the past as well, often to the favour of Germany. How else can you explain the fact that Brazil and Germany, despite being amongst the top nations in football, have only ever met once and that in the final. Germany's route to that final being Saudi Arabia - Ireland - Cameroun - Paraguay - U.S.A. - South Korea (even England could have made the final via that route). Some finals are good for betting and some aren't. Does anyone remember the way in which the U.S.S.R. team went out of some competitions in the distant past ? Lost tosses of a coin - their refusal to play in Chile because of a military takeover there and being thrown out of the World Cup as a result (1974), I could go on there. But no one in football at that time wanted them to reach a top final. The powers that be in World Football, the Platini's and Blatters of this World have a pre concieved idea of those teams which they want to see in the later stages. What they, and the betting world, want is a final between a top European team and a top South American one - or how else can you explain the fact that Brazil and Argentina have so often been forced to play each other at an earlier stage ?
I've never understood the 'need to seed' really. Once down to the final 32, why can't they just draw names out of a hat two at a time to see who plays in which group - why make it so complicated and open to the corruption that evidently happens? There's nothing wrong with having two of the bigger sides meeting early on, it just adds spice to the competition IMO - just as yesterday's FA Cup draw paired Arsenal & Tottenham for a mouth-watering tie.
Agree with this - seeding sucks. It is what has destroyed the European Cup - when it became the Champions League. The trouble was that an unseeded European Cup produced winners like Steau Bucharest and Red Star Belgrade - not good for business !
Like all so-called world sports, international decision-making in football is not yet democratic. Power follows the money, hence the emergence of the sub-continent in terms of the control of international cricket. That said, to "fix" a draw to favour one team only would surely require the collusion of others?
