A few days ago, I watched the The Polar Express with my children. The premise of the story is that a boy has gotten to the age where he begins to doubt that Santa Claus exists. As a result, the boy can no longer hear the jingle of sleigh bells on Santa’s sleigh because only those who truly believe can hear them. The boy has lost the magic of the season. With all that has gone on this past year, I am beginning to wonder whether I can still hear the jingle of the bells, so to speak, when it comes to soccer these days.
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This year had its obligatory sex scandals, such as those involving Wayne Rooney, John Terry, the French National team and the Mexican National team. Violence between rival fans left two people dead in France and Russia. The Togolese National Team was attacked on the way to the African Cup of Nations and several persons were killed. Nigerian midfielder, Sani Kaita, reportedly received more than a thousand death threats after getting red carded in Nigeria’s World Cup loss to Greece. Racism is still present as evidenced by the report of an anti-Semitic banner being raised during a match in Poland.
This past year also contained serious allegations of corruption and match-fixing. Approximately two hundred UEFA matches across twelve countries are under investigation for match-fixing. UEFA gave a lifetime ban to a Ukrainian referee for his involvement. In Turkey, nearly fifty persons, including players and coaches, were arrested on suspicion of fixing matches. China’s state run news agency reported that nearly thirty people, including players, a referee, and the former head of the Chinese Football Association, were arrested on suspicion of match-fixing and bribes. It is also alleged that players paid bribes to get invited to the Chinese national team's training camps and to play in international matches.
The 2010 World Cup had its issues, as well, not the least of which was refereeing that was so incompetent at times that it affected the integrity of the matches, in my opinion. However, the bidding process for World Cup 2018 and 2022 was the biggest punch in the gut to U.S. soccer fans. Despite receiving the top rating from FIFA, the U.S. bid barely made it out of the first round of voting, while Qatar, with the lowest rated bid, was awarded the World Cup. The unusual process of having two bids awarded on the same day encouraged backroom deals and corruption. The Australian bid was investigated for corruption early on. Two FIFA executive committee members were banned from voting for the World Cup bids due to corruption allegations. The “cash for votes” allegations continue to trickle out and we are all waiting for the WikiLeaks.
It wouldn’t be wrong for a fan to become jaded in the wake of these things. Frankly, it should be expected because the negative events in 2010 are nothing new. Things like this have happened in the sport every year. Nevertheless, the game also produces moments of good, of brilliance, of poetry, of magic and of joy; the very kind of things that make life better. For this reason, just like the little boy in The Polar Express, I, too, want to hear the jingle of the bells on Santa’s sleigh when it comes to soccer. So, I am choosing to recall the good times. When I remember Juan Agudelo scoring on his debut for the USMNT, I hear a faint jingle. When I remember Dempsey’s amazing chip versus Juventus, the jingle gets clearer. When I remember Stuart Holden drilling that volley against Blackburn, the jingle gets louder. When I remember running around the room by myself yelling after Donovan scored against Algeria, the jingle gets even louder. And, when I remember that at that same moment, USMNT fans all across the country were going nuts right along with me, the jingle is so loud it sounds like Santa is driving a rocket powered sleigh with chrome side pipes right through the middle of my family room while a stereo cranks out Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Carol of the Bells!
So, if you find yourself a bit disenchanted with the game today, try thinking back on the special moments that the game produced this year and you just might start to hear the jingle of the bells again, too. Merry Christmas!
