In a week when the whole of the world is available for Manchester City to buy, the whole of the Newcastle and West Ham teams were available for sale and the whole of the press published daily hypersoaps on these hyperreality television shows, formerly known as football clubs, there was something altogether murkier lurking in the background - match fixing.
England's World Cup 2006 match with Ecuador was fixed.
The Ecuadorean Football Federation (FEF) are demanding that FIFA open an inquiry in to the match after reports in German newspaper Bild claimed the outcome of the last-16 match, which Ecuador lost 1-0 to England following a David Beckham goal, had been influenced by a Paris-based Thai betting consortium.
FEF president Luis Chiriboga called for an "exhaustive inquiry" and totally rejected any accusations of involvement in match rigging, adding that it was now his responsibility to protect the players and coaches.
It should be remembered that it was this same FEF who gave us Byron Moreno, the match official who rigged the Italy versus South Korea World Cup match four years earlier.
Of course, you will not find many references to this major news story in the English media.
Particularly just before an international round of games for the 2010 World Cup.
The English national football team are, what is known in German as, a 'schweintruppe' - a dodgy team.
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© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological
