Tacitus: "Crime, once exposed, has no refuge but audacity."
Audacious.
That's the word for it.
Over the last week, English football provided us with numerous examples of the different types of corruption that are destroying the game for the benefit of powerful insiders and the gambling industry.
* Manchester City v Portsmouth - A MASSIVE insider gamble on Manchester City emanating from #############################.
While there was idiot money against Manchester City, the really clever money was being spread around from market opening in a major insider coup.
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Still, great to see the Sheikh sitting alongside the Human Rights Abuser. The grin on His Excellency's face was undoubtedly broadened by the fact that his brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, has just been made prime minister of Thailand.
Ah, democracy and the rule of law...
* Liverpool v Stoke City - Andre Marriner made a "MASSIVE mistake" in ruling out Steven Gerrard's 2nd minute goal for Liverpool, according to Rafa Benitez.
There was no contact, no offside decision, no nuffin'...
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* Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal - The first Arsenal goal was offside and Kevin Davies could have been Sent Off for his two-footed challenge on Gail Clichy.
Each of these decisions were potentially match altering and could have been solved with 15 seconds of the time of the 4th Official and video technology.
* Hull City v Everton - Did Everton's first goal cross the line?
Do we have the technology to inform us?
Then why isn't it being utilised?
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* Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers - PGMOB official Martin Atkinson was given charge of this game and he produced an Elite Group Corker of a Performance.
Quoting a leading right-of-centre British broadsheet: "A hat-trick hero sent off for a seemingly non-existent butt, a manager sent off for applauding the referee, a goalkeeper sent off for a challenge that was made with two covering defenders, a handball on the goal-line ignored, a Preston goal disallowed because Jon Parkin is “a big lad” – it was an interesting performance by referee Martin Atkinson."
* Watford v Reading - Another PGMOB official was given the other major Championship game at the weekend, and not just any official, but the PGMOB's rising star, Stuart Attwell.
We've posted before that Attwell is being fast-tracked to offer a quarter of a century of input with the whistle. #################################
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Attwell had a 'mare at Vicarage Road on Saturday, but the PGMOB are trying to blame one of the assistants so that attention doesn't fall on The Rising Star.
He gave a goal when the ball was nowhere near the goalmouth.
"Probably the worst decision I've ever witnessed in football," was Stephen Hunt's damning verdict. "A strange one - I don't know what he was thinking," offered Hunt's brother and team-mate, Noel. "A monumental howler," was Aidy Boothroyd's contribution, while the Watford midfielder John Eustace weighed in with "shocking", "ridiculous" and "embarrassing".
* For the Champions League Group Phase First Round of matches, not one PGMOB team was selected to officiate at any of the sixteen events.
This follows constantly poor marks from the competing teams when the English referees were in control of games last season, together with the shady dealings around Howard Webb and that last minute penalty for Austria against Poland at Euro 2008.
* Liverpool v Manchester United - Howard Webb forgets that he has already given Nemanja Vidic a yellow card and has to be reminded to send him off by United player Ryan Giggs, with some prompting from Sami Hyypia.
* Manchester City v Chelsea - Mark Halsey sends off John Terry quite correctly within the rules of the game. The farcical nature of the Respect agenda towards match officials was then imploded by a spectacular PGMOB own goal.
When faced with the most powerful club in the country and a team of lawyers, despite the fact that such legal representation is illegal under the FA's rules, the FA/PGMOB simply buckled and rescinded Terry's red card.
To amplify the point being made, Mark Halsey was demoted and refereed a fourth tiered match between Chester City and Shrewsbury Town at the weekend.
* Meanwhile, leading official, Mark Clattenburg, remains banned from officiating until his off-field business affairs are brought into order. Being taken to court by his former business partner, Clattenburg ################################
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Outside of the game, there is still denial about corruption.
Inside the game, the conversations are about the machinations of the corruption rather than whether such corruption exists.
The Corruption Hyperreality has been the template for over a decade.
We are not only dealing with a sport here, although the utter loss of integrity of English football at the highest levels is an outrage.
Betting markets are liquid to hundreds of millions of pounds, some extravaganzas even gross a billion.
Major trading positions are dependent on getting some sense of Reality into the outcome.
And yet, there is no effort to import this Reality into the game.
Why can't we have video analysis of key match decisions by the 4th Official and the referee?
The industry prevents this technology under the fallacious argument that it is not yet 100% accurate.
Like Howard Webb and Stuart Attwell are?
There are no arguments for keeping technology out of the game, other than those of the manipulators who would rather game the match outcomes in favour of their proprietary trading positions in the global betting markets.
Furthermore, the ratings given to the match officials by the competing clubs should be made public, rather than being secreted away in the vaults of the FA/PGMOB.
Then, appointments may be made on merit.
Professional traders and analysts are able to see clear differentials between legitimate and rigged betting markets.
Inevitably, these differentials are presented to us on the field of play.
This is a problem for the manipulators.
Classifying a non-trier in horseracing is devilishly hard visually, although the analytical support might well be absolute.
Classifying a non-trier in football is simple.
For example, there is an individual at a major club in England who is involved in match rigging.
This information has only recently come to light, during Euro 2008, in fact.
By monitoring this players performances on the pitch, we have not only determined what the scam is, but we understand the structures and the mechanisms that define the relationship between the player and his controllers.
All future performances of this player will be defined by this template until, for any reason, the structure changes.
We understand that this particular player is not willingly involved in this operation but that coercion is the key dynamic.
This is a TOP player at a TOP club, an international, who is being pressured to perform to an external agenda.
And this brings us to the other change necessary if football is to have any chance in the future.
Once meritocratic refereeing appointments and video technology are in the game, the only requirement still needed to save the sport will be the introduction of global regulation restraining the betting industry.
The markets must not be able to define the Hyperreality.
And that applies to International Financial Markets too.
Unfortunately, the blocked out parts of the posts and all posts labelled # are available in full to subscribers only.
© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological
