The Libero: Conspiracy theorists have a point in Republic of Ireland seeding row

2009-10-14

As far as conspiracy theories go, it ranks right up there with Croatian FA chief Vlatko Markovic's suggestion that Premier League players have been out to hamper his nation's progress to the World Cup finals.

Of course, that idea was dismissed out of hand as quickly as it surfaced back in August and we haven't heard a peep from him since, other than the obligatory denial about ever making the comments in the first place.

But the Republic of Ireland's recent grievances over the seeding row that is threatening to scupper their own chances of reaching South Africa would appear, at least on the face of it, to carry far more substance than Mr Markovic's off-the-cuff accusations.

To say that Giovanni Trapattoni's side will not be helped by FIFA's decision to seed those teams reaching the qualification play-offs, based on their current world rankings, is an understatement.

What it means is that, barring any major upsets in Wednesday's final round of games or changes in the latest rankings, published later this week, the Irish will have to face one of Portugal, France, Russia or Greece to win a golden ticket to South Africa.

Hardly an appetising prospect, with the possible exception of Greece, but nevertheless one which Ireland now have to face up to, albeit grudgingly.

It is not the actual idea of seeding the play-offs that is the problem. Rather, it is the timing of the announcement that has raised eyebrows - and sent the conspiracy theorists into overdrive.

Whether it had always been the intention to determine qualification in this way is unknown but FIFA's failure to make public their plans until just two games remained, and the picture of who was set for the play-offs was clearer, certainly exudes of a whiff of fish.

Even more so when FIFA bigwig and current 2010 World Cup Organising Committee member Danny Jordaan himself admits that it is "very, very important" for teams like Portugal to make it to next summer's finals.

It appears that world football's governing body would rather have the big guns present in South Africa at the expense of 'lesser' nations like Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia and, so it would seem, Ireland.

Far better to have the infinitely more marketable and guaranteed crowd-pleasing likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry at the tournament than Robbie Keane or Edin Dzeko, eh? The idea to seed the play-offs smacks of a last-ditch attempt to ensure that happens.

A number of Irish players and staff have let their feelings known over the past fortnight and are understandably aggrieved, especially given that four years ago an open draw settled who played who at this stage.

So why the change? With other explanations far from forthcoming, it is difficult not to side with the conspiracy theorists.

- The Libero

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