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Sports

Suspension of belief

Sinclair in the right

By Eric Wilkins,
Staff Writer

IFA has suspended

Christine Sinclair for
four games and fined her
approximately $3,500 for
“ansporting behavior
towards match officials,”
a.k.a., the Canada-
USA semi-final in the
Olympics. The Canadian
Soccer Association is
picking up the tab for
the fine and Sinclair has
accepted her suspension
without complaint, but
in a fair world, the sus-
pension and the events
leading up to it would
never have happened.

I still remember
that game back in the
summer. Sinclair put in
one of the most inspir-
ing performances I’ve
ever seen from a player,
scoring a hat trick and
putting Canada up
3-2 in the second half.
And then Christiana
Pedersen, the referee for
the match, truly left her
mark on the game. With
Erin McLeod carrying
the ball out preparing to
punt it, Pedersen called
her for holding the ball
for too long. The call is
almost never made, and
when it is, the player is
generally given a warn-
ing first. The Canadian
team denied that there
had been a warning, but
the Americans said there
were several. Regardless,
Pedersen gave the free
kick, the Americans took
a shot, hit a Canadian
arm, got a penalty shot,
scored, and then won it
in extra time. Canadian
players were outraged
after the game. “We feel
like we didn’t lose, we
feel like it was taken from
us,” said Sinclair. “It’s
ashame ina game like
that, that was so impor-
tant, the ref decided the
result before it started.”

20

 

Christine Sinclair
Photo courtesy of Canadian Press

She has since said had every right to make — number of them called,
that she didn’t “ulti- those comments, though but there were other
mately believe [Pedersen] perhaps they should dubious calls that aided
went into the match hop- _ have been directed at the Azzurri. In the group
ing the U.S. would win.” someone slightly higher _ stage, with the Italian
However, she also didn’t _ than just the referee. advance to the knockout
regret her comments, FIFA has its own round still in doubt,

FIFA has its own agenda. Theres no point hiding that
theyre corrupt, and its starting to get painfully obvious.

Italy played the USA.
The Americans scored a
goal, clearly onside, only
for the referee and his
linesman to call it off. The
game would ultimately
end in a tie, giving the
Italians a point, but more
importantly, holding the
Americans to one as well.
Later in the tournament,
in the knockout stage,
there was the infamous

6

“We just lost the chance
to play for an Olympic
gold medal. I was very
emotional. I wouldn’t
want to change that.” But
let’s face it, that game
was atrociously offici-
ated. It was difficult not
to scream at the referee
the entire game due to
the absurd perceived
bias. Yes, there were a
few calls against Canada

agenda. There’s no
point hiding that they’re
corrupt, and it’s start-
ing to get painfully
obvious. Anyone who
says otherwise is simply
deluding himself. Going
back to the 2006 World
Cup, Italy took the top
prize. But does anyone
remember how they

got there? Diving and
screaming all over the

that should have been pitch. And that’s typical —_ penalty shot awarded
called too, such as the of Italian soccer, but usu- when Fabio Grosso took
Canadian kicking the ally enough of the calls a blatant dive over Lucas

American’s head, but
overall it was lopsided
for the States. Sinclair

are spotted for what they
are. However, in 2006,
not only were a large

Neill, who was already
on the ground. The rest
is history. Same story

at the 2010 World Cup
with Spain finishing on
top. Flagrant displays
of favouritism as the
referees continuously
awarded free kicks to
the Spanish as they
flopped on the pitch.
And this brings us to
the Olympics. Japan had
played the USA in the
most recent World Cup
final. Japan had won.
In the Olympics, Japan
made a dazzling run to a
final again. Now who do
you think FIFA wanted
to play the Japanese? A
Canadian squad with
a 32 million person
country following them
or a tantalizing rematch
of the World Cup final?
Last point here is that
it took FIFA two months
to suspend Sinclair. Why
didn’t they suspend her
right after the game? Did
new information come
up that wasn’t available
then? They just sat on it
for two months, killing
time. They knew full well
how bad the Canada-
USA game looked, and
suspending Sinclair for
the bronze medal game
(which they should have,
if they had nothing to
be guilty of) would look
even worse. The negative
publicity would likely
have extended beyond
just Canadian television
and quick side notes
on Olympic programs.
It could have landed
FIFA in a very blinding
and very unfriendly
spotlight. By holding off
the suspension until now,
Canada got its medal
(slight consolation) and
the rest of the world
has ceased to follow the
story at all. It’s a non-
story now, but FIFA still
manages to maintain an
aura of professionalism
by showing the world
that they’re punishing
a player for abusing a
referee. Well played,
FIFA. Well played.