Au revoir France

Tomorrow, the curtain falls on one of the greatest shows on Earth. We could not ask for a more fitting end to Coupe du Monde France 98 than the final match between host France and defending champion Brazil, both ranked as pre-tournament favorites.

This year's World Cup is undoubtedly bigger, longer and merrier than previous tournaments. Here is a sport that is not dominated by Americans, at least not yet. The tournament has also seen large and small countries alike showing an almost equal ability of winning, as Croatia almost proved, or at least a chance of stealing a bit of the limelight, like Nigeria's upset of a couple of soccer giants on the way to winning its group contest.

Although Europe and Latin America have dominated this year's matches, African teams are beginning to make an impact. The four Asian representatives may have failed to shine, but co-hosts Korea and Japan will be playing with a home advantage in the 2002 World Cup. Perhaps, then Asian countries can show their mettle.

Advances in communications technology have allowed billions of people all around the world to enjoy live coverage of World Cup matches. Although Indonesia is not represented in France, the World Cup has had a huge following, shown not only by high TV ratings, but also by the crowds packing hotels and bars in Jakarta and other big cities to watch matches on big screens in the wee hours of the morning despite the economic recession.

While soccer is still the name of the game, the World Cup for many people has gone beyond just a contest of skill among 22 players on a field. The World Cup has raised people's passion and at times even national sentiments. Many who do not care much for soccer even joined the fray. Matches were often portrayed by the media as a means to settle old scores. A case in point is the Argentina-England face-off, which English tabloids billed as a time to avenge the 1986 match in which they lost thanks to Maradona's "Invisible Hand of God" goal.

The media, particularly television, has undoubtedly helped to popularize soccer to a point never imagined before. One wonders what the next World Cup will bring. Unfortunately, this soccer globalization has not been matched by quality in the field.

Compared to previous tournaments, France 98 boasts fewer great goals and memorable matches, and even fewer outstanding players. The few players who have shined were a class below the likes of Pele, Zico, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Maradona, Platini and the Charlton brothers, all soccer legends after their World Cup appearances.

There was never a shortage of potential stars in France 98. On the contrary, with the number of participants increased to 32 teams, there were bound to be plenty of potentials. But these potentials were rarely given the chance to show themselves, thanks to increasingly violent, if not dirty, play.

Shirt taggings, off-the-ball tussles and blatant fouls, and diving-acts are now the norm in soccer matches. FIFA, the governing world soccer body, has tightened the rules to stamp out these new trends. Professional fouls, tackles from the back and intentional handling of the ball are now red card offenses. So tight have the FIFA rules become that some matches were determined, or spoiled, by red cards. England switched from the offensive to the defensive when it lost a player through a red card in its match against Argentina. Germany lost its quarter- final match against Croatia after one of its players was given his marching orders. Tougher rules did not stop players from engaging in dirty practices when they had the chance to do so, out of the referee's sight, though not hidden from the view of billions watching on television.

FIFA's approach of tightening the rules and issuing more red cards has not only failed to arrest the violence in the field, it has also killed the game. A different approach should now be tried. FIFA could perhaps adopt the penalty system in basketball. A player collects points for every offense and must be replaced after collecting enough points. This way, violence is stamped out or discouraged, but not at the expense of the match.

France 98 shows that soccer is fast losing the spirit of sportsmanship and sense of fair play. In the process, it has deprived the billions of people watching of the real quality and excitement that this game has produced in the past.

World Cup soccer may have become a global phenomenon unmatched by any other sports event outside the Olympics, but FIFA would be well advised to restore the spirit of sportsmanship and sense of fair play to the games if it wants to maintain soccer as the world's number one sport.