With J Hutcherson -- Had the powers that be in World soccer watched last night's 60 Minutes, they would've seen something familiar with the National Basketball Association's response to the Tim Donaghy referee scandal. There wasn't much of one. NBA officials and players refused to be interviewed.
You don't have to have any interest in basketball to see that the NBA's strategy has worked. All you have to do is ask the obvious questions.
FIFA might not have invented that move, but they certainly know that it works. That's the thing about deciding you're above even the suggestion of malfeasance. You automatically push anybody questioning you to the fringe, regardless of what actually happened.
As the Donaghy issue developed, NBA commissioner David Stern stayed on message when he needed too, isolating Donaghy as what he called a "rogue referee." Then Stern shut his mouth. That's prevented the broader allegations of someone able to win 70 to 80 percent of bets he placed without directly fixing games. As credibility goes, Donaghy's win percentage (backed up by the FBI investigation) trumps anything the NBA has put out to discredit him.
Except it doesn't. Not when enough media professionals have already decided to take the games at face value. Allen Iverson's career isn't being revisited as the result of an NBA conspiracy (he once had a crossover move so lethal the league outlawed it) combined with referees being literally for or against him. Years of playoff results aren't being reconsidered alongside allegations that series are artificially extended. Teams aren't calling foul on opportunities that might have been denied them courtesy of refereeing decisions. At least not enough and not very loudly.
One would think that changes everything, but not in the NBA. Not in any professional sport for that matter.
World soccer wasn't harmed when one of its biggest clubs got caught buying match officials. It wasn't harmed by multiple seasons where elite competitions included people on the take. Simply put, it wasn't harmed. At least not enough to create massive numbers of former fans finding other outlets for their time and money.
Last week's meeting of FIFA's Executive Committee did as expected, calling together an 'international task force to fight against irregular and illegal betting activities in football.' The obvious response to mounting evidence of corruption across leagues. Then there was the next big event on the calendar, and with it a chance for all involved to shift focus.
We already know the next step. Localize the problem. Make it seem minimal, no matter how wide-ranging. That way, there's something for the rest of the sport to work against or simply ignore. Either way, it's not going to be allowed to disrupt the schedule.
Comments, questions, solutions to problems that have yet to present themselves. Please, tell me all about it.
