by Klaus Liedecke
23rd April, 2012
People say that football is the Beautiful Game. But that certainly wasn’t the case when Chonburi played Chula United on Saturday. It was poor and boring.
If this is the future of Thai professional football, then...goodnight! The two coaches on Saturday are supposed to represent the modern approach to the game. But it was such a terrible affair.
The Chula goalkeeper was the biggest culprit for spoiling tactics. He wasn’t interested in playing football, only in time wasting.
It may have been different if we’d had an early goal but it never really looked like happening.
The referee seemed unable to cope with the situation and I was surprised that he didn’t issue any cards for time wasting. He also failed to get a grip of the Chula players who went down at every opportunity after slightest hint of contact. In addition, he was guilty of allowing the players to stay on the field after they’d received treatment for their “injuries”. This happened on at least three occasions.
Another annoying feature of Chula’s play was their players’ reluctance to retreat ten yards when a free kick was awarded against them. Please allow me to quote Rule 12 from the laws of the game which covers such incidents:
Cautionable offences
A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offences:
⦁ unsporting behaviour
⦁ dissent by word or action
⦁ persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game
⦁ delaying the restart of play
⦁ failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, free kick or throw-in
⦁ entering or re-entering the field of play without the referee's permission
⦁ deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee's permission
Now I wonder…Do these laws apply in Thailand? Or is it down to the referee?
If the standard of refereeing is so poor, I believe that coaches like Zico (Chula) and Heng (Chonburi) have a duty to teach their players good habits and not disrespect the laws and engage in such tactics, in order to improve the overall quality in Thailand.
The truth is, football is a beautiful game – fast paced and dynamic - and this is partly down to the simplicity of the laws. I believe that the local FA should be working to stamp out the kind of cheating we saw on Saturday.
It’s no surprise to me that teams like ToT and Chula United find it hard to attract fans to their games when they play like this. Nobody wants to watch this rubbish. Football is about entertainment. The sponsors like to portray a colourful image but this isn’t always the way on the pitch.
Excitement and passion are what draw the crowds to the stadium, not having to watch players indulging in play acting and time wasting.
Players should be trying to improve themselves and fight for success on the field.
Wake up, Thailand! Otherwise your league will go downhill and people will lose interest.
Hoping for better times ahead.
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