Zidane and Materazzi

The international organization that oversees futbol is going to investigate the Zidane incident that occurred in the 110th minute of the final playoff on Sunday.  If it is determined that Materazzi racially insulted Zidane, Italy could be disqualified and lose the world cup, making France the winner this year.  There has been a lot of speculation about what passed between the players, but Zidane is going to go public with what was actually said "in a few days."  It's amazing to think that the FIFA might actually revoke the trophy, but to me it appears not unlikely, and I'd be glad to see it happen. Zenedine Zidane is a graceful and elegant player, one of the greatest in history, and his removal from the final for that head-butting incident probably lost the game for France.


As a young guy I played a lot of pond hockey and mob soccer, but now I don't follow any sports at all, including futbol, though a professional match is a lovely sight, much more so than American football with its grotesque uniforms, continuous stops and emphasis on individual stardom.  The only professional futbol match I've seen in person was in Mexico City, and I was very impressed with the beauty of the game, but this is not the case with the Italians, who rely heavily on a dirty style of play that results in many injuries and bodies lying all over the field.  The azzullis (the Italian team wears blue) have plenty of the requisite skills, especially in defense, but their violent style appears to give them an edge that, in my highly inexpert opinion, should be denied them by the FIFA.  I thought there were many uncalled fouls in the final game, including the one in which Zidane appeared to be injured, which is why Italy's sudden-death victory on penalty kicks seemed unfair.  I assume they are encouraged to provoke the better players of the opposing team in any way possible and do whatever it takes to put them out of action.

Cheaters and bullies often win outside the sports arena, so it would be heartening to see the victory revoked for symbolic reasons, but the actual deciding factor is racism.  France's team covers the spectrum from French-bread white through Algerian 'beurre' to deep Senegal ebony, but the azzullis are all tanned white guys and probably do indulge in a culture of racism, and that's not ok, no matter how cute they look in their blue uniforms.

Update:  The remarks were not racist.  Suspension and community service for Zidane, shorter suspension for Materazzi.  C'est tout.