Beautiful game edges closer to redemption

The names of the semi-finalists told the story, which was underlined by the presence of Croatia in the ultimate showdown yesterday with France. Football has always been dubbed a team sport, but it can rarely escape the domination of superstars, allegedly influenced refereeing and the power of money that sometimes dictated which team goes how far in a tournament.
The just-ended World Cup in Russia defied the status quo. Lionel Messi could not help his Argentinean team and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Neymar’s Brazil didn’t get far. Croatia were a true Cinderella, and referees for once made crucial decisions the way they should have been made.
Croatia beat England and France defeated Belgium in the semi-finals of the World Cup to set up yesterday’s encounter. The absence of the likes of Germany, Brazil, Spain and Argentina altogether in the homestretch of the prestigious tournament had been unthinkable previously. Italy and the Netherlands did not even make the one-month sporting extravaganza, which takes place just once every four years and is billed as the world’s biggest sporting event.
Behind football’s resurgence towards the true meaning of the phrase “the beautiful game” is the use of VAR (video assistant referee), which seems to signal an attempt by the sport’s much-maligned governing body to bring more justice to the game. Thanks to the newly introduced system, big-name teams or players could rarely escape immediate punishment if they were responsible for foul play during matches. That gave lesser teams a better chance.
Greater justice has levelled the playing field. With the stars more likely to be penalised, the rest of their teams’ players stepped up, knowing they could no longer rely on referees’ reluctance to punish big-name footballers. In Russia, football looked more like a team game than before, and the storied moments of magic of star players were fewer and farther in between.
Winners and champions are a lot less likely to be hounded by controversy. The use of VAR allows super-slow-motion footage seen by additional referees to be immediately watched by viewers all across the world. Biased decisions, damning or seeming to be so, can be spotted right away. No one could have “done a Maradona” and got away with it. His 1986 “Hand of God” incident – knocking the ball into the net with his 
hand to knock England out of the competition – can no longer happen. 
All this can help reduce corruption in football, a sport tainted by frequent accusations that big-name teams and players receive preferential treatment. When it is harder to influence games through refereeing, half the battle is won. Corruption in football is impossible to eradicate entirely, but the sport could do with less cheating, which spills over from the biggest stadiums to the schoolyard because everyone is made to believe it is the right thing to do.
Hopefully, the more-level playing field is here to stay. Bringing greater justice into the sport certainly costs money, but it is money well spent. Football being a team game is what makes the sport popular, allowing unsung heroes to be appreciated more and highlighting the contributions of every single player. As stellar names continuously faded into the background in Russia, the beautiful game shone brighter.
The phenomenon was somewhat ironic, though. The term “the beautiful game” originally referred to sparkling play by individuals. A tight spotlight picked out each star’s movement, dribbling skills, passing prowess and deadly shooting. In Russia, the whole stage lit up. And this could be the beginning of a wholesale change that makes the sport truly beautiful.