Why does it always come to something like this?  The big show seems to be settled by acts (Maradona's "hand of God" comes to mind) that are actually failures to enforce the rules of the game.  Far too often such things decide the match that we are sold is the ultimate, the pinnacle of the world's game.

If you watched the horrible match between Portugal and the Netherlands you know what prompts this article.  Unlike most of the pundits that are now campaigning for the head of the Russian referee I take a different approach to the debacle and I see a very different basis for what happened; FIFA itself and I'm sorry to say, the fans.

Aw man, you're a nut you say!  Well, I might be an old looney toon, but I'm no nut I can assure you.  And I sincerely wish this mess wasn't part of the world's game.  By not enforcing the rules FIFA and the fans have made it so.

Frankly speaking I honestly feel that FIFA fosters the nonsense we all saw in that match.  How is that?  By not enforcing their own proclamations and the fundamental rules of the game all the time they promote an essential lawlessness and by doing so a far too often arbitrary application of those rules.  That action also provides the whole by which the criminal element gets control in many parts of the world that we have seen exposed this year.

What the devil do you mean by that?  Well, here's one that has promoted this feeling that rules are different for different parts of a match.  Such as a statement from a former international star "you don't give a card here; its too early in the match; you pull the guy aside and give him a talking to, and don't show the card" because the offense happened in the 3rd minute, and its too early to give a card in that case!  Says who?  The rules are the rules and a card-able offense warrants a card whether it happens in the 2nd minute or the 89th, yet we see the rules enforced differently in both of those cases.  It gets explained away by saying the match official shouldn't be part of the game, which really means he must permit fouls and a yellow card offense depending on when it happens, which is utter nonsense.

How often have you seen your favorite team not given a penalty kick for a blatant foul in the area, perhaps a red card offense if it happened OUTSIDE the box, in stoppage time?  I'm sure you have and not only was there no PK when there should have been, nothing at all is given.  Or, turn that around and say it happened in the 3rd minute, and no PK is awarded nor is a card shown.  Show me where in FIFA's rules of the game it says that if a player does this in the first 5 minutes, or the last 5 of a match, you don't call it or show the card.

How about this one; a big time millionaire player commits a blatant foul from behind which FIFA mandates is an "automatic yellow" a foul is blown, but nothing is shown to the offender (especially if he happens to play for England, Brazil or this year Germany).  That millionaire baby shows utter contempt and disdain because the match official dared to call a foul on him, as if to suggest that the official must not know who he is or how big his paycheck.  Instead of showing a red and putting the guy in the locker room that sort of nonsense is allowed to stand time and time again.  In effect, these million dollar babies have forced the changes in the rules of the game, or more accurately in how and when those rules are actually enforced.  And that is FIFA's shame.

I ask you to play the game over in your head and find one, if you can, foul or yellow card (there are 16 to chose from) that you could say were absolutely not fouls or warranted the yellow.  For every one you find I'd bet that there were at least twice that many that were not carded or even whistled for a foul at all.  These so-called best players in the world RELY on the fouling to control the game and to defeat their opponent and we cheer them for it.

And that soccer fan is the shame that belongs right at our feet.  We have allowed that to happen and the game often is no longer played by the rules.  The players set the rules today, not FIFA and we cheer them for it.  The players say and we accept that certain fouls aren't fouls at all if they happen at certain times during a match.  Show me where the laws of the game say such a thing.

The truth is, the world's governing body has allowed the millionaire players to dictate just how and when the rules of the game are to be enforced.  And when the match official calls the game according to those rules, the players revolt, the coaches will petition FIFA for the head of the official and the fans cheer them on.

That is why we get these ugly games in each and every World Cup.

Here's another example that I cheered when FIFA proclaimed their intention just prior to the launching of the pro soccer season in Europe three years ago.  FIFA announced their intent to punish certain fouls consistenly with automatic yellows.  In particular, the sliding tackle from behind (or the side actually) would be punished every time by at least a yellow card.  That so-called "professional foul" that stymies an attack was to be punished that way for a certainty.

FIFA was going to make an attempt to remove the constant fouling and punish those that rely on the tactic to control the game.  It didn't happen.  Despite the exquisite skills of these million dollar babies that claim to be the world's best players the truth is they can't play the game without depending on the persistent fouls.  They rely on the match officials to arbitrarily enforce the rules and that my friends is precisely why we get to see such a miserable contest as that between Portugal and Holland.

The official attempted to enforce the rules from the early stages of the match to let the players know that he would not allow the nonsense in this match.  He was going to call the game by the book.  It didn't work and the players continued with the hacking and whacking at their opponents and in the end he was made to be the devil incarnate because he actually dared them to play by the rules and punished them because they refused.  In the end it will be his head not the players that will roll and that is a shame to tell you the truth.  Shame on all of us and FIFA too.

That official will become the sacrificial lamb at the deference to the millionaire players and I'm sorry to say, the fans.  You see, the fans don't want the game to be played according to the rules.  For some insane reason, the fans would rather have the arbitrary enforcement where foul and card offenses are not enforced according to the rules of the game, especially during certain periods of a match.

You know, you can't call for a penalty kick at the end of a match unless a guy really does take the players head off in the box with a high kick to the face, or actually removes a leg with a two footed dive with studs up.  Some officials wouldn't call for a PK in either case if they could avoid it depending on where the game was being played.

The result is, what we see in this World Cup where with 16 games yet to be played we have already set a new record for yellow and red cards issued.  Why?  Because we, the fans, have allowed that to develop by insisting on not enforcing the rules of the game.  I suspect that FIFA has directed the match officials to attempt to enforce the rules from the off, and that is why we are seeing what we are.

The players simply don't accept that message and are insisting on playing just as they do in their pro leagues across Europe where the persistent fouls help them defeat their opponents week after week.  That, soccer fans, is the war that is playing out on the pitches in Germany in this World Cup.

The ugly truth of this is, these million dollar babies that are worshiped the world over can't play the game with the skill and guile we think they possess.  The game is played around the rules, those written down and those "unwritten" and we, the fans are a big part of why that has happened to the beautiful game.

FIFA realizes that arbitrary nature that surrounds today's game is a big part of how and why the match rigging scandals have developed in Germany and Italy.  By not enforcing the actual rules and relying instead on the arbitrary application and those unwritten rules we have created the whole through which the cheaters and fixers wiggle to work their black magic.

A foul is a foul, whether its in the first or last minute.  A yellow card offense is a yellow card offense.  Truth is, these guys have become accustomed to some of those rules NOT being enforced much of the time and the fact that we, the fans, not only accept that, but demand it is poisoning the game itself.

Sure, we don't like seeing a game like that one, especially in the World Cup, but you know what?  We got it because we wanted it.  By not enforcing the rules and making these guys play by them for the full 90 minutes in each and every game, we got what we deserved.

And that is not all on FIFA or that Russian ref either.