This year was the first since 1970 that I have missed a World Cup and worse, it was done on purpose.  Simply put, I cannot stand watching soccer anymore as it has become a tournament of divas  controlled by a now thoroughly corrupt organization that has gone to the deepest depth of corruption.

Gone are the days of great soccer. Take this picture for example:

That is Bobby More, captain of England trading jerseys with Pele in Mexico’s World Cup in 1970. Back then, unless you were a total asshole, once the referee blew the whistle three times indicating the end of the game, the guy with the shirt not yours was no longer your contrary. And as a matter of friendship through sport, the garments were traded becoming mementos of the game and the World Cup. You looked down the field, and you could not tell which player belonged to which team, but you knew they just played a very important game and back then a tough but clean one. Mexico 1970 saw not one single red card nobody got expelled for any reason and that gives you an idea of the chivalry among players. And the shirt trading also confirmed it because the players hung out talking to each other, having the press taking pictures and celebrating with the fans.

Years later, FIFA prohibited the shirt trading saying that it was unbecoming for the players to be bare-chested in the field like it was some sort of cheap nudist club. The honchos felt it was embarrassing, I guess and that was one of many nails in Soccer’s coffin and probably we should have seen that coming, but we did not.

My only refuge for soccer will be the Women’s’ world cop in a couple of years. Fortunately the ladies seem to be playing with more courage than their male counterparts, unless they go political again and try to go the Equal Pay bull running the game.