Is the World Cup Rigged? The Simple answer: No*

by Adi Ray

“No justice at World Cup”, says Egypt coach

“FIFA again looks like a corrupt joke, playing favorites for stars” says Garry Kasparov (Chess Legend and one time FIDE president-ship contender)

“VARgentina strikes again for Pessi”, says yet another X user

Photo by Alvaro Palacios on Unsplash

Really Simple Explanations:

• Is FIFA corrupt? Is Water wet?

• Are we living in a world (Cup) where social media runs news cycles and everything looks uglier (even Messi)? Yes

• Do refs (humans) commit errors often ? Yes

• Are they committing many more errors than normal this time at the World Cup? No, and define ‘normal’

• Does sports tech make errors? Yes, more often than you think (needs good ol’ training)

• Do refs (people) reading tech output make mistakes? Yes, more often than you think (need good ol’ training)

• Do tournament organisers favour star teams and individuals? Yes and No

• Does this mean referees are favouring certain teams in the World Cup on purpose? No

• Does this mean VAR refs favoured Argentina: No

Final verdict: World Cup = Not Rigged*

Possible explanations: human error, sloppiness, recency bias, who’s asking, blah de blah.

I’ll throw this in there:

• Refereeing is hard and highly technical. By all accounts it is only getting harder and more technical.

• Refereeing, at the top level, is often very good, though still not error free.

• Can we improve human accountability and decision transparency: Yes, one hundo! but its always a balance between keeping the flow and fun in the game, and a making it a ‘free for all’.

• Sports federations can be, often are, blatantly corrupt. Does not mean tournament is rigged.

• Whose bright idea was it to introduce Snicko in this World cup?

• We all kinda love controversy!

• Finally, I’d like to hear more about FIDE corruption from Garry (not the G Pawn) Kasparov