ReutersFrom left, the FIFA vice president Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein, cricket's chief executive Haroon Lorgat, the Premier League chairman Dave Richards and the rugby board chairman Bernard Lapasset on Wednesday in Qatar at the opening of the International Sport Security Conference.Every so often, some English person somewhere — at the stadium, in the pub, on TV, on the Internet — tells us how the English really feel, or at least many of them: We invented the game and owned it until it was stolen away by the great unwashed masses around the world carrying the banner of FIFA, UEFA or some other multi-lettered international organization.
Wednesday in Doha, Qatar, was one of those days.
Dave Richards, the chairman of England's Premier League, was speaking to a sports and security conference when he said that the world had England — and only England — to thank for the game of soccer/football.
"England gave the world football. It gave the best legacy anyone could give. We gave them the game. For 50 years, we owned the game … we were the governance of the game. We wrote the rules, designed the pitches and everything else. Then, 50 years later, some guy came along and said you're liars and they actually stole it. It was called FIFA. Fifty years later, another gang came along called UEFA and stole a bit more."
Oh, the horror, the horror. Shock and dismay shook the conference, which was attended by the FIFA vice president Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan and the International Cricket Council's chief executive, Haroon Lorgat.
According to The Associated Press, Hussein stepped forward to tell Richards that, in some quarters, the Chinese contributed to the invention of the game. Richards would have none of it.
"It started in Sheffield 150 years ago. We started the game and wrote the rules and took it to the world. The Chinese may say they own it but the British own it and we gave it to the rest of the world."
Richards, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 for his service to the game, is no stranger to controversy, as the saying goes. He has been accused of being a tetchy presence during his time as a board member of the Football Association. Richards put England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup into turmoil when he resigned from the F.A. board a year before FIFA awarded the tournament to Russia.
After his speech, Richards, 68, took a tumble into a museum pool in a darkened courtyard. He was not injured and continued on to a dinner reception.
At the same time FIFA awarded the 2018 tournament to Russia, it gave the 2022 event to Qatar, which was met with howls of protest, with England's officials leading the outcry. Richards could not resist one final shot, pointing out that Qatar allows the consumption of alcohol only in some hotels and that summer temperatures often exceed 100 degrees.
The English and the Germans "like to go for a pint and that pint is a pint of beer. There is another thing from just playing the game. There are thousands and thousands of fans to consider. You have to consider the fans and how you disperse them and how you look after them because it is in June. I've been here then. It is a wonderful place to be but you can't lay on the beach for 10 minutes because you will scorch."
What do you think of Sir Dave's comments? Is he right? Even if he is, does the world need to hear it again?
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