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No longer a game of two halves?

Gabriel Meadows

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 Now I’ve heard it all !
Before we even kick a ball
We go from baffling to bizarre –
Firstly, selecting Qatar
Then the tournament switching to December
And remember
All matches to be played under artificial clouds
Will they also look for superficial crowds?
Or should that be sacrificial
If they happen to support Sapphic Thistle!?!

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 So to massage hamstrings and calves
There’ll be no second halves
But segments of thirds
Blow me! But words
Just fail me

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 Surely, surely, surely not!
Someone’s truly lost the plot
And no matter which way ‘twas versed
This wouldn’t even be dreamed up for April the 1st!!!!!

© Gabriel Meadows, 7th July 2011

Notes

Courtesy of the Daily Mail, April 7th

In a fresh farce, FIFA could allow games at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar to be played over three 30-minute periods if temperatures become dangerously high for players, a senior stadium engineer has claimed.

Michael Beavon, a director of Arup Associates who helped develop technology that will cool the 12 stadiums, told the Qatar Infrastructure Conference in London the air-cooling would maintain temperatures at 24C.

‘There is a moderate risk of heat injury to the players between 24C-29C but if you go above that you have high and extreme risk of injury, ‘ said Beavon, who was speaking to delegates at the Qatar Infrastructure Conference in London.

‘The one thing FIFA do say, although it is for guidance, is if it’s 32C they will stop a match and play three 30-minute thirds rather than two 45-minute halves.

‘The reason would be to re-hydrate the players before they could carry on playing. That of course would play havoc with TV schedules and those kind of things.

‘The commitment from Qatar was to provide conditions in the moderate band, so that matches would go ahead and be played as normal.
‘Matches have to be played at an acceptable temperature and in safety so that FIFA do not intervene.’

A FIFA spokesman attempted to allay fears that an extraordinary break in tradition could happen, insisting nothing had been finalised at such an early stage.

He said: ‘This possibility has not been discussed. In any case, this would require a change in the Laws of the Game, and therefore would have to be analysed and approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in the first place.’

American tv directors rubbing their hands at extra advertising time?

Surely matches could be played at nigh time when cooler?

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/no-longer-a-game-of-two-halves/