anyway, i think i’ve stated my opinion on the matter. whether it was “fair” for what fifa did i dont know. all i know is that greece was never banned and were suspended from participating in any fifa-sanctioned competitions. i guess the fact that the greek football federation looked for sovereignty from fifa may have been a slap in the face to fifa and so they, in turn, thought they’d take away the ‘priveledge’ of competing in any fifa competitons. regardless, i think the two situations are far from relevant to each other. also, you should know that at the time of the wc, the calciopoli investigations had not been concluded so in reality, there was no definative proof at that time that anything transpired 0 thus fifa couldnt exert any authority. in fact, even to this day, juventus is fighting back and taking the ruling to higher courts in order to clear their name because there is suspicion that the evidence used to prosecute juve (and others involved) was potentially planted.

the examples i mentioned about italian players was just an example, just like my reference to brazil. most of them were in fact playing in italy at the time.

so, if i remember correctly, i was enquiring about what exactly GREECE had done, not italy or what transpired in serie a.

first of all, i am not sure what a NATIONAL team has to do with a DOMESTIC LEAGUE given that they are governed by two seperate bodies for starters. secondly, national team players / coaches / administrators are not necessarily plying their trade in the domestic league (eg, luca toni, fabio grosso, fabio cannavaro play in ‘foreign’ leagues) so should hardly be made accountable for something that goes on in a league they are not part of. as an extreme example, imagine a case occuring in the brazilian domestic league yet no one on their national team actually plays in that league. club teams are responsible and club teams should be held accountable. as an example, refer to the hooligan dilema in britain during the 80’s where CLUB TEAMS were banned from cup compititions in europe BUT NOT THEIR NATIONAL TEAM from participating in world compititions.

anyway, the above is besides the point but only serving to set the context and illustrate that your premise is inherently flawed to begin with. now, let’s get back toy the real issue:

my query, both original and standing, is what exactly had greece done to be “banned” from participating in the world cup? i am pretty damn sure you have no clue what you are talking about so i think you should look into WHAT ACTUALLY TRANSPIRED regarding greece and/or their domestic league wrt the wc 06.

first and foremost, lets clarify that greece did not pariticapte in the wc 06 BECAUSE THEY FAILED TO QUALIFY and finished 4th in their group…not because of “MATCH FIXING”. secondly, the ONE WEEK SUSPENSION from fifa had NOTHING TO DO WITH MATCH FIXING but to do with self-imposed immunity from fifa (see link to educate yourself: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/5141866.stm).

i’m not sure how you managed to jumble all this up (or even what point you are trying to make) but try to do a little research on a topic before trying to use that as a crutch for your arguement. so to recap, greece was not ‘banned’; they didnt qualify. secondly, greece was not “banned” for match-fixing but TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED because the greek football federation were seeking sovereignty from fifa. basically, there is no comparison or legitimacy to your argument regarding greece or italy’s participation in the wc. thank me later for doing your homework for you.

yours,

thoughful in seattle.