The rot starts at the top

MAR 13 — Every time I watch the “We are the World” (WATW) video on TV, I get goosebumps.

It’s partly dejavu recalling the original video of 25 years ago and part sadness at seeing Michael Jackson being featured only as a clip from the original video, as a tribute to the great entertainer and loving soul that he was.

But mostly, it is for the appreciation for what is a collaborative effort from all those talented people in bringing a voice to the suffering following the massive earthquake that hit Haiti.

Singers, musicians and some actors too – from veterans (Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand and Oscar winner Jeff Bridges) to current superstars (Black Eyed Peas, Akon, Pink, Usher, Jamie Foxx) and right down to the new kids on the block Jonas Brothers and Miley Cirus — made a moment to remember in our lifetime just as the group from 1985 did so memorably before them.

As most of you know, this whole celebrity group performance has been a part of our lives for quite a while now. Beatle legend George Harrison is credited with being the first to come up with the idea, putting together the Concert for Bangladesh back in 1971 to benefit the children of the-then war-torn country through UNICEF.

Living legends even then, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr were among the stars who gave of their time and effort. The concert and subsequent album raised US$10 million (RM33 million), which is equivalent to US$50million today adjusting for inflation (using the same methods that compares box-office hits of past years with current movie hits).

Then came the revolutionary Band Aid group put together by Bob Geldof, bringing the best of Britain into a studio to record “Do They Know It’s Christmas” back in December 1984.

This of course eventually led to the recording of “We are the World” across the Atlantic and the trans-Atlantic Live Aid concert in the summer of 1985. At least this was one good outcome from Hollywood’s tendency to copy ideas from the UK.

Since then there’s been a host of other charity concerts, some even held annually, including the redneck version, appropriately called Farm Aid.

Back to the current WATW. It was a good and fast reaction by these super-rich talents to lend their celebrity to help those in dire need of assistance. From news reports, it is obvious many of the stars also went in person to lend a hand to help the victims in Haiti.

My wish is that football could do the same with all the international superstars in its ranks and the great outreach it has with players’ popularity cutting across borders and language.

Yes, I know Zinedine Zidane led a team against a Benfica XI in Lisbon to benefit Haiti, but that was more to do with his role as UNDP Goodwill Ambassador. There were a few current players (including Kaka and Nuno Gomes) but most were retired footballing legends — Edgar Davids (Holland), Luis Figo (Portugal), Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic), Gheorghe Hagi (Rumania) and even Eusebio (Portugal).

It is nowhere near the level of publicity and generosity that WATW helped to garner for the poor souls in Haiti. Where are all the current stars? Where are FIFA, UEFA, the rich European leagues and the clubs themselves? Okay, maybe Portsmouth can be exempted.

It beggars belief that in this year of the World Cup in football, FIFA are not doing more considering how flushed they are with all that sponsor dough they have gained, and continue to earn year-after-year.

Okay, FIFA has pledged US$3 million to Haiti . . . but no, it is not for food, clean water, medicine or even the children. It’s going to be managed by their Zurich office and will be disbursed slowly to the Haiti Football Association to support the re-development of football. Like that is the most important thing on every Haitian’s mind.

FIFA is the cause of everything that’s wrong with football today. All the injustices on the pitch, unequal enforcement of the rules, horrendous refereeing, players going wild off-pitch, greedy agents and of course, the endless controversies, i.e. France’s handball-assisted winning goal against Ireland in the WC2010 qualifying playoff match, and the Zidane headbutt in the last World Cup final.

There are ways to easily check and circumvent the above by applying and enforcing proper rules of fairplay in accordance with social norms. But instead, the richest sporting body in the world chooses to remain detached from real life.

I won’t start on their recent rejection of using goal-line technology of any sort. That’s a whole different story in itself.

So, it is not surprising to read about top clubs and players being greedy and self-centred, not to mention arrogant and abusive.

John Terry is one such player. It is good that he ultimately shot himself in the foot with the business of the extra-marital affair. To be frank, both his England and Chelsea captaincy should have been stripped much earlier when he illegally received ?10,000 (RM50,000) to give an unauthorised private tour of Stamford Bridge.

But Chelsea football club don’t have the gumption to do what is right, which speaks a lot for the owner and management. So, Terry remains captain of the Blues.

Tonight, he leads his side against West Ham United in an early kick-off at the Bridge.

Less than a month ago, Chelsea were nine points clear of Arsenal and held a two-point advantage over Manchester United (MU) despite playing a game less. Now, the London sides are only separated by goal-difference and are behind MU by two points, albeit Chelsea still have a game in hand.

If the season ends without Chelsea as champions, a lot of the blame would be aimed at Terry, be it fair or not. His form has dipped considerably this year since his scandalous behaviour came to light. This was evident in their last league match, a 2-4 loss to Manchester City.

I believe that Terry’s form, compounded with the loss of Michael Essien for the rest of the season and Peter Cech for a few more matches, makes Chelsea third favourite after MU and Arsenal to clinch the title.

Incidentally, this is the first time Chelsea have started a league weekend away from the top spot since October.

With the return leg of the Champions League Last 16 knock-out round coming up next week, Chelsea are badly handicapped for tonight’s London derby.

Firsly, their minds will be on the need to reverse the 1-2 loss to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan. Secondly, other than the two injuries mentioned above, they will also be missing Michael Ballack and Juliano Beletti. Both are suspended for the red cards they earned in the home loss to City.

Italian Roberto Mancini out-willed Carlo Ancelotti a fortnight ago. Could it be another Italian’s turn tonight?

Gianfranco Zola returns to the club where he made his name and may yet pay back Ancelotti for a snub way back in 1996.

Zola may never have arrived in the English top flight to join Chelsea if it had not been for Ancelotti’s inability to fit him into the Parma side he was managing back in 1996. The diminutive Italian found himself played out of position and left for Stamford Bridge where he became a legend.

The Hammers have not beaten Chelsea in their last 10 meetings and haven’t won an away game since August. Honestly, I think they have no chance of ending either sequence.

However, they did hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw earlier this season, and also earned a point with the same scoreline at Stamford Bridge last season.

And that one point, should the same result occur, could prove vital on both ends of the table come the end of the season.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.