237

FRASIER’S FRIDAY FACT

Volume CCXXXII

1/14/2022

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday! Welcome back to Frasier’s Friday Fact, where we cherish knowledge and continually build our mental database of useless information to use at parties.

Many of you may have watched the final game of the NFL season this past weekend, where the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers were competing for the final playoff spot in the AFC. For those of you who weren’t watching, or somehow missed it: there was also a possibility that both teams could advance to the playoffs in the event of a tie. No offense to any Pittsburgh Steelers fans (who would be on the losing end of this equation), but I feel as if I and the rest of America were rooting for the absurd tie outcome - and we almost got it. But the Raiders advanced on a last-second field goal to win the game in overtime.

Many people were asking - why not just collude and end the game in a tie on purpose? It gets your team to the playoffs, right? Well, this week I want to talk about collusion so egregious that it resulted in a rule change: the 1982 Disgrace of Gijón.

In the opening round of the 1982 World Cup, the final game of Group 2 was played between West Germany and Austria. Algeria and Chile had played the day before, and with that match decided, the possibilities for advancing into the next round were laid out. If West Germany (who had stunningly lost to Algeria in a previous match) defeated Austria by one or two goals, both West Germany and Austria would advance to the second round based on tiebreakers. A loss or draw by West Germany would result in elimination, whereas a four-goal victory would eliminate Austria.

I’m sure you may see where this is going. After furiously attacking the net in the first ten minutes, West Germany scored, and the action just… stopped. Teams simply passed the ball back and forth, and occasionally sent long balls to the opponent’s half of the pitch. The announcers (and fans) were not happy - and some even asked viewers at home to turn off their television sets in protest.

Now, collusion could never be proved, of course - playing it safe was the smart decision for both teams, with guarantee that both would advance if the score held - but the outcry was great enough that FIFA changed its rules for the following World Cup. Now, the final two matches of group play are now played at the same time to avoid such a scenario again.

Stay scheming, my friends.

Fraish