Richard Scudamore's plan for a 39th international fixture may be gaining inadvertent credit simply by remaining in the public view for so long a period. Today he received even more bad news as the FA said his plan "certainly does require some fresh thinking and some really substantive answers." When he FA is on your case about 'fresh thinking,' you're in troubled waters.
But, and this is the sort of but one finds at Denny's on a Tuesday night in upstate New York, Scudamore may have something going here. "Substantive answers" may be FA-speak for, 'come on man, put it to a separate committee, hammer out something both we, FIFA, UEFA and foreign governing bodies can agree to, and let's make some Euros man...fuck!' Certainly the fact that Sepp Blatter has even agreed to meet with Scudamore next week may be indication that the larger bureaucracies involved here are trying to deflect public criticism while at the same time hinting at some detailed 'changes' to the plan that might include compensation for home associations and a piece of the action for FIFA.
At the end of the day, what would an extra league mathematics-defying international fixture bring? TV rights are already at an all-time premium. Football is readily available to anyone who wishes to partake in North America. And Zoom airlines is kindly offering flights to the UK as low as $199 one-way, advertised ad naseum during Sportsnet's Saturday morning PL broadcast. You want to see a game? Crack a can of Abbot, dip into your savings and have yourself a hell of weekend. Because after all, home is where the heart is. Yankees v. Red Sox wouldn't be the same at the Maracana as it would at Yankee Stadium (soon to close, can't win!) no matter how many confused Brasilians would show up. Neither would Wigan v. Bolton be as authentically miserable without the bizarre skid mark currently on display at the JJB.
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