FIFA puts Alexi Lalas in his place regarding Beckham's England recall

You just knew it was going to happen. A few days after Alexi Lalas planted both feet in his mouth regarding David Beckham's recent call up to the England national, FIFA has stepped in and reminded Lalas what the rules are regarding players being able to play for their national teams.

In short, the Galaxy can't stop Beckham from playing in England friendlies if the matches are on FIFA dates. You, me and most of the soccer-loving world already knew this but that didn't stop Lalas from chiming in and making a not-so-bad situation bad.

Can anyone put a muzzle on the guy? I can usually see the marketing value of his asinine statements but just can't figure out what he or the Galaxy gained from his comments regarding the Beckham situation.

Comments

[J.]

It's still rather perplexing why this guy is a GM in the first place, especially to arguably one of the leagues most important franchises. Everytime he opens his mouth, I just want to cringe.

AEG works in mysterious ways I guess.

[Squard]

Galaxy, MLS and Lalas all get their names in international press. Anyone in public relations will tell you; There's no such thing as bad press. The only way for Lalas to go away is to ignore him.

[Allen]

Lalas isn't dumb. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted FIFA to have to very specifically respond to this to come back to the league and push for them to not have games on official FIFA dates.

[Jasen]

Lalas isn't dumb.

i stopped reading there.

[Warren]

That article has me thinking about the US. Wouldn't the US matches at Copa be considered either competitive or friendly matches? Ives, hasnt the thought been that Bradley would have difficulty getting Euro-based players released for Copa? Couldnt he still get them out, based on this situation?

[ag nigrin]

Once a BOZO always a BOZO...need I say more?

[Ives]

Warren, there is a difference between a FIFA-sanctioned event like Copa America and FIFA-designated dates for international matches. Teams don't have to release players for events that aren't international competitions, regional competitions of that player's country or matches that aren't on FIFA dates.

And Allen, you're giving Lalas WAY TOO MUCH credit. Yes, I'm aware that he isn't dumb but that doesn't mean that some of the things he says aren't dumb.

[jboy3533]

@ jasen: Good one

@Allen: I don't see FIFA changing the rules just so Galaxy can fill stadium seats.

But the Beckham call-up raises an important question - Was picking Beckham and paying him all that money based on the MLS assuming his career is done?

Getting called to international duty is part of the game, so why the heck is Lalas so shocked and concerned about Becks missing multiple games.

[Brad]

Ives, sorery to disagree, but Allen is on to something. When I first read Lalas comments I knew he had no basis for this. Most everyone who follows world soccer knows this as well. What I don't think the Galaxy braintrust really planned for was a Beckham that featured prominently in the England side. So, they or most probably the league. has not scheduled matches with FIFA's international dates in mind--especially since they post loaded the Galaxy schedule to accommodate Beckham's late arrival this season. I agree with Allen that the Galaxy (through Lalas) are positioning to modify their remaining matches that Beckham will (might) miss. As has been noted with the possible return of the Earthquakes (an no soccer specific stadium), MLS will contradict itself if it sees it in its own interests.

[Ives]

Brad, not quite sure what you disagree with but I think I have an idea. Are you saying Lalas made these statements in an indirect way to put pressure on MLS? That makes no sense. What is the point of making statements that make both he and the Galaxy look amateurish in order to put some pressure on the very league he can call at any time with complaints? If the Galaxy want dates changed they can easily go to the league. Going through the press makes no sense.

I agree that MLS should avoid playing games on FIFA dates but saying that Alexi's comments were some subliminal attempt to get MLS to stop doing that is a MAJOR stretch.

[Alex]

The idea that MLS should respect FIFA dates is the main point here. In the end they really have no one else by themselves to blame.

[arisrules]

Ives,

If this was a normal league, I would agree with you. But there are still opaque and amateur aspects, that do not preclude such a situation.

Lalas is and was an idiot. He's an attention-whore, and my guess is that what he is in LA for. To try to get as much spotlight onto the team as possible. He has nothing to do with personnel decisions, as Yallop is in charge (and has done a shitty job with that; compare what Arena has done with a similar salary structure, to Yallop, night and day). The tiketing machine was there before Lalas. What has this clown actually done out there?

[PZ]

Ives, I have a lot of respect for you as a journalist. However, an article which quotes the Daily Mail is hardly a non-bias new source. A better version of the quotes is offered here. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=434158&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5901

All Lalas said was that his being called up could hurt their ticket sales...or words to that effect. The British Tabloids jumped all over that and spun it to being Lalas wouldn't allow Becks to play for England. Slight difference there.

FIFA didn't say anything would would tell any other club (Man U, Arsenal etc.) who were reluctant to let their stars leave for..oh, I don't know...the African Nations or some other matches half-way around the globe. If it were Alex Fergison or Arsene Winger with those comments, I'm betting the same media would take a different stance.

However, the real question which needs to be addressed here is, why does MLS continue to schedule matches on International Dates?

[papa bear]

I'm not sure I'm on completely on board with the subliminal assassin theory of Lalas' comments, but Ives, MLS acts like an organized crime organization so often that info that goes in never comes out again. Garber does have a way of getting set in his way. Putting the idea out that FIFA match days need to be observed makes it a VERY public problem.
Sky Sports did a breakdown and if Becks plays all the matches England is set to play the rest of the year, he will miss AT LEAST a quarter of the Galaxy league matches. That is NOT even remotely approaching a good thing.
Getting something like that out in a very public way could have a way of expediting MLS fixing the situation.