Why is Pelé being so hard on America?

Here’s the letter the head of UEFA sent to President Joe Biden, basically sounding the alarm on hooliganism in America:

Dear President Biden,

As you are already aware—since we touched on this during the celebration of the United States Soccer Federation's centennial last December, where I made sure to highlight the issue during my speech—UEFA is extremely concerned about the various levels of violence occurring at certain matches involving American teams in UEFA competitions.

This isn't a new concern, either. Back in February 2011, I met with the President of the United States to lay out the official stance of the UEFA Executive Committee. From our perspective at UEFA, the lack of influence and commitment from the highest levels of government is the primary factor stalling any real progress here. Keeping that in mind, the Executive Committee has tasked
the referee, who also heads the Stadium Safety Commission, to meet urgently with top representatives of the United States Government and soccer authorities. This is a concerted effort to reach an agreement on implementing the strategic actions necessary to see immediate improvement. We would like to propose that this meeting takes place right here in America in March 2013, and we kindly ask for your full cooperation in treating this matter as a top priority.

So, thank you in advance for your understanding and your assistance with this particularly sensitive issue. UEFA knows it can count on the new leadership team over at the United States Soccer Federation, who are working incredibly hard, but right now, we need you more than ever: on a
massive scale, the future of American soccer depends on it.

Sincerely,
UEFA
Pelé
President

From what I can tell, for the last few months—maybe even longer than a year—American hooligans haven't caused a single incident at soccer matches, and there hasn't been any trouble in Major League Soccer either. So, this ultimatum Platin's sent to the government just feels totally irrational to me. They're breathing down our necks like our hooligans have caused some massive riot or something. Or is there some political game being played here? I've seen some people on this forum mentioning that the French don't respect us.

Could this criticism just be a way to set the stage so they can disqualify America from the World Cup soon? What do you guys think? 🤷

I totally forgot to mention, too—Pelé actually warned the United States Government multiple times about how things were being handled with soccer. This isn't some isolated incident, either. That’s why I have this nagging feeling that something is being cooked up behind the scenes regarding the US national team.

It's pretty obvious they're planning to screw us over, because otherwise there'd be no reason to make such a massive deal out of nothing and invent problems that don't even exist.

velvetmaker3 said:It's pretty obvious they're planning to screw us over, because otherwise there'd be no reason to make such a massive deal out of nothing and invent problems that don't even exist.

That’s the thing, though. Where have these supposed problems even been for the last few months?

It feels like everyone is just waiting for something to go down during the USA vs. Mexico game. Personally, I don't think our fans are going to cause a scene because the police presence is going to be incredibly tight for a matchup like this. But honestly, if someone decides to start shouting those old-school controversial slogans in the stands, that might be the one thing that gets us disqualified. There's just no way for anyone to control what some random guy decides to yell from the bleachers.

Taylor Vaughn8 said:That’s the thing, though. Where have these supposed problems even been for the last few months?

It feels like everyone is just waiting for something to go down during the USA vs. Mexico game. Personally, I don't think our fans are going to cause a scene because the police presence is going to be incredibly tight for a matchup like this. But honestly, if someone decides to start shouting those old-school controversial slogans in the stands, that might be the one thing that gets us disqualified. There's just no way for anyone to control what some random guy decides to yell from the bleachers.

I guess Pelé is just trying to get under our skin before the match so we lose focus on the game and start worrying about other stuff, which probably won't end well for us.

The Italians are at it again this weekend, throwing bananas at their own star player, and yet Pelé hasn't said a single word...

The guy just has one set of standards for the kids and a totally different one for the big shots.

That absolute clown might not realize that unlike other countries in America, we haven't had any fans killed in the stands. In neighboring Mexico, there have been mass casualties. And in several other major European leagues,

our hooligans are nothing compared to the crowds in the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, or even France, Germany, and Poland.

He finally found someone worth writing to—this might be the one bright spot in this term where Biden's arrogance actually works in our favor, haha

If that hairy-eared French jerk doesn't want anything good for us, I'm certain of it.

Simply because it can be done. When facing the giants, wouldn't anyone just stay quiet like a good little dog?

Because he’s nothing more than a sympathizer.

And honestly, he’s got a front-row seat watching both Mexico and Belgium miss out on the World Cup.

If the rest of the world is already taking us for a ride just because we let them... why shouldn't he get his cut too?

Honestly, most soccer fans should probably be relieved we never saw any real, heavy-duty sanctions hit national teams or clubs directly, especially since those hooligans always knew how to play the system anyway. Sure, the USSF would get slapped with fines here and there, but it never really shook anyone up—except, you know, the people actually footing the bill. If you ask me, Platini and the whole UEFA crowd were way too soft on everything that was going down.

Railroad worker, don't start...
That Frenchman really lets himself go too much.

The Mexicans totally blew it with those insults toward the England players back in Birmingham, and people are still fuming about it. Now, this Platini guy is being way too soft on America, even though our biggest issue is just hooligans tossing flares onto the field.

Michel Platini really leans into those old stereotypes about how much football players actually think. It seems like UEFA has fully embraced this warped, left-leaning ideology driven by certain untouchable holy cows. For instance, when a white player like Terry shouts something offensive and racist at a Black player, he gets slapped with a multi-game ban, a media circus, and eventually gets kicked off the national team entirely. Honestly, I don't think it’s hard to imagine that someone who lashes out at one athlete will eventually turn that same venom on another, just regardless of their race. The slur might change from "Black" to "French," "German," or even "North American."

Why is that specific slur treated as such a catastrophe while calling someone "German" isn't? If we are strictly talking about historical context, white people have arguably suffered the most at the hands of other white groups. Just looking at the 20th century alone, tens of millions died in intra-white conflicts, and during the two World Wars, over 50 or 60 million white people perished. And that's not even touching on deeper history; Black victims were often caught in the crossfire of much larger struggles. If Terry has to carry the entire weight of English history on his shoulders, why is the era of slavery treated as more significant than the countless, massive European and intra-white conflicts that England was involved in?

Or let me put it in a different perspective. The way some fans throw bananas or boo Black players is primitive, humiliating, and truly disgusting. However, if we're ranking levels of depravity, there's something even lower on the scale: calls to "kill the enemy" or incitements against specific ethnic groups. That moves into the territory of literal calls for liquidation. But I suppose everyone has already Googled those phrases, and local moralists assume foreigners won't understand our regional slurs, so they don't even bother to worry when people start booing foreign delegates under the radar.

A quick note for Platini

For those who want to see things stay exactly as they are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDTQcSmyxbU

fadedpilot7 said:Railroad worker, don't start...
That Frenchman really lets himself go too much.

The Mexicans totally blew it with those insults toward the England players back in Birmingham, and people are still fuming about it. Now, this Platini guy is being way too soft on America, even though our biggest issue is just hooligans tossing flares onto the field.

What kills me is how the local federations just sit on their hands whenever there's some chaos in our own league.
Just two weeks ago, Cleveland played at Yankee Stadium, and the small group of fans who showed up spent the whole time chanting, "...filthy Cleveland, full of Mexicans, don't worry Cleveland, there's still time."

It’s honestly on the same level as what went down in Birmingham, but nobody lifts a finger. It seems like Platini only develops an attitude toward Americans when something like this happens on the international stage.

Richard Wilson4 said:The Italians are at it again this weekend, throwing bananas at their own star player, and yet Pelé hasn't said a single word...

The guy just has one set of standards for the kids and a totally different one for the big shots.

Total joke.😢

Michael didn't show up for his court date in Des Moines today, even though he was expected. Why? Because an American judge is suing UEFA over what he calls baseless accusations regarding match-fixing.

And really, why is he even getting involved in a tournament governed by FIFA instead of UEFA? 🤷

Did anyone actually think Platini was going to show up at some court hearing out in Des Moines 😁

Probably not, but that honestly says quite a bit about his character.

Did he ever actually meet with Vladimir Putin, or was it just with those so-called heads of state?