Der fix

What’s up with all the badness in soccer these days. This is the third straight post we’re making on soccer, which is a bit of a deviation from our charter, given that this is a sports blog, and soccer doesn’t really qualify as a real sport (does it?).

In any case, a German footballer was banned for eight months after being implicated in the match-fix scandal which has rocked the game in the country. Steffen Karl, 35, was kicked to the curb by the German football federation (DFB), having already been given a nine-month suspended prison sentence for his role in the affair.

The VfB Chemnitz player was the sixth and final cheater to be to be dealt with. Karl took an 8,000 euro bribe from a Croatian mob ring to tank a game in May of 2004. A pittance given that the mobsters were making millions on fixed games. The scandal has shamed Germany, especially given that the little old World Cup thing is right around the corner.

How do you even tank a soccer game? Those guys spend 50% of the game walking around and the other 50% flopping with their hands to the faces, faking injuries. Try faking an injury on the NFL or NHL.