Ahead of the 1994 World Cup \u2013 the first staged in the United States \u2013 players were asked to do something they never had before: sign a fair play declaration. The document, in which the soccer stars of the day pledged to respect the rules and opponents, was part of a plan by governing body FIFA to restore soccer\u2019s reputation as \u201cthe beautiful game.\u201d And expectations ran high before kickoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, it could not be as bad as the previous edition of the tournament, held in Italy four years earlier. That dour affair left a sour taste in the soccer world. Noting that it had the lowest goals per game in World Cup history, Eduardo Galeano, known as the game\u2019s global poet laureate, wrote that Italia \u201990 consisted of \u201cboring soccer without a drop of audacity or beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remarks not only referred to the aesthetics of the game \u2013 tedious matches devoid of skillful merit that were unpleasing to watch. They also pointed to its ethics \u2013 questionable behaviors and strategies that belittled soccer and its practitioners. This was an era in which wasting time, intentional fouling, theatrics and defensive schemes predominated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n