Chapter 771: Last-Minute Equalizer! Sanction FIFA! Wang Shuo, What Do You Want? A Strong Backing to Remain Invincible!

Chapter 771: Chapter 140: Last-Minute Equalizer! Sanction FIFA! Wang Shuo, What Do You Want? A Strong Backing to Remain Invincible!

Wenger had mentioned this before. In the Premier League, the Christmas schedule was often the key to widening the gap in the standings. However, the Gunners had traditionally struggled during this festive period. Wang Shuo could not say for sure how things would go; after all, this was his first time experiencing a Premier League Christmas schedule, so he could only take it one step at a time.

Before the match against Aston Villa, the team was to organize their routine Christmas dinner. The venue had already been chosen: the Park Lane Hilton, located in the southeast corner of Hyde Park! The biggest highlight of this five-star hotel was its panoramic view over all of London. The team had booked out the entire Michelin-starred restaurant on the twenty-eighth floor, and the players were expected to bring female companions.

After Wang Shuo finished his club duties, he had dinner with Zhang Jiandong and his wife, who had flown in all the way from China. Just as Shen Qinghe had predicted, Zhang Jiandong’s trip was not a simple one.

“My superiors know we have a good relationship, so they specially approved a Christmas vacation for me. They sent me to London to watch you play live and interview you while I’m at it,” Zhang Jiandong joked about the purpose of his visit.

“Is that it?” Wang Shuo definitely did not believe him.

Zhang Jiandong smiled. “Actually, I’m here to act as a middleman.”

Wang Shuo glanced at Shen Qinghe. Even before they met, she had already guessed as much.

“Frankly speaking, the higher-ups have been paying close attention to everything happening with you recently, but it’s hard for them to get involved.

“This issue is a problem regarding the evaluation standards of the sports industry and internal organizations, and it falls under the personal domain. The higher-ups feel that excessive intervention wouldn’t protect you; instead, it might bring about adverse effects,” Zhang Jiandong explained.

Upon hearing this, Wang Shuo immediately laughed. “I know. Please pass on my gratitude.”

In truth, Wang Shuo had received calls from Gao Huairen and Jiang Pengju, as well as from leaders back in his hometown, but he had politely declined their help. The reason was simple: this was a private matter. If the authorities intervened, the problem would undoubtedly be resolved quickly, but it would not benefit Wang Shuo’s long-term development. Furthermore, it might not reflect well on his image in the global football scene.

“Here’s what I think. As it stands, we are the weaker party in this matter, but we are the weaker party with justice on our side. Therefore, we will definitely argue our case on reasonable grounds and fight them to the bitter end,” Shen Qinghe interjected with her own perspective.

She had previously discussed this strategy with her team and various professionals in the legal and other specialized domains. Both she and Wang Shuo knew exactly what to do and how far to take it.

“Right now, both public opinion and our image are highly favorable to us. But if the higher-ups intervene, our image as the vulnerable underdog will vanish. It might even cause many fans and media outlets to feel resentment toward us,” Shen Qinghe continued.

“Exactly.” Zhang Jiandong nodded. “That’s why the higher-ups are being extremely cautious. Until now, let alone on an official level, even the state media hasn’t said much. They’re taking all this into consideration.”

Sometimes, silence was exactly the best form of protection.

“We are currently steering public opinion toward a narrative of resisting tyranny, and it has been very successful. Moving forward, we will definitely fight Blatter to the bitter end, but it will certainly be a protracted war,” Shen Qinghe said.

As soon as her voice faded, Zhang Jiandong asked with concern, “What’s their attitude right now?”

“They absolutely refuse to apologize, but everything else is negotiable.”

“And what about you?”

Wang Shuo and Shen Qinghe exchanged a glance and burst into laughter in unison.

“We still demand that he publicly apologize and retract his previous statements,” Wang Shuo replied.

Having worked in authoritative state media for many years, Zhang Jiandong instantly understood their intention. Wang Shuo’s core bargaining chip was that he was the top favorite for this year’s Golden Ball Award. Judging from how much FIFA valued him, one could easily guess that he was the likely winner.

As the voted winner of the Golden Ball Award, if he were to skip the ceremony and refuse to accept the trophy, it would deal a massive blow to the FIFA Golden Ball Award.

Nowadays, UEFA was also heavily promoting its own individual awards. Compared to FIFA, UEFA’s European Best Player award had one massive advantage.

Why had FIFA’s World Footballer of the Year and France Football Magazine’s Golden Ball Award sparked so much controversy over the years?

Time was a factor easily overlooked by the public, yet highly valued within the industry. Both major individual awards were handed out in December because they were annual accolades. However, the world’s mainstream leagues currently operated on cross-year seasons. This created a misalignment: the most important finals and championships of the year all took place in the first half of the year, while the voting occurred in the second half.

As a general rule, the closer an event was to the voters—both in time and space—the greater its influence. For example, during the voting for the World Footballer of the Year and the Golden Ball Award, European voters generally preferred to vote for players in Europe, while African voters tended to favor players in Africa. This was an inevitable phenomenon.

It was true for space, and equally true for time. Performances closer to the voting period often had a greater impact on the judges. This was exactly why these awards were so prone to controversy.

For the simplest example, one only needed to look back at the first half of the 2010–2011 season, just before the 2010 Golden Ball Award voting took place. How had Inter Milan performed? How had Sneider and Diego Milito performed?

Yes, everyone knew the award was meant to evaluate an entire year. But people’s memories of events from six months prior were never that profound. What replaced them were the impressions left by a player’s terrible performances over the most recent half-year.