If you were one of the few Americans who caught the second Euro 2012 semifinal last Thursday, you were in for a soccer treat. After two relatively tepid nil-nil draws (England/Italy, Portugal/Spain) that went the distance, the battle between Germany (one of the pre-tournament favorites) and Italy (perennial European powerhouse) was an exhilarating goalfest. History ultimately prevailed, as once again, the wily Italians booted the Germans out of a major international tournament, led by the ageless, timeless Andrea Pirlo (although they too eventually succumbed to Spain in the final). The Germans also suffered another surprising blow, in the form of some unflattering editing.Despite solid all around play by the hard working Germans, the Azzurri struck fast and hard on the counter. By the the 36th minute, Italian striker Mario " Super Mario " Balotelli had scored the second, killer goal (he’d scored the first one too).It was then that the camera cut to a weeping woman, one German fan, presumably overwhelmed by the hopeless hole her team now found themselves in, just as a single poetic tear rolled down her cheek in epic HD slo-mo. "A bit early for tears," ESPN commentator Ian Darke remarked of the premature if not understandable show of emotion with still an hour left to play.
Darke had a point. As a fan, it's poor form to lose faith in your side so early into the game. Did German fans really have such little confidence in their team as the "live" feed seemed to suggest?Well, actually no, German papers soon discovered, after the woman was bombarded emails by friends wondering why she had given up so soon. Indeed, the fan had been moved to tears, just not during Balotelli’s shirtless goal celebration. Instead, she'd been overwhelmed during the national anthem, nearly 40 minutes before the clip was broadcast as live by UEFA, the governing body that organizes the Euro as well as the Champions League (essentially the FIFA of Europe), according to German broadcaster ARD (every broadcaster receives the same feed from UEFA, including ESPN which aired the game here in the US).This wasn't an isolated case. Footage from the Germany/Netherlands game showed Germany Coach Joachim Löw playfully punching out a soccer ball from a ball boy's hands was also later determined to have been prerecorded. "We are surprised and irritated. These pictures aren’t acceptable for us, especially since we spoke to UEFA about this problem a few days ago,‘’ ARD’s Euro 2012 chief editor Joerg Schoenenborn said. "We’re now looking for further talks.’’UEFA first denied the charges, before conceding to overwhelming evidence. "Of course any form of censorship or manipulation is not acceptable for us,‘’ Schoenenborn said. "That’s why we clearly told UEFA that the German public expects coverage to be live when it says it’s live. Live is live and has to stay live.’’This kind of blatant emotional manipulation should be reserved for episodes of the Jersey Shore, not an international sporting event presented as live television. Sports is dramatic enough as it is (take for instance the recent narratives surrounding Jeremy Lin, Lopez Lomong and my personal favorite, Brian Baker). And sports is dramatic because its real. By undermining its integrity, UEFA undermines fan enjoyment. Just ask boxing.
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