Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.09.2007, Qupperneq 3

04_RVK_GV_15_007_LETTERS
Re: Icelandic Referees
Referees play an important role in any sport. Soccer is
not the exception.
They are in charge of justice on the pitch. However
justice does not wear a blindfold on the soccer fields
in Iceland. The men in black are unfair, not to mention
partial to teams and players.
Some footballers viciously and maliciously come after
some opponents trying to take
them out of the game without any regard of fair play,
much less the safety of the player.
It is in these circumstances that the referees wear the
blindfolds. They see only what they want to see.
A vivid example that illustrates the point I am trying to
get across is Alicia Wilson who plays for KR. She is a
very talented and skillful player, and I believe whoever
has seen her play would agree with me. She is also the
fastest and quickest player in Iceland. Moreover, these
qualities have become Alicia’s worst nightmare. Oppo-
nent players come after her in every game trying to
take her out of the game by any means, and the man
in charge of justice is nowhere to be found.
Alicia is passionate about the game, but she is by no
means a dirty player. She is an example and many
should learn from her.
There are five components in soccer, technical, physi-
cal, tactical, psychological, and the regulations of the
game. Aggression has never been part of the sport,
and when it takes place, it is punished. However this
rule is not applicable when KR number 7 is attacked,
and if she responds in any way she is mercilessly pun-
ished.
Icelandic referees, stop the attacks promptly, and do
not run off international players who bring something
good to the league and help make it better. Take off
the blindfold and let justice wear it.
Truly yours,
Oscar E. Lopez
olopez_98@yahoo.com
Dear Oscar,
First off, in Iceland, it is called football, not soccer. Soc-
cer is a word used by barbarians. Second, what is your
relationship with Alicia Wilson?
To me, the referee is allowed to make human errors,
same as the players. If you are suggesting that the ref-
erees are corrupted, I think you are wrong. This is not
the NBA we are talking about. And by the way, my
congratulations to Valur FC for winning the Icelandic
championship in women’s football.
Editor
1 comment: ÁTVR
Never let a government or state run a public conces-
sion of any kind.
Does the Mayor know that these kind of people do not
care if the beer is cold or not.
This violence occures late at night, the state booze
stores close at 7pm.
If there are six daytime street drinking guys together
and ÁTVR will only sell by the six pack, then guess how
the six daytime street drinking guys will get their own
individual can of beer???
I wonder if the Mayor has thought that there might be
a drug problem in his town that is causing most this
violence.
Illegal drugs are available to buy 24hours a day on the
street and at every school ground.
Maybe on the street right in front of the Mayors of-
fice.
Could it just be, that the old daytime street drinking
guys are smarter then the Mayor.
People in Demark will have good joke on this one.---
The joke is on the Mayor of Reyjavík.
Jonas Thor
Gozo, Malta
Dear Jonas,
Obviously, Icelandic alcohol regulations do not com-
pare favourably to Danish alcohol regulations. Or may-
be that depends on the viewpoint, I don’t know. But I
don’t think the Mayor gave this much thought at all. It
was a reflex action when some one yelled fire!
Editor
We spoke to someone in the editorial department last
week about the changing face of Reykjavik. We have
been travelling to Iceland since the early 90’s, some-
times twice a year and we have always enjoyed spend-
ing 2 or 3 nights in Reykjavik. It was a lively, friendly,
relatively clean city. We feel there have been some
changes which make it a much less appealing place to
visit. We believe that a lack of pride and caring about
the physical environment has infiltrated Reykjavik’s
culture to a great degree. A walk along Laugavegur
revealed a number of smashed shop windows. This we
have never seen before. Litter in alley ways , along city
steets and in vacant lots is very unappealing to us as
tourists. It seems the litter has increased to a great de-
gree. Grafitti is now almost everywhere from older un-
occupied buildings to newly painted renovated struc-
tures. This also is very unattractive and unappealing
and we’re sure owners of the structures are not thrilled.
The grafitti for the most part is far from artistic. To us it
seem as though Reykjavik is losing its soul and is being
abused by many individuals. We believe unless steps
are taken to really curb these abuses and solutions are
found with input from all parties involved, Reykjavik
will become less and less appealing to tourists and to
those people living there. The secure feeling we have
had in the past was not present during our last visit.
We hope that things do change so Reykjavik can once
again become a special European city. We hope Icelan-
dic pride and ingenuity will bring Reykjavik back to an
environmental leadership position as the major city in
a country with a unique environment.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Cindy and Paul Kaplan
Swan’s Island, Maine, U.S.
Dear Cindy and Paul,
I am sorry to hear that our city no longer appeals to
you. However, I don’t think the city is any worse than
it has been for the last ten years. And, you know, I live
here, so, case closed.
Editor
Sour Grapes
Say your piece, voice your opinion, send your letters to letters@grapevine.is.
27. september
7. oCtober
2007
Reykjavík
International
Film
Festival
Reykjavík International Film Festival
Ticket sales at www.riff.is
Opening film:
sIGUr rÓs - HeImA World premiere
Thursday 27. September
Friday 28. September
The world premiere of Heima marks the opening of eleven days crammed with exotic films
from every corner of the world - 87 of them to be precise. Visit our festival centre at
Hressingarskálinn, Austurstræti 20, 101 Reykjavík or website for more information
Re: Icelandic Referees
Referees play an important role in any sport. Soccer is not the
exception.
They are in charge of justice on the pitch. However justice does
not wear a blindfold on the soccer fields in Iceland. The men in
black are unfair, not to mention partial to teams and players.
Some footballers viciously and maliciously come after some
opponents trying to take
them out of the game without any regard of fair play, much
less the safety of the player.
It is in these circumstances that the referees wear the blind-
folds. They see only what they want to see.
A vivid example that illustrates the point I am trying to get
across is Alicia Wilson who plays for KR. She is a very talented
and skillful player, and I believe whoever has seen her play
would agree with me. She is also the fastest and quickest play-
er in Iceland. Moreover, these qualities have become Alicia’s
worst nightmare. Opponent players come after her in every
game trying to take her out of the game by any means, and
the man in charge of justice is nowhere to be found.
Alicia is passionate about the game, but she is by no means
a dirty player. She is an example and many should learn from
her.
There are five components in soccer, technical, physical, tacti-
cal, psychological, and the regulations of the game. Aggres-
sion has never been part of the sport, and when it takes place,
it is punished. However this rule is not applicable when KR
number 7 is attacked, and if she responds in any way she is