Oh boy. FIFA has gone and done it again. The UEFA playoffs have been seeded and something seems a little fishy... Chamo will give you some background to bring you up to date, and then off we go!

Chamo: Here's the story: Every set of European qualifiers for the World Cup comes down to a situation where the top team in each group gets an auto bid to the respective tournament, meanwhile the second place teams go into a playoff for the remaining spots. Now typically these playoffs are a random draw, giving every team an equal opportunity of playing each other. However, it seems FIFA has decided to seed the playoff spots this term, which was both unprecedented and unexpected. FIFA gave no particular reason for this sudden change, but it seems more than likely they fear the World Cup will suffer if top teams like France and Portugal do not make it to South Africa next summer.

Its disgraceful really, taking the opportunity from teams who have played their hearts out like Bosnia-Herezgovina and Ireland to have an equal opportunity for a fortuitous draw and forcing them into a situation where they must play France or Portugal. Anyone who has watched any significant qualifiers should know that France and Portugal have been abysmal, given their expected talent. I would much rather see teams consistantly performing at a high level, than teams that play below their level. England missed out on Euro 2008 because they didn't deserve to be there, so too should France and Portugal, or at least they should have the same probability as Ireland.

Biggy: Not sure how exactly one lands a fortuitous draw in a playoff group of the best second place teams. In fact, I think you could argue that for a couple of the teams on the unseeded side that they would have preferred playing one of the seeded teams. Count me in with the people that didn't exactly think Portugal and France are terribly convincing of late.

Regardless, I can't say any team has a clear edge with this "draw". Tell me where the weak spot is. Bosnia? Slovenia? Ireland? I'll pass thanks. Each of the bottom teams is a strong side and all of them are more organized and composed then Portugal or France of late. In fact, I'm slightly confused on which group was the seeded group and which one wasn't.

C: I completely agree that it is tough to tell who was seeded, given every respective squad's performance record of late, but my issue lies more in the fact that the possibility of Portugal and France being pitted against each other, thus knocking one of them out of the World Cup was zero. Do I think Ireland, Bosnia, Slovenia and Ukraine can win their matches? Absolutely, but I also think Slovenia will struggle to play against Russia (who does deserve to go on) and since they had no chance of potentially drawing Ukraine, Ireland or Bosnia the new system is broken.

Also, these smaller teams lack the depth of squads like Portugal, France and Russia, thus must rely solely on the fitness of their first team squads going into these matches. An Ireland squad without Robbie Keane is way more decremental than a France squad sans Henry. My issue lies in the fairness and logic of the decision, not in the potential for a favorable outcome. I truly hope Ireland and Bosnia smash France and Portugal respectively (especially Portugal, I hope Dzeko scores four).

B: I mean, why not have the best teams in the World Cup? Everyone wants to see guys like Ronaldo and Henry, and I think that seeding them like this allows for that opportunity. Each of these teams have a decent match up, certainly no one is a clear favorite, except maybe the Russians. Plus, first team fitness is always an issue, see Ronaldo,Portugal. Without him I don't think anyone thinks they are a favorite. I think the seeding system is just fine, half the top seeds are in disarray and no one can really think that they got that bad of a draw.

C: Henry is old and has won the cup before and I can only take so much of Ronaldo's pouty face and tears every time he loses, which he inevitably will. I would rather watch a well managed mediocre team than a poorly managed team of superstars any day of the week.Good managers make a world of difference, and France and Portugal have two of the most inept human beings at the forefront of their nation. Queiroz selected Ronaldo again despite his injury, this coupled with the fact he has consistantly proved he has little to no idea how to run a team full of primadonas would make for a poor showing in South Africa regardless.

A perfect example, lord knows you should agree, is the US in 2002. Mediocre squad, amazing results due to positive coaching influence and a team selection that didn't butt heads. Fast forward to the US team now, supposedly talented squad, poor results, mostly due to incredibly poor managerial decisions. I want the teams that are going to play their asses off in South Africa, not the ones that will bitch and moan about their performance the entire time. Underdog teams almost always play better than expected, due to heart, something Portugal and France lost long ago.

B: Certainly I think every team should get a fair shot. Is the draw the most fair way to ensure that? No chance. However I think that it might have worked better for teams like Ireland who would probably prefer to play someone like France versus a Bosnia or a Slovenia. Maybe that is just me.

Regardless, this is just another absolutely LUDICROUS decision from FIFA/UEFA. How this is fair to any team is beyond me, and thankfully the draw didn't work out that poorly for anyone. Russia is really the only clear cut team that stood out as someone who might deserve a seed, outside of them the seeds are a bunch of teams that squeezed through and if they lose I will laugh a lot. How this is justified is beyond me and if I was Slovenia I would be up in arms, having drawn Russia when they likely would not have otherwise (25% with seeding, 14% without it) and favoring particular teams just makes FIFA/UEFA look bad, again. Just like usual.

What do you think about UEFA's decision to seed the playoffs for the last four spots to South Africa? Let us know!