Restrictions hurting Cup coverage

By Pedro Pinto, CNNSI.com

SEOUL -- Let's face it. The World Cup is what it is because of the media.

An estimated cumulative total of 40 billion viewers will watch the competition on television. We take every kick, every goal, every moment of action into living rooms across the globe.

So why is it that the teams here make it so hard for us to do our job?

Press officers at the finals have three favorite words which they use early and often: no, stop and don't.

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Can we talk to the players? No. Can we talk to the coaches? No. Can we even get decent training video? No.

I understand teams need to be fully focused before their matches. I understand they can't talk to us all the time. But come on, these guys are humans, not Gods or supernatural beings.

It is not too much to ask to conduct a five- or 10-minute interview that will do nothing but make them even more famous and revered.

I am aware that the reason why football federations are so paranoid about our presence everywhere is because a few of us have abused or still abuse our privileges. But don't judge us all on the actions of a few.

How are we supposed to give people an idea of what the players are really like if we can't get close to them? The only way we have of asking questions is by doing it at press conferences that are crowded with hundreds of journalists. That situation doesn't exactly give the players a chance to feel relaxed.

The situation is not much better at training sessions. We can shoot for 15 minutes at the start of practice, but all the players do in that period of time is stretch and jog around. I think most of us can do that. Managers probably don't want to give tactical schemes away, but what is so dangerous about letting us hang around for a 5-on-5 scrimmage?

I am done with my rant. I just believe that there is a middle ground and we are moving away from it... maybe one day the closest we'll get to these superstars is by doing interviews via e-mail.

World Sport's Pedro Pinto will be reporting regularly from South Korea during the World Cup.

 

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