Last but not least: A look into the Twitter crystal ball

It is well known that FIFA's reputation is not the best. The global football association is repeatedly associated with issues such as corruption and bribery. Even the recently concluded World Cup in Brazil was unable to really polish up its battered image. Particularly in the first part of the tournament, the refereeing decisions, some of which were difficult to understand, gave rise to speculation and conspiracy theories. It's a shame, really, because there was some very entertaining football on the side.

The breeding ground for FIFA criticism therefore seems more fertile than ever. After Sunday's final, for example, the Twitter account "Fifa Corruption" @FifNdhs to open social media ears. The tweets were written before the match started, but accurately reflected the course of the final. Götze will score, a goal will be scored in the second half of extra time, Germany will win 1-0 after extra time... proof of Fifa's corruption, according to the first tweet.

At least at first, the author seemed to cause a lot of confusion - the "predictions" were retweeted up to 76,000 times. This is hardly surprising: the idea was simple, but cleverly staged. So clever, in fact, that it was first published by an Indian named @sureshnakhua had to be solved with a screenshot to convince (most) people of the hoax. Accordingly, tweets on possible match outcomes and goal scorers were written in advance. The false ones were deleted after the game - the hocus pocus was complete. Nice try. But it looks like the Germans will be able to keep their precious fourth star after all. (hae)