I have long held the belief that the football authorities are out of touch with reality.

UEFA’s decision to hold the Champions League final in Moscow before they had any indication of who would be taking part in it is one example of how football rats are detached from common sense. And FIFA’s dogged refusal to even entertain the idea of video replays for crucial decisions is another.

But the fact that tonight Italy and France may have to take part in a penalty shoot-out to determine who finishes bottom of their group is confirmation that the people who run football are totally detached from the plot.

You may think that only a bizarre combination of results would see that happening. Not so. Simply put if Romania beat Holland and Italy and France draw then penalties will be used to separate the already eliminated duo.

It is, quite frankly, one of the most pathetic bits of football legislation I have ever heard of. Absolutely appalling.

The official line is that UEFA and FIFA need teams to finish third and fourth in their groups so they can use that positioning for future tournament seedings. But that is just ludicrous.

There are plenty of other ways they could split teams which finish with identical records – goals scored in open play, bookings, red cards, performance in qualifying, overall fair play, number of corners. The list is almost endless.

Penalty shoot-outs to determine winners is fine. But to use them to determine losers is just plain madness.

I mean, can you imagine the humiliation for the players? To be forced to go through the whole penalty routine knowing it is almost for nothing, that no matter what they do they are out of the tournament anyway.

And these are the two teams who made up the 2006 World Cup final by the way, not a couple of no-hoping also rans who just turned up at Euro 2008 for a couple of weeks of weiner schnitzel and chocolate.

The worst part of it is that I can see it happening.

Portugal and Croatia have already shown that already-qualified teams will rest as many players as they can for their final group matches. And Holland will no doubt follow suit giving Romania a decent chance of victory. And both Italy and France will be so desperate for a win that they could easily end up cancelling each other out.

Which will mean the likes of Henry, Ribery, Del Piero and Toni taking part in a shoot-out of shame while Michel Platini and his team of rule makers sit in the stands sniggering into their champagne.

I am not fan of either team and will not be particularly heartbroken if they do get eliminated today. But there is no way on earth they should be put through this. No way at all.