Showing posts with label Football Association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Football Association. Show all posts

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

FabGon - Another FArsse


So farewell Fabio Capello, who will go down in history as being perhaps one of the few England managers not to have seen his side fall apart in international contest.

Having taken the armband from John Terry after he engaged in a bit of extra-marital off the pitch relationships Fabio had come out in favour of Terry keeping the England captaincy and will not support the FA's decision to strip terry of the armband because of his apparently racist altercation with Anton Ferdinand.

Now, oddly enough, I can see some logic in Capello's position because there was not doubt that Terry's adultery was proven, admitted and obvious and therefore, as there was no doubt, it made sense to remove the dubious honour of being the England captain from him. After all, England players should be role models for the youngsters of tour nation (now that's stretching it a bit perhaps considering some of those in the squad, but hey ho!).

Terry has been charged with racially abusing Ferdinand but as, in our legal system, one is considered innocent until proven guilty (by jurors, not the press and people with axes to grind) it seems to me that Terry is still, legally, an innocent man. This means the FA have acted as prosecution, jury and judge and having found him guilty just a bit before the trial has even started have decided to add 'executioner' to their list of skills.

Personal opinions regarding Terry and the Ferdinand case aside, I think Capello did the right thing in standing by Terry, sadly he did the wrong thing (twice)in picking him though.

Well done Fabio, the rumour mill had you linked with a nice Italian Job and now you can go with your integrity intact and no shame attached for England's results later in the year.

A real win-win (and now I guess we'll get 'Arry now he's been acquitted)!

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Football and the race rows

I don't know about other people but I am becoming a little alarmed that Luis Suarez is handed am eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra when the only evidence that appears to have been prersented is from Evra himself! Now I'm not questioning Evra's account but am questioning the fact that he apparently abused Suarez (in his own language and by his own admission) such that it elicited the response for which he (Suarez) has been punished!


It seems to me that both players need to be facing bans for their behaviour and the FA, whilst trying to make a grand gesture are on the road to making yet another spectacle of themselves. Mind you, if the Crown Prosecution Service are successful in their forthcoming court appearances with Chelsea and England Captain John Terry, also on racist comment charges, I can only assume he will lose his place in the England squad and face an even lengthier ban. Ironic when you consider that the English FA went and appealed against Rooney's ban (for a blatant and ridiculously typical'rooneyesque' foul which merited the punishment given) because it was in their interests. But what about the interests of fair play and integrity? No even a hint of such things :(

Seems racism is not OK (which is the right position to take) but cheating and behaving contrary to the laws of the game is. Double-standards or what?

Yes indeed - a game of overpaid, loose-moraled, prima donnas with even more dodgy types gracing the governing bodies (or was FIFa just a blip) who set duplistic standards and somehow still manage to fall short of them.

Still, the good news is that it will help to rekindle the almost maniacal hatred between the two teams involved which has to be good for the next meeting of the two (if you like to see police officers kept busy that is).

we need to be robust about dealing with bad behaviour, all bad behaviour, not just that which suits us or benefits us at the expense of integrity.

Pax