UEFA are a bunch of spineless....

[swee'pea99]

Hmmm, well, it's not a *criminal* offense, but it's certainly an offense, so 'completely spurious' seems a bit strong.

Seems to me there is something to be said for review at a later date - Adebayor's kick being a good case in point. He should be banned, big time, regardless of what the ref did or didn't see, and if it takes trial by video to achieve that, so be it.

The problem with Eduardo, it seems to me, is two-fold: first, it happens all the time, so why pick this one out and treat it differently, and second, why what looks like a completely disproportionate punishment?

If it had been judged an offense during the match, yellow card, end of. So a two match ban because it wasn't just seems way OTT. At the most basic level, there surely should be a basic principle that if you're found guilty afterwards, the punishment should be no more severe than it would have been during. So, perhaps, if you're found guilty of a bookable offense, you start your next match 'on a yellow' - ie, get booked and you're off. That would seem fairer.

 

[User482]

Yes, to punish Adebayor would be consistent and proportionate - a ban wouldn't be treating him differently at all (c.f. Eduardo's dive).

 

[PaulB]

What about Eric Cantona diving into the crowd? I remember his first game back as it was against Liverpool and as he ran over to where we were standing, this big docker booms out "jump in 'ere Eric and let's see you try and get out again". It remains one of my funniest memories from football games.

 

[Mr Pig]

Players attempt to con the referee in every single game.

I think it says a lot about society that a game like football, which is built on dishonesty and frustration, is the most popular sport in the country. It's quite sad.

 

[PaulB]

I think it says a lot about society that a game like football, which is built on dishonesty and frustration, is the most popular sport in the country. It's quite sad.

Yeah, we get you Mr Piggy. You don't like football. Get over it and stop pretending you have the magic key to make us somehow all suddenly side with you and realise how foolish we were all along. It ain't going to happen. There'll be no slapping of heads and us going "how COULD we have been so stupid for soooo long?"

 

[Rob S]

Lat time I checked, a player diving wasn't a criminal offence, so your analogy is completely spurious.

Players attempt to con the referee in every single game. To ban Eduardo would set a precedent that would be completely unworkable, as well as being disproportionate to the offence committed.

It's just an example of where things can be more serious when discovered later. Perhaps an example that's less spurious for your meter.....Nelson Piquet Junior suffered no punishment for his crash at the Singapore GP as he made it look like a blonde moment on his own...if he had deliberately crashed in to the back of someone or got tangled with a silly overtaking manouveur to get the alleged job done he would face a 10 place grid penalty for the next race and that's it....as it's come out now that he crashed deliberately to affect the race he did do you think if he was still driving he would get a 10 place penalty? No, he'd be banned for christ knows how long (unless given immunity to convict Flavio) and so would Renault.

Eduardo wasn't facing a ban because the ref was incompetent...the ref was deceived by Eduardo and the punishment should be more than a yellow he'd get if he had done a crap job at it. A three match punishment for deception to help win a match (not that it made a huge difference in this match but he didn't know that at the time) isn't that harsh when you think a player can face a one match ban forbeing booked for one mistimed tackle (or be around a diver) and lifting his shirt to reveal a Happy Birthday Mum message on his vest after scoring a goal.
The idea behind banning Eduardo should be that it will discourage others to dive for penalties in future.

 

[User482]

Eduardo wasn't facing a ban because the ref was incompetent...the ref was deceived by Eduardo.
The idea behind banning Eduardo should be that it will discourage others to dive for penalties in future.

I have no idea what you're talking about re Formula 1.

The ref was incompetent - it was perfectly obvious that he dived.

If you ban Eduardo, you will have to ban every player who tries to con the ref. To ban for one specific type of deception is disproportionate and inconsistent. Something that UEFA belatedly realised.

 

[PaulB]

The idea behind banning Eduardo should be that it will discourage others to dive for penalties in future.

That might be the intention but of course it has no chance of happening in reality has it. It will discourage precisely no one and other than putting the issue under the spotlight for a month and make refs turn down definite penalties for a time, it will achieve nothing. Top footballers are too smart, too fast and too professional for referees now and unless we embrace big screen technology (and that's the day I stop going, personally) then we'll have to live with it.

 

[User482]

I think it says a lot about society that a game like football, which is built on dishonesty and frustration, is the most popular sport in the country. It's quite sad.

Which professional sport would you hold up as a shining example of Corinthian values?

Cricket: batsmen refuse to walk when they know they're out.
Tennis: abusing the line judges
Cycling: drug taking
Athletics: drug taking
Rugby: gouging, blood gate, drug taking

It's not looking too promising, is it?

 

[PaulB]

Which professional sport would you hold up as a shining example of Corinthian values?

Cricket: batsmen refuse to walk when they know they're out.
Tennis: abusing the line judges
Cycling: drug taking
Athletics: drug taking
Rugby: gouging, blood gate, drug taking

It's not looking too promising, is it?

Come on User482; there's always weight lifting. What could be more sporting than seeing which chap can lift the biggest weight, what?

 

[Rob S]

Which professional sport would you hold up as a shining example of Corinthian values?

Cricket: batsmen refuse to walk when they know they're out.
Tennis: abusing the line judges
Cycling: drug taking
Athletics: drug taking
Rugby: gouging, blood gate, drug taking

It's not looking too promising, is it?

Golf.

 

[Mr Pig]

Which professional sport would you hold up as a shining example of Corinthian values?

All sport reflects the values of its supporters so yes, they're all compromised. Point being that the most popular sport will reflect those values more closely. Not looking good is it? ;0)

 

[PaulB]

All sport reflects the values of its supporters so yes, they're all compromised. Point being that the most popular sport will reflect those values more closely. Not looking good is it? ;0)

It's looking very good to me and remember, it's the most popular for a very good reason.

 

[MarkF]

The ref was incompetent - it was perfectly obvious that he dived.

Poo! It looked clear penalty from the ref's position, he had to look "through" Boruc, it looked a clear penalty, every ref would have given it...... unless he had eyes like a hammerhead shark or summat.

 

[PaulB]

Poo! It looked clear penalty from the ref's position, he had to look "through" Boruc, it looked a clear penalty, every ref would have given it...... unless he had eyes like a hammerhead shark or summat.

And let's not forget this, the most pertinent issue of all; from the referee's position, it looked a penalty. Even the TV commentator shouted "It's a penalty!" Why Uefa had to stick their beak in is beyond me. Well, sadly, it's not really.