Just who is running football?
We’ve all heard about it this week, Rooney swore down a camera, some people got upset, the papers ran provocative headlines (even though most journalists on Twitter said ban was ridiculous), the FA charged him, and now he will serve a two match ban.
The unfortunate thing with this example is that not many people like Rooney, so few people have any sympathy for him. Many see this as the FA putting right their awful decision not to take action over his stray elbow, but that is a naive viewpoint from people who should know better. Since when did the FA ever ‘make up for their mistakes?’
There has been a lot of mention today (because I brought it up) of Joey Barton’s clear homophobic abuse aimed towards Fernando Torres when the Spaniard still played for Liverpool. He appears (clearly) to call him a ‘fucking poof’ while grabbing his crotch – much more offensive than Rooney’s outburst you have to agree. The difference, people say, is that even though Barton’s offence took place during a live televised match, it was aimed at a player not at the camera. His homophobic abuse towards another professional is therefore less offensive than Rooney’s generic cursing down the lens of a camera.
With me?
This isn’t about, as some have suggested, letting Rooney off simply because Barton ‘got away with it’ (although he didn’t, he received a letter from the FA reminding him of his obligations – way to stamp out homophobia in football FA). It’s about asking why the FA have chosen to take up this cause rather than Barton’s which was clearly a more offensive action. Like UEFA deciding to charge Eduardo for diving when he went down easily, it was certainly not the worst offence you have ever seen in your life, and since then there have been more dives than you can count, yet nothing is ever said about charging these people.
The difference in both these cases? Media pressure.
You cannot deny that if the press create a storm the FA are more likely to act and this infuriates me.
Laws are laws and should be applied equally across the spectrum, regardless of coverage. If the FA are not capable of doing that, perhaps they’d be best handing over the reins to the media who are more and more pulling the strings and dictating who gets charged, who gets away with it, and telling the FA ‘just how the public feel about things.’
Well do you know what, more often than not, the media do not speak for me. I think it is ludicrous that a player can be banned for two matches for an adrenaline-fuelled outburst, that he only receives one game less than Ryan Shawcross received for snapping Ramsey in half is even more infuriating.
It’s time the FA decided just who is running the game in this country – them or the media. At the minute, I know who I think it is.
