Should footballers be punished like Ponting?

On day two of the fourth Ashes Test when in desperate need of wickets, Australian captain Ricky Ponting was adamant that Kevin Pietersen on 49 runs had been caught out after claiming the ball had just clipped Pietersen’s bat. Video replays showed no hot spots and that umpire Aleem Dar had made the correct call.      

This resulted in a desperate protest against the decision with Ponting spending more than a minute in front of umpire Dar`s face making an argumentative case for the decision to be overturned.

Like most decisions in football the decision was not overturned but unlike in football, Ponting was fined 40% of his match fee after Ponting pleaded guilty to a level 1 offence of `arguing or entering into a prolonged discussion with the umpire about his decision’.

This made me think of the possibility of seeing the likes of Wayne Rooney or Ashley Cole being fined 40% of their weekly wages for arguing with referees or match officials. It is obvious that the threat of a telling off, a three match ban or a measly fine from their clubs is not enough. Lets hit them where it hurts; in their pockets.

This would not only protect referees but also the integrity of our game. We are constantly talking about how our stars should act as role models to younger children, well at this current time, not enough of them are. Give credit where credit is due, some are involved with charities, so perhaps this is where the money from fines should go. Instead of the money entering the pockets of the Premier League bigwigs, let’s have 40% of a players wages (in the region of £30 -40,000 pounds) be donated to needy children.

Not only would we see less foul language directed at referees, less players surrounding the referee, we might also see footballers in a different light; a positive one. Stereotypical footballers might become a thing of the past. Could we even see the quality of referee standards improve? Referees might feel under less pressure which could result in more big decisions being made correctly.

It could be argued that it would put more pressure on referees with huge sums of money being involved but with less, angry, argumentative footballers in their faces; I don’t see it being such a problem.

There is of course the danger of the media taking the analysis of the game away and making the headlines about who’s lost the most money and even bring about more criticism for players who continue to be disrespectful.

Sepp Blatter and FIFA are so concerned with creating a legacy and are obviously intimidated by the best league in the world and an organisation they can’t control.  

This could be their first step towards creating a legacy that people actually understand and respect. I won’t hold my breath.

Romance Returns In The FA Cup

 It`s been hard over the past month or so to open the sports pages in the newspapers and to actually be able to read about sports itself.

Whether it`s Wayne Rooney`s contract saga with Manchester United, under pressure Premiership managers, Commonwealth depression, world cup bid scandals or David Haye spouting his mouth off.

The last few week`s press has been a constant drip feed of little niggles, followed by the predictable `exclusive’ on a Sunday.

So it was a breath of fresh air this morning to read how the romance of the FA cup 1^st round games were anything but predictable.

For once, it was not about how Manchester City`s Yaya Toure earns £200,000 pounds a week or how Rooney is now living 2.7 miles away from the nearest strip club, whilst staying in the Nike complex training centre in the USA.

No, reality returned and it was the postmen, bricklayers, painters, and policemen who stole the headlines in this morning’s papers. There were fairytale stories that working class football supporters could relate to. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe.

In 2008, Histon beat Leeds United. The following year Leeds provided a cup shock of their own as they secured a 1-0 win over fierce rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford. Before that, nobody will ever forget the heroics of Havant and Waterlooville who reached the 3^rd round and gave Liverpool a mighty scare, scoring twice in front of the kop before eventually being defeated.

The oldest and most famous domestic cup competition got off to a bang in the very first game, at Spotland on Friday night. FC United of Manchester, a club formed by Manchester United fans who reached the end of their tether with the Glazer family`s sodden ownership, the youngest club in the competition, at just 5 years old, overcome Rochdale 3-2 thanks to a 94^th minute winner.

Some of those fans had supported Manchester United for over 60 years, followed them to Barcelona for the 1999 Champions league final in the Nou Camp. They would have been in dreamland that night as United scored 2 goals late on to lift the trophy, and they’ll be in dreamland again if they can get through their second round tie, possibly leaving the door open  of a return to Old Trafford for a Third round game. Stranger things have happened.

Dover Athletic, the non leaguers from Kent, saw off another Kent club, Gillingham. There was history between the two clubs. Andy Hessenthaler led Dover to 2 successive promotions before jumping ship to his former Gillingham. Dover replaced Hessenthaler with Ian Hendon. 18 days later Hessenthaler stole Hendon from Dover and made him his number two at Gillingham. Then there was the small matter of compensation. Dover didn’t receive any for the pair, but the 2-0 win yesterday will have been more than enough compensation.

The 3pm kick off`s were proving to be more romantic than a proposal at the top of the Eiffel tower. Tamworth caretaker boss Des Lyttle will be hoping for a proposal of his own, in the form of a contract from his chairman for the full time job. Lyttle guided his Blue Square part-timers into the second round after a 2-1 victory over league two side Crewe Alexandra.

Perhaps not dominating the main headlines, but certainly worth a mention are Accrington Stanley and Bury who beat league one opposition Oldham Athletic and Exeter City respectively.

As we all know, a cup shock doesn’t necessarily mean victory. Blue Square South team Dartford earnt a reply against high flying league two Port Vale, as did Woking who held Brighton, who top league one and are on a 12 match unbeaten run.

Following the replays of yesterday`s drawn matches, November 27th is the date that could see as many as 14 non league teams do battle for an opportunity to be in the hat for the 3^rd round.

No need to look in the lonely hearts column to spice up your romance, note that date down in your diary. Swindon Supermarine anyone?  

  

Secret documents leaked to Panorama on purpose?

As the English public battled with record inches of snow falling, icy roads and sub-zero temperatures leaving some people stranded miles away from home, they were not the only ones feeling frustrated as England`s bid to bring the World Cup 2018 back to these shores was also frozen out.

Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president announced that Russia and Qatar had won the bidding war to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup events respectively. Except it wasn’t a respectful victory, and it certainly was a bidding war. FIFA`s voting strategy was found to have more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese as the results were revealed in Zurich and the England committee smelt a rat.     

It was no surprise to see the television cameras zoom in on Roman Abramovich, smiling like a Cheshire cat with Abramovich being the main benefactor behind the Russian bid. Sepp Blatter may not have been smiling but inside he would have been as happy as Larry as he continued his legacy of taking the World Cup to new avenues like South Korea, South Africa, Brazil and now Russia and Qatar.

England had been promised votes that would have ensured them at least getting past the first round. However when their backs were turned, the knives were out and so were England. England received one solitary vote, believed to be from Japan.

England had the best stadiums, transport links, hotels, as well as the best technical and commercial bid but yet still lost miserably. 15 million pounds were spent on a campaign lasting 30 months along with millions of air miles covered to promote our bid, to create the awareness of how the country who gave football to the world, wanted it back.

I`m sure that Russia at least will put on a good show and that FIFA will be justified in giving them the greatest sporting showcase on Earth. The bigger picture however is how England received only one vote. The BBC programme Panorama was broadcasted on Monday night and accused some FIFA delegates of taking bribes over a ten year period from 1989 to 1999. These FIFA delegates had England`s bid in their hands were to vote three days later.

Jack Warner, one of the accused delegates, promised that the programme highlighting corruption would not have an effect on their votes. In my opinion, he was telling the truth. In my opinion, the deal had already been sealed. The honour of hosting the World Cup had not been earned; it had been sold to the highest bidder.

The World Cup 2018 had been sold to Russia just like a bottle of Vodka. A country so bothered about hosting the event that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin didn’t even turn up. Perhaps because it’s a country run by the mafia, a domestic league that attracts average attendances of 13,000 and a country whose fans parade banners with racist messages about their own players. Maybe Abramovich and his roubles had something to do with it.

The World Cup 2022 was sold to Qatar, a country where drinking alcohol in public is banned, a country with day temperatures of 104 degrees which could lead to the event being hosted in January. I wonder what the Premier League bigwigs would make of that. A country where kissing in public can result in jail, a country which has one football stadium, with the rest needing to be built with air conditioning. Could it be that Blatter is taking the World Cup indoors?

In what I believe was the correct decision, journalism was put before politics and the programme was broadcasted. It didn’t cost us the chance to host the World Cup, we didn`t win but we can hold our heads up high knowing we could not have done anymore and that hopefully a full investigation will take place.

Panorama`s investigative journalist Andrew Jennings said these secret documents were delivered from a `trusted source’. I don’t disagree with him. In my opinion though, on one hand some would argue that they fell into the wrong hands, I would suggest they fell into the intended hands of the BBC all along. This was a planned stunt and one which would put the final nail in England`s coffin. Which country`s media would be the only to broadcast allegations of corruption against FIFA members 3 days before the voting?

These documents were delivered from Russia with love.