Football Madness

Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva’s two-game ban after being charged with ‘deceiving’ the referee in last week’s Champions League play-off against Celtic really is a nice little witch hunt completed by UEFA.
Everyone dives but look at the defamation of character here.

Its making Eduardo look like a murderer amongst model citizens. Just look at the way the Man United fans booed Eduardo on the weekend even though their talisman Wayne Rooney took a tumble that got his team back in that particular game. To make matters worse the English press are murdering Eduardo’s confidence ahead of Croatia’s important World Cup Qualifier against their hopeless English blobs later this month. Although Arsenal will be given an opportunity to appeal, I feel they have a case for defamation. Is this a new law? If not then did UEFA make this for Eduardo alone? If this is an existing rule than I feel the dual interpretation of rules is becoming a plague, a double standard at its very best. In my opinion, UEFA have set themselves a tricky precedent and now they will be under pressure to punish everyone who dives. How they decide which dive makes the cut is anyones guess. The reigning footballer of the year won a lot of trophies in his time at Old Trafford with his diving theatrics over the past few seasons. Liverpool skipper Stevie G did the EXACT same thing in last seasons Champions League against Atletico Madrid, so why have UEFA used Eduardo as a Guinea Pig. Another recent puzzling ruling, this time by FIFA via the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), could result in Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu being forced into early retirement if he fails to pay €17 million in compensation to Premier League money spinsters Chelsea. Chelsea tore up Adrian Mutu’s lucrative contract in 2004 after he failed a drugs test. Having served a seven month ban from football the crafty Romanian went on to sign for Juventus as a free agent before moving on to his current club. There wouldn’t be this problem had Chelsea sold off Mutu or stood by him. He is not the first player to fail a drugs test, Edgar Davids failed one and even Rio Ferdinand didn’t show up to one, but their clubs supported their stars. Mutu paid the price the first time by having a lucrative deal torn up and being suspended, he does not deserve to lose his entire career for this. No one should be punished twice for one error. Its an open secret that Mutu made a mistake and he deserved to be punished but this 17m fine is very disproportionate in comparison with the act the player has committed. By firing him Chelsea lost their rights over the player in any case. And if he were to call time on his career, that would not benefit Chelsea in anyway. Just look at Newcastle’s Joey Barton and see how many chances this bum has been given and tell me if it’s fair that Mutu has to pay millions or retire? I though everybody deserved a second chance. sheefeni@namibian.com.na