First things first…As a sportswriter, I always try and be objective about all situations with regard to sports and anything I say about them. Sometimes a sportswriter’s point of view comes across with a profound bias that I don’t feel is part of what we do. One of the great things about this profession is that we take an incident and give our objective opinion and allow others to comment on it, hopefully with an objective answer.
Secondly, with that being said, I want to make it clear that I am a fan of the English Premier League, but not a particular team. I lean toward Liverpool because I think Steven Gerrard is one of the best players at his position to walk the planet and am a fan of El Niño, Fernando Torres. But, I enjoy watching all of the teams in the Premier League.
Now, let’s get to the point of this blog. In Wednesday nights Carling Cup loss to Burnley, Chelsea’s striker Didier Drogba was hit with a coin (while celebrating) after scoring a goal. His reaction was to pick up the coin, give the fans the bird (that section of fans was Burnley’s), and flip the coin back into the stands. The big story of the last few days was to condemn Drogba for “throwing a misile into the stands” following his celebration. The English FA – Football Association – has even put an investigation underway to see if they should ban the player.
For anyone who watched the game or saw the highlights, it was easy to see that he was hit with a coin first and did not just randomly pick it up and throw it at Burnley supporters as its been made to sound. Before I give my ever so non-biased reaction, let me reiterate that I am in no way a Chelsea supporter other than pure enjoyment of watching some of the best players the game has to offer. What I am is reasonable, at least in my own eyes.
The astounding thing to me is that Drogba is being persecuted, by every major news outlet around the world, but nothing is being said of the fan that threw the coin. I am not condoning Drogba for throwing it because he could have hurt someone, but I don’t understand why the fan has not been hunted down and prosecuted and why the FA has not even mentioned the problem of fan violence.
Let’s go back a few weeks. During the Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Portsmouth, linesman Phil Sharp was hit by a coin thrown from the stands. He knelt down to one knee as both teams’ coaches and training staff came to his aid. The proposed culprit was never identified, but a search did occur. The news outlets reported that the fan should be ‘banned for life,’ and both managers (Harry Redknapp of Portsmouth and Martin O’Neil of Aston Villa) agreed. The FA came out and stated its dissapointment in the fan.
So, what does this say for player/manager/referee abuse in the Premier League?
What the FA is inadvertently saying is that for anything to be done about this problem, somebody has to actually be hit by an object and be hurt, as Phil Sharp was. Drogba wasn’t hit; therefore, the fan did no wrong. It’s an unbelievably incorrect message the English FA is sending to the public, and I don’t understand why no investigation is being forged toward the fan.
What has to happen for the fans to stop doing this? Do all of the supporters have be barred from games like what happened in Italy a few years back? Does a player or referee have to be hit in the face or in the eye for the problem to be looked at more severely?
Throwing an object from the stands is atrocious and disrespectful on so many different levels. Unfortunately, those few morons that take part in this dreadful act are going to ruin it for the rest of us. It will be ashamed when the day comes that no fans can go to the games to cheer their favorite teams and players.
Shame on you, moron!
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