Emmanual Adebayour has been found guilty of expressing his joy at scoring a goal in the worlds' most toughest and most competetive league. His sentance has probably come as some relief to Manchester City and their fans. A £25,000 fine and a 2 match ban, suspended.
The fact that the FA tribunal convened in an undisclosed venue at an undisclosed time was more synonymous with Red Square rather than Soho Square. The verdict of this 'Temple of Vengence' was released at 5.00 PM, conveniently timed for the evening news. The size of the fine was irrelevant in an age of hyper-salaries - 25 grand would just about buy you a share on a 12 month lease on a corperate box at Wembley. Where the money will actually go is a mystery - probably on designer blazers for officals travelling to South Africa, certainly not on clubs at the bottom of the football food chain who are struggling for survival.
A suspended 2 match ban has brought relief to City fans and probable mild(ish) despair to supporters of Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic. But why was there any threat of a ban in the first place, where is the precedent? Gary Nevilles' infamous celebration in front of travelling Liverpool fans at Old Trafford included a routine of shirt clenching and badge kissing, all performed with an aggressive snarl - he hadn't even scored the goal, he wasn't an ex-Liverpool player who had left Merseyside in acrimonious circumstances. Thierry Henry sprinted up to the Tottenham fans after scoring and did his trademark 'hush' sign - that hardly got a mention. The only rules governing a goal celebration state that a player must not leave the field of play or gesticulate to opposing fans, Adebayour did neither.
Although the Premier League is offically comprised of 20 teams, it seems that the FA are themselves becoming an important player in influencing the outcome of games. If there really is a new 'Big 5' then the men in grey suits are surely the fifth member. Let's look at how the FA have infuenced City's season so far.
Scheduled our midweek, second game of the season against Everton - a team involved in the Europa League. The game has been postponed, possibly until April. Surely all 4 teams involved in the EL could have been paired off with each other.
Charged Adebayour retrospectively for the Van Persie challenge, claiming that the referee had missed the incident, which he most certainly hadn't.
Banned Adebayour, this seasons most consistent goal scorer, after being influenced by a statement on the Arsenal website and comments from a leading FA member who was present at the game in his capacity as an Arsenal supporter.
Failed to charge Robin Van Persie for his cynical challenge on Adebayour or his provocative goal celebration, when he quite clearly swore and gesticulated at City fans. Van Persie has since gone on to score prolificaly for Arsenal, one of City's main rivals.
Failed to censure the referee after the Manchester United game when the official had proved himself totally inept in his interpretation of added time.
The fact that neither the Arsenal fans who serenaded Emmanual Adebayour with racist chants nor the United fans who threw coins at City players are not being investigated was probably down to the FA wishing to avoid unfavourable PR ahead of England's World cup bid. The safety and comfort of fans and players alike obviously being of secondary importance.
General Franco first coined the term 'Fifth Column' during the Spanish Civil War. He cited that his enemies were lying in columns to the North, South, East and West of Madrid but the most dangerous element were the fifth column who were already inside the city, the enemy within. I would never want to liken our club to a fascist dictatorship but there are similarities - the Sky 4 are our most obvious enemies - at least on the field of play, but the FA may prove to be our biggest obstacle on the road to success.
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