In the light of the recent court case there has been plenty of comment around about the foul language used on the football pitch. A respected and intelligent member of the football family would like to see it cut out as outlined in the following article. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18844435 Is it wishful thinking, is it necessary, is it practical?
I think it would almost certainly cause chaos in the short term, if they tried to implement the current rules! I would love to see them try though Just imagine Rooney etc, how many players would be left on the pitch! I respect CC, he really has turned his life round and he speaks from the heart. On the other hand, the officials would have to have balls of steel! and while they are at it clamp down on the shirt pulling in the box as well.
Lack of vocabulary, does come to mind. Many years ago an old Boss of mine used to say that if you have to swear to express yourself you need educating and if you have to swear to speak please refrain from talking until such time you can speak a sentence without swearing! Wise words RIP Derek!
The only way to at least move in the direction of eliminating it is through the clubs and their management. I think a strong manager would have more chance of getting across what is expected from players than any sort of sanctions which in the current climate would invite chaos. Somehow professional footballers need to be persuaded that they are in the public eye and behaving in a more acceptable manner is part of their job. My fear is that there are managers around who think it is a natural part of the game.
Yes, yes and, unfortunately, no. Carlisle is right in that the mechanism is already in place but simply isn't being utilised - but I have reservations over whether or not it would work in the manner that he suggests. It's over 25 years since I last 'graced' a football pitch, but I have a very clear recollection of when the referees in Oz were told to rigidly enforce the no swearing rule - which they did with gusto. Disciplinary panels were soon so overloaded that a truce had to be called - refs agreed to relax their application of the rule and players agreed to cut down on the foul language. Naturally, the players eventually reneged on their part of the bargain, but the referees never clamped down again. I don't pretend to know what the answer is - if there is one. The use of foul and abusive language appears to be too far entrenched in our society now for there to be any hope of stopping it through rules and regulations IMO. As an aside frenchie - that BBC report included a link to the full transcript of the magistrates decision in the JT case - very interesting reading. I think I owe the magistrate an apology for some previous comments I made - thanks to the media reports that I read being particularly selective in which of his comments they reported upon.
I will not get into the argument that I did a year ago on here because it was one that clearly could not be won, I just hope that people did think for a few seconds. My wife used to work in our village primary school in England and was horrified that 5 year olds coming to the school for the first time had a far wider vocabulary of swear words than they did of the normal English language. In that sense BB you are right, it is entrenched, as the only place that children of that age would get it from was in the home. In France a word, merde is commonly used by men and women. Incidentally as it has to have a gender it is female. In English it is used as a swear word, but it is not regarded as such any longer here according to my large dictionary. Last season I took my 7 year old grandson to his first ever game at the Vic. His father who also came told the lad that he would hear words from the crowd that they didn't use at home, and although he would hear them he could forget them as they were not necessary. To be fair I have hardly ever heard anything abusive coming off the pitch, whereas the same thing cannot be said about the Rookery.
I should think even the folks in the Upper Rous use a swear word or two..it is strange how people who would never swear in public otherwise go crazy at football. Ofcourse the trouble in football is that the officials rarely seem to book or even sent anyone off for abusive insults whereas in rugby that is a punishment plus a penalty I believe (ofcourse it would be tricky to suddenly give one in football for an incident on the half way line..) The officials demand and want respect which is good but if they let not particulary bright people get away with it will it ever stop?
There are rules in place now that can be used to stop swearing on the pitch, but refs and the FA do not choose to use them. Until the administrators of the game show intent it will never be eradicated and we will see shots of Rooney calling refs a C week in and week out.
I think the main problem against such a crack down would be the media. I can just imagine the howls of protest from the likes of The Sun when a bad tackle escapes punishment whilst a red card is brandished for the lesser offence of swearing. The much-maligned referees actually have to be looking to spot a bad tackle but for swearing they only have to hear - and hear they no doubt would. The FA's Respect campaign has been an abject failure and needs to be revamped to target the players IMO.
IMHO at professional level it's shop floor language that is hurled about between players and, subject to certain parameters (the C word and racist / homophobic goading for example), probably best ignored. The lines get blurred... start shouting (say) "you Irish so and so" or use of the term 'dego' or 'wop' how can that be deemd any less offensive than using the words that John Terry used? The courts accept he made abusive comments referring to an opponents colour, not that he was being racist. When aimed at a match official however that is different - not as if anyone speaks at the boss or a policeman using a tirade of bad language and expect to get away with it. I referee grass roots level football and the abusive language on my pitch is genuinely minimal, and any aimed directly at me ends up in an early bath for the player. Generally the matches are played in parks, open public spaces, and there will be people around minding their own business nearby and they don't want to hear it - a point I am always keen to impress on the players. At professional level it is a different story. Trouble is that PGMO's feel unable to crack down on even the most gratuitous and vicious abuse even when aimed at them. Everyone has their level of tolerance and I would suggest it would be nigh on impossible to expect a consistant application of the laws. Pink Floyd lyrics from "In The Flesh" (the opening song of The Wall album) spring to mind: "Are there any queers in the theatre tonight? Put 'em up against the wall; There's one in the spotlight he don't look right to me, Put him up against the wall; And that one looks Jewish, And that ones a coon... Who let all this riff-raff into the room? There's one smoking a joint, And another with spots! If I had my way I'd have all of you shot!" Not as if we are without reproach what with pretty much the entire Rookery singing "Marlon thinks you're a c***" on occasion amongst other wonderfully amusing little ditties about shooting L*t*n fans etc. As for Terry and Ferdinand.... they are both as bad as each other and both have brought the game into disrepute. Perhaps they should both have their mouths washed out with soap and water for a start?
I do wonder about priorities though - it seems that racist abuse (which is of course unacceptable) is clamped down on whilst people singing about the Holocaust and a myriad of disasters and deaths of famous club players and officials is totally ignored
Quite so - and, at the risk of receiving abuse myself, there is always the point of view that what JT was accused of saying to AF at least may actually have had an element of truth to it. Whereas, the foul song that Liverpudlians made up about JT's mother probably doesn't - yet is apparently acceptable to the 'authorities'.
Ofcourse some footballers and fans probably confuse swearing their heads off with showing passion and how much they care? Even in celebrations you get a few comments...
As a teacher I reffed a game between 12 yr olds. I stopped a lad who'd sworn ("bl**dy"; nothing too scary I suppose) and said to him "You wouldn't use that sort of language at home, would you?". "Yes..." he said, looking quite mystified as to why he shouldn't. Learnt my lesson!
it's true that some of the things that are sung on the stands are hideous..the question is, where do they try to stop the rot, and are the refs willing to punish the players who break the rules. I suspect, as has been said, they'd be too worried about the backlash to use those rules correctly. personally i'd rather they sorted out diving, pulling and tugging and other forms of cheating, before they sorted out swearing...
I think there is a danger here. Where do we draw the line? What constitutes bad language?? Do we send off/book a player who says "****" when he misses an open goal?? Its a heat of the moment thing and he is not swearing at another player, it is just a reaction. Surely we have all done it. What if the player takes a whack where it hurts and swears in pain?? I know i have done that and im sure others have too. Also, how are ref's supposed to know when a foreign player is swearing? He cant stop the game and check a dictionary or ask the player what he said. It would be very very difficult to enforce, but i agree something needs to be done.
