All those years ago in Oz when the refs clamped down on foul language, they made it quite clear before every game that the language they would be targetting was abusive language directed at another player, a spectator or any of the match officials - any incidence of that was an immediate red card. The other instances you mention - eg swearing in pain - resulted in a caution. From memory, five such cautions resulted in the player being hauled before a disciplinary committee. When you think about it, there are plenty of alternative expressions that could be used - as others on here have pointed out, the apparently limited vocabulary of the average footballer merely indicates that they are not very bright.
This is all very interesting yet I am suprised that there is a feeling that the FA of FIFA or anyone for that matter would be able to control 'bad' language on the pitch. After all, foul language is only what someone says it is and my interpretation could be different to anothers. Look at it another way, language is language no matter what words are used, language is steeped in history and words evolve and change meaning all the time. What defines language is how it is used, its context and the behaviour that accompanies it. Lets keep this on the pitch and take two situations: First one is where you turn your ankle and the pain makes you curse aloud, so you shout f*****g hell. Second is when you are kicked by an opponent and you aim the same language at him but with aggressive body language. Not easy then to regulate. So the point here is that it's not foul language that's the problem it's the behaviour that goes with it and this is where I come on line with some of the other posts. Footballers, generally, just represent our feral society and that wont change.
I can see that working, but i stil wonder how they will enforce it for foreign players. If they swear in their native tongue then the ref will never know. Also I dispute that footballers are dumb. Having spoken to most of the team they all speak pretty well. Its hardly Shakespeare, but its not exactly ghetto either.
May I suggest rather more draconian punishment for swearing footballers (or other sportspersons)? A first offence would result in amputation of the left foot (or right foot if the person is left-footed) at the ankle. For a second offence, the other leg would be amputated at the ankle. For a third offence then a ten match ban.........
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/minister-slams-swearing-football-081314843.html http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/paul-parker/tasteless-banter-unfortunate-part-sport-121905788.html
The ref will never know and neither will anyone else, so it may not be a problem. Although Suarez used his native tongue when he spoke to Evra................
But there is a problem there. It discriminates against English speaking players. If you are going to introduce rules regarding cautions for foul language then it needs to be implemented against everyone. Just cos i shout "merde" or "skÃta" (correct me if thats wrong AK) it does not mean i should get away with it.
Maybe I should have elaborated on the Suarez comment, Dan - the ability is there to translate 'after the event' as very little gets past the tv cameras/microphones. I don't see a problem with players being cautioned retrospectively.
I agree with Hornette. Glorifying cheating is a much bigger problem for society than exposing kids to a few naughty words. Only idiots allow swearing to become a life-changing problem, but anyone can potentially be tempted to be dishonest to get ahead.
Not sure of your point there! People who are tempted into dishonesty could equally be described as idiots, especially if caught. Much as I dislike it, I do realise that exposing kids to a few naughty words is not a major problem - but it's not the words themselves, more the attitude that goes with it. What Terry and Ferdinand indulged in was certainly more than just a few words and was no more acceptable than all the cheating, lying and fouling that is normally on display in football. For my money, all of these things need to be addressed and not just one at the expense of the others.
I watched one of the rugby league semi-finals over the weekend and it did seem that some of the refs decisions were wrong sometimes. However one player took exception to one foul that he had been guilty of and had a few choice words of disagreement with the ref. The freekick was immediately moved forwards 10 metres and the player shut up. To my mind any abusive language to a ref deserves punishment and the old idea of a sinbin still seems to have merit. 10 mins in there would put his team at a disadvantage and maybe managers would then tell them to stop.
The difference being that an educated, dishonest person (unfortunately that's not an oxymoron) can cause a great deal of damage in the first place. Forgive me for turning a discussion on swearing into building site economics. But I would argue that the banking crisis happened because blind eyes were turned to a series of minor yet blatant breaches of the rules. One exaggerated income statement for a mortgage probably won't matter, but a million will. One dive won't change world football forever, but if one dive per game results in a match-changing set piece, we're in a dark place. The same is true to an extent for swearing: a striker swearing after missing a chance that would have defined his career is one thing, Wayne Rooney setting a record for the most unbleeped words before the watershed is a different thing altogether. But as distasteful as it is, Rooney's swearing isn't directly affecting the game. By the way, I agree with you that we should deal with everything at once, but history has shown that the FA is only capable of dealing with one thing effectively at a time.
And now Arsenal's Frimpong has joined the long list of idiots - apparently responded to a twitter taunt from a Spurs fan with the words "scum yid".
When I talk to locals here about the Suarez thing they don't see that word as racist. I get called 'white' all the time over here. Still I don't think Suarez used the word in the right way. Political correctness has gone a bit mad for me, sometimes in England I didn't know what word to say. Still like with swearing it is so ingrained in society it would be impossible to stop. Shame.
