I come in Peace. I understand you probably couldn't care less about what happened on Wednesday but I just wanted to open up (if possible) a debate on political correctness in football (or at least the PL anyway). Whether you think there is/isn't? Where the problems lie? Societal issues. Government to blame etc. No matter what side you are on (it seems to have encapsulated the nation) it's become clear now that kind of behaviour (whether Hazard kicked the ball or not) isn't acceptable partly due to brand image and public outcry. We all hate Man Utd but would a player have been banned for swearing in front of his own away fans 30 or even 20 years ago? The answer is an emphatic No. Just wanted to get your opinions on this, don't bite my head off. Thanks in advance.
Hi District. Personally, I think any incident like this gets blown out of proportion. The moral outrage shown by some is laughable. There are far more important things to get upset about in the world. Having said that, Hazard should know better. As you said, no-one would have given a toss years ago.
I actually dont think pc comes into this incident! The main point nowadays is the public eye/perception, safc have got it right with family zone, if either of my children had witnessed that at the ground or on tv, both sides are wrong and would have taken a good explination. Both cheating and violence are wrong! That has never changed! Hope this helps
Its all a media frenzy as per usual and a storm in a tea cup. The 'ball boy' was 17 years old ffs. I'd have taken the daft twats head off if I was playing and he did that to me? Lol He will get a ban as the FA are cock suckers and will fill their collective nappies in case anyone has a dig at them in the tabloids but its a nothing incident and Hazard doesn't even kick the bloke, he kicked the ball the dumb fanny was lying over.
I'm no Chelsea fan but any more than a 3 match ban is a complete joke (the red card was a joke IMHO the 'ballboy' albeit a 17 year old should have been sent off for cheating) ...and the FA quoting violent conduct ...complete bollox
Like almost every other person I've spoken to I think the whole thing's a complete and utter joke. Unfortunately the minority cry the loudest and you the get the PC brigade coming out with utter ****e like "if that had happened on the street he would be done for assaulting a minor and go to prison" (I have genuinely seen someone say this). Utter bolloks, the lad is more or less the same age as hazard ffs! I see far worse than that 20 times a night out in the city. ****ing ridiculous imo.
It's a sort of political correctness, except the poor little minority to be protected from all nastiness is the twats at the FA, rather than some ethnic or other demographic group. Right. Pass me another ball-boy. This one's split....
I will go against the grain with this. The ball boy done what was asked (not condoning it) and then Hazard lost it, unprofessional and IMHO deserves all he gets. Hazard brought the game, his club and his profession in distribute. You just cant go lashing out when it suits. You can see from the reaction from not only the Chelsea players but the referee (when he issued the red card) that in accordance with the FA laws he had to go. Did he kick the ballboy, yes, was it intentional, probably not. A three game ban for the player is the minimum/maximum he deserves. Swansea on the other hand should be fined accordingly for their unprofessionalism of their employers towards the game.
My view is that the TV cameras as usual have been the cause of a yet another incident being blown out of all proportion. Home advantage has always seen the possibility of ball boys/girls favouring the home side, generally meaning the ball will be returned to play within a reasonable amount of expected time but during 'big' games at a pace of advantage to the home team. In this recent incident the ball boy chose to lay on top of the ball to prevent the opposing player from retrieving it. Not exactly a discreet manner of holding the out of play ball for a few seconds longer. I never have seen ball boys/girls instructed to carry out their duties but more one of the unspoken word of gamemanship. Sadly on this occasion it all went wrong, the opposing player attempted to retrieve the ball by kicking it from under the ball boys body, reminiscent of school playground behaviour. I do not believe there was a deliberate attempt to kick the boy but obviously the follow through of the foot was going to have that subsequent consequence. The ball boy made the most of the situation. The player got sent off. End of event but in the light of a lack of major news the cameras will just roll and roll. Putting this incident aside, TV cameras are changing the face of our game, by highlighting every single event now acted out within a football stadium as in some big brother era. It is time the fans stood together and told them to do one. This is our game and we really do not need the National Media rolling out stories every time of every misdemeanour or attempting to fix all the social issues within the world we live at such mass events. We all know from events in decades gone by how events can be mis-portrayed through a camera lens. TV has become to much of a controlling body in dictating how we behave, as if orchestrated by some underlying social agenda by successive governments since the Thatcher era.
