Tiote injured

I respect a player beliefs but if it effects his performances, he shouldn't play.

Religion and Football effect peoples lives. It just depends on the person.

 

Unbelievable people having a go at Tiote because of religion, I'm not religious myself but people cant be expected to give up their beliefs for a sport, no matter what it is.

Childish to think otherwise.

 

No matter how much his performance is being affected hes still better than Smith, he could play with his eyes closed and be better than that no talent tosser.

 

Why is it unprofessional? It is part of his belief systems, there is nothing wrong with that. Would you tell a player to give up Christmas if he came back a bit overweight?

 

I'm not saying he should give it up . Just that if he considers his religion more important than the job that gives him the extremely financially comfortable life he has now, he shouldn't play and accept massive wages. I'm not ordering somebody to rethink their priorities, that is their call, but a footballer will struggle to perform well when he can't even drink during the match so I find it ridiculous that he can consciously and purposefully cause a detrimental effect on his fitness and then still get games, play poor and get the usual massive sum of money.

 

Pardew shouldn't be selecting Tiote, or Ba if it's true.

It is irresponsible.

 

Might have been 1-1 if Ba hadnt came on though

 

Shhhh... you're ruining my argument.

 

I see what you're trying to say and agree in part but maybe its not his choice whether to play or not, Pardew probably thinks hes worth the risk and I would probably agree with him, especially when Smith is the only other like for like option available.

 

Yeah I should probably have stressed that it isn't his fault he is playing so we're in agreement there. It's true we don't have any choice besides Smith either really and Pardew didn't have much choice since a poor Tiote is still better than Smith.
My responses were cheifly aimed at the guy who said "Religion is more important than football [...] Religion is something that affects your entire life" and I was pointing out that its a bit **** that somebody can claim the prosperous, affluent life of a premier league footballer and then disregard the impact that money has had on their life by pursuing something that lowers their performance. I suppose you could use a dash of hyperbole and imagine a highly paid wall street stock manager depriving himself of sleep and then doing a **** job at work. If he cost people a ****load of money because of something he did to himself that substantially lowered his work rate, he'd be in the soup.
Anyway yeah at least an understanding has been reached .

 

My main issue is that Tiote and Ba are more likely to become injured while fasting so I think it's irresponsible of Pardew to risk them in one match when the repercussions could be far more significant.

Anyhoo, Ba didn't look absolutely tits today.

 

I agree that the money footballers get has a huge affect on their lives, but it's still not as important as religion.
I think that if he's let Pardew know about it, and to not do so would definitely be unprofessional, it's Pardew's responsibility if Tiote is put on the pitch and plays badly (as has already been said).
Religion could arguably play a large part in giving them the mental strength to be as good as they are, so it'd be wrong for them to turn their backs on it now that they've reached this level.

It's unfair and unrealistic to expect that all players be absolutely dedicated to the sport. Football is really just a game that we all place far too much importance on.
Guys like Carroll, Nolan, previously Barton, Martins, etc. who regularly go out on heavy drinking sessions deserve far more abuse than Tiote and others do.

 

Anyone else think this is quite offensive? It's not ok to knock people's religious beliefs, whether you believe them or not.

 

Thanks for the fair response btw. Highlighted is the main point where we I think diverge really, as yes it is a sport - but it is also a highly lucrative business that a lot of people pump a lot of money into from the working class man up to the billionaire. I also agree that it isn't entirely his fault that he was chosen for the match, I'm just putting out my opinion on the clash of priorities really.

Without wanting to dredge up a full blown religious debate, I disagree. If it is somebody's religious belief that slavery, rape and genocide is acceptable then is it not okay to knock their beliefs? Have we not had several threads here in the past with most people calling the Westboro Baptist Church a bunch of looneys?
Religious beleifs are no different from philosophical beleifs, and if I openly adhered to a set of laws which, to you, seemed entirely malevolent or at all disruptive of good, I would fully expect you to say something about it.

 

That's true but Ramadan's not an unreasonable thing, and when something is not illegal, you should respect their beliefs. If it was really causing a problem, we could just rest them for the first month of the league until it's over.

 

Not illegal according to who though? The laws of which land or which religion? I would say that I have a problem with many of the laws of non secular countrys in which antiquated religious laws rule the land.
I see your point that a football player observing Ramadan isn't rape, genocide or slavery but I still had an issue with it and challenged it. A muslim, christian, jew or any religious person chooses what they believe and how they want to live their life, do you really think it is not okay to have a problem with somebodys chosen beleif system? If it were through no fault of their own, I'd accept that - disabilitys, gender or race issues etc obviously have no place to be challenged but we're dealing with choice here. I simply don't see how it is offensive.

 

I just think it was out of line to suggest him sticking to his religious beliefs is unprofessional. Religion is more important to (a lot of) people than football and what he's doing isnt harming anybody so we should respect it and allow him to get on with it. I'm not thrilled by them fasting either but it's not something we should take issue with IMO.

 

You're right it isn't harming anybody but it is to the detriment of his performances on the pitch, which is what I have issue with. I see that you'd prefer to keep the peace and not want to have a dig at people, but it's my belief that his beliefs in his god are a waste of time that are spoiling his huge talent. His religion and the two related major religions explicitly outlaw my beliefs and make the claim that I should expect all sorts of awful things to happen to me because of it. How come I am being offensive for sharing my belief of a religion, whilst this religion I am supposed to show utmost respect to completely insults how I lead my life? It's just criticism of beliefs and I have no issue with people having a go at what I think as long as I can respond .