Hey guys. Congratulations on the win. Main reason why I'm happy with the scoreline is cos I have Silva(Captain) and Dzeko in my Fantasy Team!!! Anywho.... What was Balotelli booked for? I saw he put his shirt over his head to display his humorous T-shirt. It wasn't rude, provocative or tasteless and he did not take his shirt off, nor did he jump towards the fans. So why was he booked?
For being a dick. If he goes on the pitch looking for a yellow card, the ref's hardly going to shirk from showing it to him.
*For genius. I thought the protocol was that referees constantly have to card players if they take off their shirt no matter what. Just protocol - doesn't matter what the content; it happened to Iniesta for his 'Siempre Dani Jarque' memorial message during the World Cup Final. And to former Bolton midfielder Tamir Cohen after showing a memorial message for his father after scoring for Bolton. It's a terrible rule in that respect, but the refs have to enforce it.
Thing is he didn't take his shirt off and it wasn't a rude, extended or inflammatory celebration. Rubbish rule anyway.
That is why I'm asking. Balotelli didn't take off his shirt, he just put it over his head to reveal a message. As I said, he didn't take it off, therefore there is no "safety" issue, nor did he put his shirt on his head and run around like a headless chicken (I'd love to see the day he does that). Throwing a shirt away - time wasting / safety issues if thrown into crowd Jumping into crowd - safety issues Taking shirt off - nudity? I don't know..... How is it that Balotelli's offence was greater than that of Alan Hutton when he could have potentially given Shane Long a career ending injury? I don't understand it. True, Scharner was booked for pulling his shirt over his head in celebration, so Clattenberg had to be consistent and book Balotelli for the same incident. But where is the consistency in the degree of the offence?
The rule is enforced because when a player celebrates, the camera's zoom into them showing the sponsors on their shirts. If the sponsor is covered/removed during the celebration, the companys involved could kick off about their advertisments not being shown even though they have pumped cash into the club for advertising reasons alone. The yellow card rule is put in place to prevent players from doing it. P.S. I don't know this as a fact. Just my assumption. I'm a synical bastard.
It was an automatic yellow card offence. If the ref had not carded Balotelli he would have been sanctioned by the Refs' Association.
Oh, and by the way, I believe the offence comes under the "unsporting conduct" section of the ref's rule-book.
