Let me firstly say that language like this is not appropriate at any time, and I don't condone someone screaming expletives like that, especially when it is by a professional footballer to millions of viewers on the television. They are role models to thousands of young aspiring players and should act accordingly. Yet I would like to point out that such a reaction is understandable, particularly when someone shoves a camera down your throat. It's provocative and asking for trouble and the subsequent mass hysteria that has predictably emerged. Still, everyone loves a talking point.
However, it is not the actions of Rooney that I wish to discuss. It is the response of the Football Association to the incident. Rooney had, after the final whistle, immediately apologised for his outburst via the club's website. Sensible, yes. He apologised for his behaviour and that should have been the end of it. But no. Why? Because the British media love a witch-hunt. That it is Rooney makes it extra-special. It is not in the nature of the media to 'let it go', and so, on this occasion, they haven't. On the other hand, I very much doubt if it were a West Ham player - Carlton Cole, for example - who had sworn into the camera, the same would have been made of it. What if an overseas player had done the same thing, in a different language? I very much doubt there is a special room at the FA where dozens of translators are all sat in front of monitors waiting for a foreign player to swear on TV.
All of this, in turn, puts an enormous amount pressure on the FA to make an example of the player in question. It turns out that the player in question is Rooney, arguably England's most important player. They have charged him for using offensive language, and he now faces a two-match ban. By the way, who was 'offended' by his language? Was there a bloke called Steven sitting at home watching the game in Basingstoke with a can of Carlsberg who thought Rooney was actually telling him to "F*** off"? Rooney even said it himself in his apology: "It was not aimed at anyone in particular." The charge itself, therefore, is something to question.
Another issue is the FA's superb record of inconsistency. I agree that Rooney should have been banned for elbowing a Wigan player earlier this season, but the FA didn't take action. Perhaps the FA felt that because they didn't ban him when they should have done, this is a perfect opportunity to do so. But two wrongs don't make a right. It seems that whoever is dishing out these punishments has no sense of priority. There was a racism claim against the families of some West Ham players during Saturday's match - they could easily be monitoring that situation instead in conjunction with West Ham and the police. The countless other incidents that have gone unpunished, such as Steven Gerrard's elbow against Portsmouth's Michael Brown last season, merely exacerbates the problem, while the incidents that barely qualify as incidents (arguably Saturday's) are dealt with more severely. The problem for the FA is that if they don't act, they are jumped on by the media, but if they do, then surely they must continue to do so in the same vein. Therefore, banning every player that has ever sworn during a football match would be a good start. This, of course, is impossible and stupid and so what the FA must do is sort out the more petty occurrences in the game - which at most deserve a quiet slap on the wrist - from those that are unacceptable in this game and must rightly be extremely dealt with.
Easier said than done, and I feel that nothing will change for the foreseeable future.
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