I’ve never understood why two teams should have to shake hands with each other prior to a competitive tilt and also afterwards in some cases. The prior to the match niceties and rituals undermine the purpose of a warm up and force people who have issues with each other into close proximity in a farce.
Case in point QPR’s Anton Ferdinand has accused Chelsea’s John Terry of racially abusing him during their last meeting. In fact it is going before the courts soon. Chelsea manager, Andre Villas-Boas weighed in on the issue,
“This game is based on good values more than anything else,” he said.
“These two players should continue to promote those good values.”
One did nothing wrong but is now being forced to play happy clappy with someone he thinks abused him, strange idea of what makes something good.
Explaining why he believed it was so important, Villas-Boas added: “Firstly, it’s a question of respect for the opponent and everybody should do it.”
What if, quite reasonably, Ferdinand has no respect for Terry? Is lieing really another good value you want pushed?
“When it reaches that moment, the players should set out an example. A lot of the situation has been spoken about, but it’s good for the players to show that, whatever is happening off the pitch, they are playing against each other.”
The alleged abuse took place on the field of play Andre, so the controversy has nothing to do with “off the pitch.” You must be thinking of the last time Terry was a complete dick and carried on with a team-mate’s girlfriend behind his back.
Villas Boas acts and thinks like another entitled white man who recently put his foot in his mouth, and not for the first time, namely perennial, or rather congenital idiot Sepp Blatter.
Asked if racism was a problem on the pitch, Blatter told CNN World Sport: “I would deny it. There is no racism, there is maybe one of the players towards another, he has a word or a gesture which is not the correct one, but also the one who is affected by that.
“He should say that this is a game. We are in a game, and at the end of the game, we shake hands, and this can happen, because we have worked so hard against racism and discrimination.”
The pair of them are an embarrassment to the sport, but only one of them actually creates the “initiatives” that gloss over the ugliness and insist that everything is a-okay.
Let’s throw out this sappy crap and remember it’s a contest in which folk want to win.
