Luising His Head

It's not just a controversy. It's a storm. A whirlwind of terror and rage building up with the two instigators in the middle, infrequently bashing against each other in a spinning cataclysm that sends shockwaves throughout an entranced world. Yesterday a volcano erupted dead in the centre, with a botched handshake, a tunnel spat and an over-zealous celebration just a handful of the outrageous incidents.

It's a real mess of blame and shifted responsibility. It needs somebody reasonable to stretch out the situation like a wet towel, and point out exactly where each of the stains are and who's fault they were. What? Oh, did you just mutter "You should do it then". Well, that's extremely kind of you. I didn't expect that. Well alright then, I'll give it a shot if you really think I can.

Actually, I don't need to. Alan Green did a perfect job of diffusing the situation of 606 earlier, by consistently pressing forward the notion that Suarez had no obligation to shake Evra's hand whilst feigning condemnation of the very same act. He also started claiming that Suarez couldn't be a racist, because he shook the hands of a few other black people, which is akin to saying that Nick Griffin isn't racist because he ate curry once. People rightly came in to criticise Green, and as he began to backtrack on his comments, everyone became so confused about what his point was that I think they actually broke him. At the end he started saying "Oh, it's been a long day at work". It was utterly bizarre radio.

But either way, I don't think the incident is that hard to judge when you look at it. Let's put aside, for one moment, the original incident of racial abuse and whether or not Suarez's alleged comments did actually happen. Ignore that point for one second. Suarez really should have looked at how this whole incident has affected his reputation and the way he is perceived. Regardless of the incessant details of the incident a few months ago, Suarez must have been aware that a failure to shake Evra's hand was going to look tremendously petulant. It was really idiotic. Of course, Suarez has the right not to shake Evra's hand, but if he doesn't then not only is he an idiot, but he opens himself to any racially-charged perceptions people may see in his refusal. Just because you have the right to do something doesn't mean you want be correctly condemned if you do it.

Now this whole incident has led to people questioning the validity of the handshake at the beginning of the football match. I still think it's an important facet of a football game. It's good to have a showing of respect towards your opponent before the game, and it encourages gentlemanly conduct. People may renege on the handshake in severe cases but this is not something that incites a feud, it merely confirms it. Some have suggested that a handshake should take place at the end of the game, but I can't see that becoming a formal part of routine, and I believe this would be even more of a problem on occasions where things got heated on the pitch.

So Suarez not shaking Evra's hand was stupid. Really stupid. And all those people posting images and videos trying to prove Evra was actually the one who rejected the handshake are truly laughable. It's like a mini-faction of conspiracy theorists have infiltrated football, showing highly deceptive images and pointing out minute details whilst ignoring the bigger picture. I'm surprised they're not calling it an inside job, to be honest. Let's be fair though, Evra does seem to be a little hesitant about the handshake, but can you blame him? Suarez supposedly racially abused Evra, it's not as if Patrice is going to give him the firmest of handshakes. Either way, he was not the one who didn't offer his hand.

After a slow half of football came a little bit more anger from Suarez. Clearly riled up about something (I'm not exactly sure what considering it was him who decided not to participate in the handshake - seriously, what was he expecting?) he reacted very badly to a perfectly fair Rio Ferdinand tackle, and violently kicked the ball away in fury as the half-time whistle was blown. Little is known of what followed, but police and stewards were forced to break up a brewing rage in the tunnel. I'm going to go on a whim and say that Suarez and Evra were maybe involved in that, but the post-match comments don't seem to allude to what really happened there, so it's difficult to say. For all we know, it could have been Carroll and Berbatov having a lazy fight where they just exasperatedly pushed each other a bit before going off for a nap...

Thankfully, a football match pushed it's way out of the mud and took a deep breath of the cold wintry air, allowing itself to manifest as a 2-1 victory to Manchester United. It was a worthy result that meant a lot to the United team, but Evra's post-match antics were undoubtedly uncalled for. Though I wouldn't say the incident was of the severity of Suarez's (and almost certainly was instigated by the Uruguayan anyway), clearly Evra's only achievement was to antagonise the situation even further, which was rather reckless of him.

So that was the on-field action and it's tempting to say that had the managers both condemned their players' acts of foolishness and said little more on the incident, a significant amount less would have been made out of the nasty debacle. I use the word 'tempting' because that's almost certainly not true, but it's a nice thought anyway. Instead, Kenny Dalglish and Alex Ferguson both made controversial statements, although it's no doubt who's interview came across worse. King Kenny's interview seemed to be going smoothly enough, but when questioned about the handshake incident, Dalglish denied that he was aware that it happened (which I struggle to believe) and consequently got furious at Geoff Shreeves for blaming Suarez for anything, mumbling something about the fans and then ending the interview.

Alex Ferguson's comments were a little inflammatory as well. He suggested that Liverpool should sell Suarez in what was otherwise a fairly reasonable interview. It was a rash comment maybe, but nothing more than that. I know it seems like I'm condemning Liverpool a lot harder at the moment, but the truth is when you compare these things objectively, there's really little argument to be had. Whilst Ferguson was calm and addressed all the incidents, Dalglish became incandescent as soon as Suarez was in any way condemned. There's little way to justify it in any other light.

However, today's apologies have been more than welcomed. Suarez has issued a statement admitting he 'got things wrong', and Dalglish accepted that he had not 'conducted himself in a way befitting of a Liverpool manager. These apologies, whether they are sincere or not, should be embraced by all fans, especially Liverpool supporters. Yesterday's incidents were an unfortunate mix of anger and bitterness that just happened to rear their ugly heads. They were mistakes, and it's good to see that both Suarez and Dalglish are willing to put their hands up to them. United also released a statement that looked to put a chunky bucket of water over the fire, meaning both clubs are happy to move away from the trouble.

So should Ferguson and Evra apologise? I don't think Ferguson should. Perhaps it would be good form If Evra admitted his celebrations were over-zealous, but I'm not sure it's necessary now. Either way, we have to move on from this tremendous farce. Not only does it not paint a good image of English football, but when other black players see the ridiculous furore that has happened thanks to racial abuse being reported, it will only serve to discourage them from alerting people to when they are racially abused themselves. If this sort of thing is allowed to drag so far in the future, complaining about racial abuse will just be seen as a hassle, followed by a long, unhappy grudge.

Furthermore, the faction of Liverpool supporters that are still showing ardent defence for Suarez need to start considering that their heroes may not just be honorable victims. Whilst the merits of an independent report can be disputed (if you're into that sort of thing), what happened yesterday was plain to see. I'm amazed that some people seem capable of upholding this victimisation view though - really, it's akin to spinning a helicopter in a beach hut, but the best step would be to understand that this was an unpleasant incident that doesn't need to be stretched on any further, and move on.

I haven't helped by talking about it again though.

A Sepp too far.

Sepp Blatter has always been a bit of a knob. That’s by no means the most eloquent opening sentence I’ve ever used, but I don’t think there’s any need to be more whimsical and articulate about it. Sepp Blatter is a knob, and an impressively persistent one at that. Blatter has made a game out of being a walking, talking disaster, and his career has revolved around outdoing his previous stupidity.

Now he’s gone and said something a fair bit more idiotic than usual. Yes, even crazier than his comments about how women’s football should introduce hot pants to make it more popular. Even more ill-judged than his comparison of footballers to slaves. Even more bizarre than his idea of scrapping the offside rule. Even more insensitive than his comments that homosexual supporters should “refrain from sexual activity” in Qatar. If they gave awards for foolish statements, Sepp Blatter would have a trophy cabinet the size of London. This week, Blatter accomplished his pièce de résistance.

“There is no racism” Blatter remarked, adding “The one affected by this should say this is a game and shake hands”.

“Congratulations Blatter” cried football. “What awesome timing and understanding”.

It’s not difficult to see where the controversy is coming from. To even suggest that a victim of racial abuse should shake his perpetrators hand is an inexplicable point to make. There’s a reason Wayne Bridge doesn’t shake John Terry’s hand anymore – Because when someone else has done something wrong, it’s their obligation to appease the situation, not the victim’s. Blatter’s comments, though I’m sure he didn’t quite mean it as strongly as this, suggest a ‘get over it attitude’.

It’s difficult to know what Blatter was really thinking when he made these comments, but I’ll give it a shot. I believe that Blatter was getting fed up with the alleged racism on the pitch, didn’t see it as a problem and wanted to deny it outright in order to squash the situation entirely. However, it’s backfired spectacularly because if anything, the head of football’s governing body showing a lack of compassion for victims of racial abuse on the pitch is only going to add a ton of coal to the fire.

It’s usually important not to overreact to these statements, especially considering the obstacle of the antagonist having to break through the language barrier. Often I think it’s worth giving the benefit of the doubt in these situations, because things can so easily be misconstrued and the media can make more of certain comments that were perhaps unintended.

For example, a few weeks ago Man United ‘keeper Tomasz Kuszczak was vilified for using the term ‘slave’ in describing his situation at the club. Whilst the comparison is senseless, nobody can claim that they have never hyperbolised a bit. I think Kuszczak’s faux pas was just a small misunderstanding, but all it took was one of these instances and the press could paint it as an indictment of the ‘out-of-touch’ footballers.

However, I don’t think we can give Blatter any leeway here. He not only made some very clear statements (“There is no racism… shake hands”), but he is the head of FIFA. That shouldn’t be a position you attain if you can’t say what you mean, and you make comments contrary to your intentions. Sepp Blatter is not someone who is constantly misunderstood. Like I said, he’s a knob.

FIFA image has collapsed more dramatically than the Berlin Wall. They have totally lost the confidence of the fans thanks to repeated poor decisions and allegations of corruption. They desperately need a change, and I think it’s about time that the master of the gaffe himself stepped down. Like a true artist, Blatter has finished with his final flourish – a beautifully crass comment about racial abuse. Now he must step down.