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Superstars... and crazy boys of the game - II
-by gasper crasto
Football players playing at top level are bound to use unfair cheating skills which may even mean trying to brainwash the referee by being nice and friendly to him, or trying to scare his guts with fearful body language so that he works in their favor... I have often seen some referees succumb to this kind of deception.
Some individuals playing football, locally, forget they are noticed in life only because of football; they are called football players although they just, just about know to kick a ball. Some of these players have played for donkey years while some are still to strengthen footing as humans on foreign soil. On the average, I have noted, not many understand footballing rules other than what they have learnt from watching European / World Cup football telecast on cable TV
But the ones to question the integrity of referees are mostly those who are highly ignorant about the game.
One can understand their brain power from the stupidity of actions.
What actions
?
Striking an officiating referee is the most cowardly, inhuman act in any sport.
I wonder what these crazy hot-heads want to prove assaulting helpless referees. Do they think they are the only ones right, and all others, fools? Would they dare come near if a stronger man was kept in charge? This is not an era to give the other cheek; perhaps Gandhi had no other alternative when he was confronted by a six-foot South African. But if the giants knew who Gandhi really was, they would kiss his feet.
Most of the referees doing duty, I know, are learned people having vast knowledge of the game and life in general. I have played little football
I have seen few footballers who can pass a still ball with proper direction and the right momentum, few who can kick with their weaker foot
yet, they boast themselves to be Figos and Ronaldos of their teams
and when it comes to some perilous emergency they think with hands and legs
.
Referees, who are mostly amateurs, somehow make themselves available to volunteer, out of love for the game and to support the sport they love. Many are well to do; they can very well enjoy their days with their families and in the comforts of their homes. Players who act crazy on the field would not dare look square in the eye if they knew whos who behind the simple, humble Gandhian face of the official.
The form of football played amongst Indian Expatriates in the Middle-East thanks to people promoting the game, fulfills its function to divert ones mind from reality. I wonder what the state of some of the youths abroad would be, if it was not for football. I am sure most would end up drunks or card gamblers, and psychos.
...Instead of appreciating the hard work of the games administrators, there are some sick people who want to destroy one of the easiest form of entertainment expatriates can have abroad.
Many of the games in recent years have become disjointed, fractious affairs in which every decision by the referee is disputed and almost every tackle - and especially those near the penalty area - ends with one player falling down, clutching what can only be, from the _expression_ of the face, a shinbone broken in three places. And if they are sane enough to peer through the pain and the agony, they're demanding the referee give the other player a card.
In fast-paced games it is impossible for referees to get the decisions right every time, but then, when players cannot be relied upon to be honest, the administrators of the game are the best judges to handle the reins and punish players / clubs who bring the game into disrepute.
As the new season starts, governing bodies should identify crazy players and fickle minded club members as dangers to the game. Psycho players on the field should be BANNED and outcast from all soccer-related activities.
In conclusion I would want to quote golden words of T. Shanmugham, of one of my most respected gurus in football who often stressed, A verbal abuse in the heat of emotions maybe pardonable to some extent but striking a referee is one of the cardinal sins and the potential punishment price should be a life ban from the sport as a player or official or... a self exile in shame."
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