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| Picture from Daily Mail |
Sometimes
in Football, the referee just can’t win. With QPR 1-0 up at home and 33 minutes
gone, Djibril Cisse reacted angrily to a tackle from Roger Johnson, raising
his hand to the neck of the Wolves centre-back.
Mark
Clattenburg, the unfortunate man in the middle here, had no choice – in reality
– but to send the striker off. Calls for common sense to prevail are all well
and good but far too simplistic. If the act was construed as violent conduct
(and referees are told to see the raising of the hand as such) then Cisse has
to go. The referee acted to the letter of the law.
Over
the last five to ten years pundits, players and referees have all stated that
if a player is naive enough to raise his hands should be sent off.
Like
two-footed tackles at the moment, there was no doubt a time when players were repeatedly
putting hands on opponent’s faces, so The FA sought to stamp it out. Raising
hands has, for a long time now, come under violent conduct, a law that is open
to interpretation but one which The FA advise on. Their advice simply seems to
be: they raise their hands, they go.
There
are problems here, though. A rule that is so rigid is going to prove unworkable
and unfair in different situations. How can a commonly-held rule stating a
reckless challenge from behind results in a yellow card while a slight grapple
in reaction is worthy of a red be right? How can Cisse’s actions be seen as
violent yet Johnson’s can’t? It’s hardly a punishment that fits the crime.
Of
course, Cisse was quite petulant in reacting; the sending off was certainly
avoidable as Cisse had almost two seconds (a relatively long time, if we’re
talking about the heat of the moment) to just think and then walk away. No
raised hand, no red card, no problem.
But
his actions were not difficult to understand. It is hardly surprising that
Cisse reacted the way he did given the Frenchman’s torrid injury record. He
broke his tibia and fibula in 2004 and broke
his leg in 2006. He has missed large chunks of his career (arguably the
parts where he would have been at his peak) because of these injuries, so when
the lumbering shell of Roger Johnson comes crashing through the back of him, he’s
allowed to be a little bit annoyed.
And
now, because Clattenburg saw the Johnson foul, there will be no retrospective
punishment. This is a bizarre rule which states putting the decision right and
bringing a little bit of justice to the world of football undermines the
referee. Johnson will be free to play in the next three games, whereas Cisse
won’t be able to unless the suspension is overruled – which surely ‘undermines’
the referee anyway? Johnson’s got away with it, while Cisse will not be
available for games against Blackburn, Fulham and Everton.
Cisse’s
reaction was unnecessary, unprofessional and ever-so-slightly petulant, but it
was understandable and it does not merit a more severe punishment than a lunge
from behind. The common perception that a raised hand must result in a red card
has to change.
