June 27, 2018
Adolfo
Arranz
Young athletes, at the top of the game, playing in elite leagues, on contracts worth millions and millions of dollars are idols to children across the planet. As such, they have a moral responsibility to set fans an example of sporting play and good behaviour. Sadly, on the field – and sometimes off it – they are not always the epitome of good manners. We refer, of course, to modern-day footballers and how they’re in the cross-hairs more than ever during the 2018 World Cup
Unfortunately, gamesmanship is still a big part of sport. Many protagonists aim to confuse or deceive the referee with puckish misdirection and deception
There have been plenty of goals scored by employing sleight of hand. Diego Armando Maradona’s goal in the 1986 Mexico World Cup is perhaps the most famous example one of the game’s darkest arts
It is an all-too-common practice for players to exaggerate a challenge by hurling themselves acrobatically to the ground in order to procure a foul from the referee. This is often accompanied by a series of roly-polies
Perhaps the most egregious exaggerations can be witnessed when players fake a foul and feign injury by plunging to the ground without any actual contact from the opponent
Consisting of both physical and verbal violence; homophobic and racial abuse are a grave and increasing concern in the game. Traditional football-related violence, however, is still prevalent
Not a common occurrence, but it does happen. In recent times biting instances have been mostly attributed to one particularly goofy goal-grabber who appears quite at ease with chomping on his opponents
The most common form of on-field violence and the easiest to make appear accidental. It is a very effective tactic in stopping an opponent dead in their tracks, and has the potential to cause maximum damage. Most football injuries occur through robust tackling
There are many ways to stop an attacking player from getting past a defender, but when all else fails, some players resort to wrestling. Unsurprisingly, it is not listed in the laws of the game as an acceptable method of dispossession
The objective here is to ‘accidentally’ elbow the opponent in the face or chest while trying to evade attention, thereby stopping an attack with the added possibility of incapacitating them for the duration of the match. A very high-risk strategy
Sometimes players do not restrict themselves to using just their extremities to take out an opponent. A firm, well-aimed head thrust can be equally as effective
A look at some examples of poor on-field behaviour, which you hopefully wouldn’t engage in in public, much less your own living room
A widespread habit of the modern-day footballer is to empty the contents of their noses onto the pitch. Curiously, it is not a phenomena one might come across in rugby or basketball
If one deemed it worthwhile to keep a tally, they would likely lose count of how often players feel the urge to expectorate on the field of play. At any one time there is an incalculable portion of the pitch glistening under an unhealthy accumulation of spittle
Regrettably, sometimes players give in to the urge to aim their laryngeal discharge at an opponent. Apart from being extremely offensive, this enters the realm of criminal violence
By removing their shirts, players may feel more at one with some of the more kooky sections of support, but it is, in fact, prohibited on the field of play under the laws of the game. A common practice, it can at best be referred to as impolite
It is not just players with disgustingly unusual habits. One uber successful coach of a World Cup side is known to enjoy a sniff of his fingers after rummaging around in his trousers
Some players occasionally distract and unsettle their rivals by groping around compromising parts of their opponent’s anatomy
Hardly a match goes by without players protesting until they’re hoarse in an attempt to bully him into changing a decision. It is considered appalling manners – and has a ref ever overturned his decision?
Perhaps not considered bad behaviour on the scale of the evidence presented, yet still offering the opportunity to cause some offence
Potential to offend can be found in the exhibition of some examples of body art. This increases exponentially when a player lacks a firm grasp of a foreign language they have chosen to permanently inscribe on their bodies
Wily teams use all manner of tricks to wind down the clock once they think the game is in the bag. This mostly causes offence to paying spectators who have forked out hard-earned cash to watch two or sometimes three players form a human shield in the corner of the pitch around a motionless ball
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