Wednesday 28 January 2015

Whoever said footballers were role models?

Chelsea played Liverpool yesterday and the Chelsea player Diego Costa may face retrospective punishment for two stamps on Emre Can and Martin Skrtel that were not seen by the referee. In the press conference Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho did not understand what reporters meant by the word 'stamp'. Let me help him. To stamp means to bring down one's foot heavily on the ground or on something (or someone) on the ground. 

I think Mourinho's point concerned the intention to stamp and this is important when an opponent is on the receiving end but I don't think intention is that important to the person who is being stamped on. Jose Mourinho reckons both incidents were 'absolutely accidental'.  It may be that many people see the stampings as accidental and others may see them as deliberate. What is definite is that Diego Costa knew he stamped on other players and reacted as if they had not been there. 

Am I to presume he knew he had stamped on another player but was so carried away with the game that he could put the possibility of a serious injury out of his mind? Could it be the case that all professional footballers are trained to ignore possible injuries because the game is more important? Could it even be possible that the stampings were intentional, in which case footballers may be trained to carry on as if nothing had happened?

My one certainty is that Diego Costa knew that he had stamped on two players and chose not to react. Whoever said footballers were role models?

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