30-06-2014, 15:24
No time to read the whole thread, so apologies if this is covering old ground.
I think that in cases of grave misconduct like this (e.g. racist abuse, kung fu kicks, headbutts, serial biting, etc.), FIFA or the relevant national FA should impose a punishment on the team as well as the player.
These kids are practically raised by their clubs and it is too easy for clubs to treat them like pure economic assets. So when someone has a serious behavioural malfunction, the club can cut their losses and ship him off to be someone else's problem.
If the clubs were seriously and punitively penalized for the conduct of their players, then they would have a greater incentive to invest more time and effort in properly educating them. It would also avoid players falling into that fog of enabling -- my club right-or-wrong -- support that they get from their clubs and supporters when something like this happens. The most shocking thing about Suarez's behavior is that he clearly still feels that he is being singled out and victimized and that can only be a product of his environment. He is surrounded by people who have convinced him that nothing he does is wrong, so long as he keeps banging the goals in.
So, to answer the question, I think the punishment doled out to Suarez was too severe, but Uruguay should have been tossed out of the tournament or fined some extraordinary amount of money.
[and (sadly) England STILL wouldn't have qualified!!]
I think that in cases of grave misconduct like this (e.g. racist abuse, kung fu kicks, headbutts, serial biting, etc.), FIFA or the relevant national FA should impose a punishment on the team as well as the player.
These kids are practically raised by their clubs and it is too easy for clubs to treat them like pure economic assets. So when someone has a serious behavioural malfunction, the club can cut their losses and ship him off to be someone else's problem.
If the clubs were seriously and punitively penalized for the conduct of their players, then they would have a greater incentive to invest more time and effort in properly educating them. It would also avoid players falling into that fog of enabling -- my club right-or-wrong -- support that they get from their clubs and supporters when something like this happens. The most shocking thing about Suarez's behavior is that he clearly still feels that he is being singled out and victimized and that can only be a product of his environment. He is surrounded by people who have convinced him that nothing he does is wrong, so long as he keeps banging the goals in.
So, to answer the question, I think the punishment doled out to Suarez was too severe, but Uruguay should have been tossed out of the tournament or fined some extraordinary amount of money.
[and (sadly) England STILL wouldn't have qualified!!]