No way should football be ashamed over the Suárez incident.

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Luis Suárez saved a certain goal in the World Cup by handling the ball while he stood on the goal line. In the microsecond he had he went with his instinct and prevented the ball going into the net by batting it out with his hands.

That the Ghanaian, Asamoah Gyan then missed the penalty and that the game eventually went Uruguay’s way became to many a huge injustice.

I mention this is my blog because I have been in a somewhat heated debate over this ever since and it needs more than 140 characters to analyse, the talk has been of cheating and a morally sad sport. I think that a few deep breaths should be taken by some.

Did Suárez cheat? In my mind he did not. He followed his instinct. Cheating is acting with deceit, usually cheating is done with some sort of premeditation, there was clearly none in this case. there was no time. It will be easy for anyone who has played competitive sport at a high level to understand that he did exactly what 999 out of 1000 footballers, rugby players, polo or hockey players would do in a similar situation. He prevented a goal.

Did he commit a foul, no doubt, was it a foul that prevented a certain goal? Absolutely. Did he break the laws of football? without question.

What was the appropriate action for the referee and soccer to take.

The referee should have given a penalty, He did. A penalty is awarded for any of the 10 offences that a direct free kick would have been awarded in the field of play but for the fact that the offence has taken place in the 18 yd box. He should have been shown a red card. He was. FIFA then automatically suspended him from the next game. In my mind a totally appropriate and sufficient response.

But, there has been an indignant outcry though, the opinion expressed that a “penalty goal” should have been awarded (or the law changed to make this possible) and even that Suárez should have been banned for life. Maybe some would have liked to see him in front of a firing squad.

Why? because we feel disappointed and there must be someone to blame?

Any of the 10 offences that a penalty is given for could have resulted in a certain goal. That’s why its not a simple direct free kick but instead a kick from the penalty spot which is in itself an almost certain goal.

For the referee  the decision is then very easy to take, he judges the facts. We wouldn’t still want the referee to make the highly subjective decision to award a goal because he, in his opinion, believed that there was a 87% probability that the foul would have resulted in a goal and only a penalty kick because the probability was a mere 79.3%. The Laws of Football are simple and easy to apply in most cases and their simplicity is one of the reasons that football flows in the way it does.

The law is also beautiful because it introduces that bit of skill and the penalty has still to be converted, still giving a chance to the team possibly wrongly penalised by a human referee error and adding interest for spectators.

Those who feel the urge to criticise the game of football, and brand its players, supporters and administrators as condoning cheating could maybe think of this.

Sure the fact that the Ghanaian player choked meant that the “wrong” team went through to the next round and disappointed millions of Africans. Me included.

Certainly Suárez’s subsequent behaviour has been poor (the “hand of god” comment) and worthy of criticism.

But all the rest of the attacks on football, the administrators and the Law are totally inappropriate.

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Posted on July 5, 2010 at 7:53 pm by Walter Pike · Permalink
In: Uncategorized
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  • Zoe Louise Clifford

    Eloquently expressed Mr. Pike. People do allow their passions to blind them at times. If this case had to go to court you have objectively described the facts. I'm not sure how many others want to shift their focus. It is easier to be 'pissed off' rather then reasonable perhaps. Thank you… :-)

  • Clive Simpkins

    What the court would find interesting though, are Suarez's claims that he employed a deliberate strategy. So either he's lying or Walter's comment that he did what any other player would do under the circumstances are wrong. Respecting the expertise and referee accreditation of Walter doesn't change the fact that for those of us who know *nothing* about soccer rules, the game would appear to aid and abet some distasteful behaviour. Other sports benefit from electronic assistance and indeed surveillance. Maybe it's time for soccer to leave the romantic notion of being the 'beautiful game' behind and join the modern era.

  • http://walterpike.com Walter Pike

    Clive – Did he? I have not seen that and I am not defending his utterances and if his strategy was that he would handball the ball I find that very unlikely. He is a striker anyway. That he would stand on the line to back up the keeper – Football 101.

    In this case there was clearly no need for electronic surveillance – the man was penalised.

    Maybe the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Football must be doing something right for it to be as successful as it is.

    Finally and I am not sure if this applies to you – but much of the criticism of distasteful behaviour is from Rugby supporters who chose to ignore the constant thuggery and shenanigans in the rucks, mauls, and lineouts – surely a case of the campfire billycan calling the stainless steel pot “black”

    Much of footballs beauty is the constant ebb and flow, its simplicity in law and its sublime skill. I seriously hope that no one tampers with that.

    Somehow I doubt that they will.

  • hanlie

    Absolutely! As much as I would have liked Ghana to have gone through, they only have themselves to blame. They were given two subsequent chances – the penalty kick itself and the penalty shoot-out. Suarez did what he had to do in the situation. He's not a villain for doing what he did, but he is an idiot for boasting about it. So, dislike him if you must, but don't blame Ghana's elimination from the tournament on him.