Football Special: Michel d’Hooghe claims some tackles to be deliberate criminal acts
FIFA’s medical specialist Michel d’Hooghe has claimed that some players tackle with a real intent of hurting their fellow players. Michel d’Hooghe, who is a specialist in sports medicine and rehabilitation, has claimed that in many cases
of bad tackling the intention of hurting other players is always there.
Currently the players are on international duty, but some incidents of the past are still highlighting the news. The real controversy is regarding the rash tackles that occur during the matches, with two specific incidents making the headlines. In one incident
Karl Henry was dismissed against Wigan Athletic for a rash challenge on Jordi Gomez. In another incident the English FA decided not to punish Nigel de Jong for a challenge on Hatem Ben Arfa.
The incident led to a broken leg, which has left Arfa out for almost all of the remaining season. Newcastle’s pleas in this regard were unheard by FA, while de Jong was supported by his club and international teammates as well. This has raised a lot of controversy
in recent days, while many comments in this regard are making the headlines in sports journals.
Following de Jong’s tackle, Netherland’s coach, Bert van Marwijk, decided to drop him from the squad. It was a decision that was taken mainly because of Jong’s reputation and history of making bad tackles, especially during the World Cup in South Africa.
However, many including his international teammates believe that the decision was a harsh one. It is generally believed that de Jong’s tackle was not with intent to break Ben Arfa’s leg, and the outcome was a mere coincidence.
Nevertheless, d’Hooghe has issued his statement showing displeasure about certain players. Although, he did not refer to any particular incident, but he might have been talking about all such incidents in general. He believed that in some cases the players
are deliberately injure their fellow players in order to threaten their careers, which is a real shame for the game. D’Hooghe referred to such incidents as criminal acts by such players.
At the same time, Fulham’s captain Danny Murphy raised his eyebrows on certain managers. Murphy was particularly referring to a tackle on his teammate, Bobby Zamora, who broke his leg against Wolverhampton as well. Murphy was putting the blame on managers,
rather than the players, as he said that the managers are actually preparing their players for a rough game. Murphy said that the managers are brutal with their players, pumping them to make rash challenges. So, when such incidents occur, there is often no
thinking involved behind them. The players often go for rash challenges without putting any prior thought into them.
At last, FIFA and some other players are speaking the language of Arsene Wenger, manager Arsenal. Wenger has already showed his displeasure about the physical nature of football. At the start of the current Premier League season, Wenger warned the referees
about Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers, both teams involved in some incidents injuring Arsenal players. Nevertheless, it is the same story being told once again, which might push FIFA to introduce tighter regulations.
The union of football players, FIFPro, has come out in defence of its players. Their officials said that the intention of damaging certain players’ career cannot be there in players involved with their organization. FIFPro believed that such an attitude
is not acceptable by any kind of player.
Whether the blame goes to the referees, the players or their managers, the important thing is that some stricter regulations are required. It was a sad decision by English FA to let de Jong go away with his horrendous mistake, which happened only because
such rules are not there to defend players on wrong side of the tackles. If a swift action is not taken, many players or managers would continue to ruin the game of football, by threatening the careers of exceptional players like Ben Arfa.
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