Football Update: Football Association relieving Patrick Vieira of sending off charges despite heavy pressure
The Football Association has confirmed that there is a very low chance of Patrick Vieira being suspended in the Barclays English Premier League season, which is due to start on the 14th of August. The match is between Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester City and happens to be the opener of the Premier League. It’s making many say that the reason behind FA’s biased decision, is that they want a star studded and lustrous opener to their final.
Critics on the other hand are lambasting both the FA and Vieira. The FA is already under a lot of pressure because of issues like the lack of English players in the English League. A recent research showed that only 46% English players played in their League, while La Liga boasts a plus 70% involvement of national players. Another reason for the disapproval of the League is the lack of home grown players in clubs. A rule has been announced in which each team should have at least 6 home grown players in their squad.
Now FA’s predisposed decision on omitting the results of the shock foul against Inter Milan has shook the basis of EPL again. The foul resulted sending off of Vieira in the start of the 20th minute, giving the Nerazzurri an early advantage, which they fully utilized. The foul was committed on the Italian international Marco Materazzi, when a free kick from the goal keeper made Vieira challenge the 36 year old Materazzi in mid air.
In general, there was nothing wrong about the heading attempt by Vieira, all except one thing that the 34 year old veteran must know. When you jump to possess the ball, your hand must not flail around in the air as it has the potential of hitting someone, which would ultimately result in the assailant being sent of the pitch. Vieira, who apparently had forgotten about the rules, was reminded of this the hard way.
Later, Inter Milan led by their new coach Rafael Benitez fully capitalized on the one player deficit; therefore taking the 0-0 score at the time of the incident to 3-0 by the end of the match. The former Liverpool manager has certainly proved that under right conditions he can deliver success.
The match in Baltimore certainly proved something for both clubs. Manchester City learnt that even after spending buckets of money they won’t turn into the Invincible, while Inter Milan found out that Rafael Benitez still has his spark and can lead them to them to the Champions League glory again.
In the match Vieira was slapped with the red card by referee Baldomero Toledo, when the French midfielder, who has had 107 caps for scoring 6 goals. For Manchester City, he has played 13 matches and scored a lone goal.
Early reports stated that Vieira won’t be playing in the showcase opener. An official designated on issue announced, “If a player gets a red card in a friendly he gets a ban for his next friendly, not for competitive matches. If it is overseas, it is dependent on it being reported to us by the host FA”.
He added, “In general terms, we retain the right to charge players in the most serious of misconduct cases and make sanctions applicable to competitive first-team fixtures if it is felt necessary”.
After the departure of Vieira, there was just too much space in the midfield and Inter Milan exploited with an opening goal from Victor Obinna, though the goal was resulted because of a deflection from Micah Richards. A partial own goal from Joleon Lescott doubled the deficit and then Cristiano Biraghi hammered down the final nail in the coffin.
The Manchester City’s Assistant manager Brian Kidd stated after the match that referee Toledo came too hard on Vieira. He stated, “Patrick has gone for the ball. He genuinely didn't see the player. There was no intent there. Hopefully people will realise that it wasn't a genuine foul”.
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