A soccer (association football) referee knocked unconscious by player?
Should such a player be suspended long-term
or even be banned from the sport of association football?
The answer to our thinking is obvious.
The recent example of Penn State in the USA shows what can happen when athletic organizations are allowed to get too big for their own good.
Power corrupts, and one of the jobs of the legal system is to keep power in society in a healthy balance, also in athletics and sports in general.
For the recent soccer referee story here in Europe, see:
- Viral Video of the Day Michael Cummings, Bleacher Report
- Ref to take legal action.... - Stephan Uersfeld and ESPN staff
- Today on YouTube - Telegraph
- Referee Fischer surprised... - Goal.com
- Dirty Tackle - Brooks Peck, Yahoo! Sports
We have reported previously about the recent -- in our view legally intolerable -- brainwashing recently conducted by the UEFA in its TV broadcast flash advertising.
When organizations start to get out of line, without proper legal sanctions -- then more intolerable incidents are bound to happen until the legal community draws the line for such organizations and the individuals involved in such organizations who appear to think they are above the law, including not only management, but also players and coaches.
We now have the case of a "friendly" soccer match in Europe in which a referee has allegedly been butted unconscious by a player in a game who ran at him as he was about to exact a penalty.
If true, that player should be massively fined, suspended for several years from soccer games or be banned for life from the game to set an example for other players that attacks or aggression of any kind against referees will result in players being suspended long-term or being banned entirely from soccer.
Players have no business running toward referees to challenge calls, thus putting referees into potential danger of collisions.
Soccer players are paid to play soccer, not to referee games.
Players "playing" referee by verbally or physically assaulting referees should be removed from any game - immediately, no questions asked -- and should be assessed with massive fines and long-term suspensions or bans to boot.
Coaches who do not instruct their players accordingly and who do not enforce strict rules that referees are "off limits" to players, both verbally and physically, should be removed from their posts as incompetents.
Massive fines should be inflicted by the respective legal systems on organizations such as the UEFA and their members for legal infractions committed under their auspices. It is their JOB to see that their sport -- which enjoys massive societal benefits -- is properly supervised.
The rule of law demands that there be no organizations or institutions -- also not those in athletics or sports -- that enjoy special rights or exemptions from legal dictates. Assaults of any kind must be punished -- also for the good of the game, not just because the law requires it, as it does.
