Piquionne Red Shows Fifa Removing Passion From Football

Tuesday, 25th January 2011 at 09:52am

Following his headed goal which gave West Ham a deserved 2-1 lead against Everton with just six minutes remaining, Frederic Piquionne raced towards the travelling West Ham supporters to celebrate.

Both player and fans knew that a win would see the Hammers move off the bottom of the table and the relief and excitement from both parties was palpable.

As a result of his 'over-zealous' celebration, Piquionne was shown a yellow card, his second of the match. The Frenchman was sent off, leaving the visitors with just 10 men for the final few moments of the game.

Everton pressed forward with the man advantage and Marouanne Fellaini equalised in the first minute of time added on to salvage a point for the Toffees.

The referee acted as the laws of the game stipulated but that doesn't make it right. Why has Fifa decided to make it a bookable offence to celebrate a goal?

Goals, obviously, are what football is about. If they were as easy to score as points in basketball then they wouldn't be celebrated as enthusiastically. Scoring a goal is the pinnacle of football, a moment in the game that triggers a huge outpouring of emotion.

Is Fifa determined to remove all the fun from the sport? Maybe they'd prefer a return to the days when a goal was applauded politely.

Football is a sport that is built on passion. It emanates in waves from the stands to the players. It is intoxicating and inspires them to give their all for club or country.

Ask any fan and a large number would like to see players who are prepared to run through brick walls for the honour of playing for the club rather than a talented 'star' who deems hard work beneath him; Dimitar Berbatov at Manchester United being a case in point until this season.

It needn't necessarily go as far as kissing the badge - that appears to be a hollow gesture in many cases - but showing that you care goes an awfully long way to impress the fans.

And what exactly is the problem with removing your shirt when you score or celebrating with supporters, anyway?

If Piquionne had run up to the Everton fans and goaded them, then he would have case to answer for but did Piquionne's celebration incite a riot inside Goodison Park? Not one bit of it. Is there an Everton fan who would have been genuinely upset if he hadn't been sent off? Maybe one or two as they were trailing but had the shoe been on the other foot.....

Instead all he was guilty of was getting caught up in the moment and celebrating with his own supporters; hardly the crime of the century.

Fifa have imposed such a straightjacket on referees now that commonsense is no longer part of the game; until they remove it we will have farcical decisions like the one we saw at Goodison.

Sadly, while Sepp Blatter is only interested in creating a legacy as the man who took football to uncharted territories, the simple steps that could be taken to restore some sense to the game continue to be overlooked.

Personally, I'd rather the players I support show some passion for the game and run the risk of being sent off. At least it would show that they care.

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