Comments on: The sheer incompetence of England’s footballing authorities

By: FIFA’s Mr Blatter’s PR skills are formidable… | 21st-century PR issues › Paul Seaman

Tue, 31 May 2011 17:50:54 +0000

[...] a shining example of competence that would give it any moral authority over FIFA – see here here and [...]

By: Rory Hanna

Rory Hanna — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:40:24 +0000

Brilliant read, agree with most of what you say. The FA are a poor excuse for an organisation. They undermine Fabio Capello by stating that when he goes they will appoint an Englishman, blow their chances of getting Luis Felipe Scolari to manage England by asking him just before he leads Portugal into international competition, they fail to back Graham Poll after Chelsea players accuse him of being corrupt, and now, after completely changing their stance on referees, they overlook what is certainly a lengthy ban. They are a complete disgrace.

However, they didn’t punish Wilshere when he criticised the referee because he wasn’t accusing him of corruption. In my view, this was a good decision. They can’t fine everyone just for bad-mouthing the ref, that would be taking away their freedom of speech.

By: Daniel Blazer

Daniel Blazer — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:36:45 +0000

I personally think the problem is the rule that if the ref sees the incident, then the FA cannot act. Its all part of the respect campaign, dont want to be seen under mining the refs. Its plan to see to any body Rooney deserved to be punished and the FA bottled it, fact.

By: Ad

Ad — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:36:11 +0000

Even as a United fan I think this is ridiculous. I am disappointed at Rooney, Ferguson and the FA for their part in this whole episode.

Firstly, Rooney lashing out the way he did was savage and unwelcome behavior. He deserved to go.

Secondly, Ferguson should have handled the situation better in front of the press. Fergie’s a great man and I adore what he’s done for the club, but to suggest that “there was nothing in it” in front of the watching world suggests that he condones thuggish behaviour. That’s a bad example to give to anyone who watches football. I would hope that Ferguson gave Rooney hell in the dressing room, even if he couldn’t do it in public.

If that same had happened to United, Ferguson would have been calling for the harshest punishment at the FA disposal.

And finally, the FA bottled it. They’ve seen the video replay from all angles by now and how they suggest that no further action is needed is crazy.

If Rooney did that in the street he would be done for assault. Rooney and the FA need to sort themselves out!