Biggest Villain in World Football in November
Unfortunately, world football courted its fair share of unsavoury headlines in November.
The kerfuffle over the Africa Cup of Nations neither reflected entirely well on CAF, the Confederation of Africa Football, or would-be hosts Morocco. Equatorial Guinea have eventually stepped in as last-minute hosts but various unresolved questions still linger and there are few guarantees the tournament will be a success.
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In Spain, the behaviour of fans has also been in the news. Lionel Messi was struck on the head by a plastic bottle thrown by a Valencia fan who has subsequently been banned for life. In Madrid, at the end of the month, a supporter was killed during violent clashes between Deportivo La Coruna and Atletico Madrid fans ahead of a contest at the Vicente Calderon.
As ever, Twitter has also been the vehicle for various controversies.
At the beginning of the month Rio Ferdinand received a three-match ban for using an offensive word on the social media side. The ex-England defender wasn’t slow to express his disgust at the punishment, whereas Bleacher Report’s Patrick Barclay believed Ferdinand’s comments merited sanctions.
Similarly, Mario Balotelli has also courted controversy for an offensive post.
It remains to be seen how Liverpool’s out-of-sorts Italy forward will be punished for an image he posted on his Instagram account.
As described by The Telegraph: “Balotelli posted and then swiftly deleted an image on his Instagram page depicting the computer game character ‘Super Mario’ alongside a racial stereotype and anti-Semitic remark – "jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew".
The ex-Milan man may have deleted the post, but he may be set to face retrospective punishment from the FA.
Remarkably (and disappointingly) Balotelli’s thoughtless post came shortly after Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan had been called-out for his own anti-Semitic comments.
In a month that ended with Leeds United chairman Massimo Cellino being forced to resign, via BBC Sport, having failed the “fit and proper person's” test, it’s hard to see how Whelan can continue in his post.
The veteran owner received an FA charge for commenting that “Jews do chase money” and for defending the use of the term “chink” as a descriptive term for a Chinese person.
The FA reported at the end of the month that Whelan had been charged for the comments he made to the media.
The governing body’s statement reads as follows:
"It is alleged the Wigan Athletic chairman breached FA Rule E3[1] in that his comments were abusive and/or insulting and/or constitute improper conduct and/or bring the game into disrepute.
It is further alleged that this is an ‘Aggravated Breach’ as defined by FA Rule E3[2] as it included a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief.
Mr Whelan has until 6pm on 5 December 2014 to respond to the charge.
"
Whelan’s comments and, one can assume by his defence, his opinions, surely have no place in modern sport. The perception of the chairman has also been impacted by his decision to appoint Malky Mackay—himself already under investigation for allegedly sending a racist text and making anti-Semitic comments.
Not only does the situation mean an uncertain future for Whelan at Wigan, it also once again brings unhappy narratives to the forefront of sports coverage.
Hopefully, next month’s report on the villain of the month can be written without referring to another racist controversy.
