Wayne Rooney Swear-Gate: Why the FA Are Wrong to Charge Manchester United Star

Wayne Rooney has been charged by the English Football Association, after swearing into a camera during Manchester United's 4-2 win at West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday.

Rooney had just scored the third goal of his match-winning hat-trick, but he reacted with an over-zealous and ill-advised burst that stole all the attention. It was another example of his immaturity, and another cameo from the heathen within who continues to threaten his legacy.

But should such an act, in isolation, really be punishable by as much as a two-game ban? Or are the FA simply pandering to the hysterical media, and failing to address the real issue here?

I would argue the use of foul language cannot be qualified by whether it appears on air or not. You don't need to be an expert lipreader to recognize that barely a minute goes by in elite football without a rainbow of expletives from the players and coaching staff polluting the stadium.

Rooney made a deliberate attempt to air his unprintables, but what if the network had gone with another camera for the goal celebration? Would he be cleared on the basis that nobody heard what we all know he said?

And what of all the Premier League players this season who've reacted to goals with similar language, benefiting only from the fact their games weren't live on air. Highlights shows cut these things out, but should they be sending tapes of every swear word to FA headquarters?

The way I see there are only two transparent, workable options here. Allow swearing and provide a viewer warning before every Premier League game. Or cleanse foul language from the game altogether.

And I'm with the latter.

People will say that's ridiculous—that the use of foul language is so ingrained in football culture that it's impossible to remove it completely. But I disagree, completely.

When you look at a professional sport like rugby it's abundantly clear that athletes can compete in an intense environment without the need to swear every time a decision goes against them.

My suggestion would be to start booking Premier League players every time they swear. For the first few weeks, it would be carnage. Games would finish with seven players on either team, and the league would be deemed in crisis.

But soon enough the message would get through. And soon enough swearing would be gone from the most watched league in the world. Because players win matches, and matches win money.

Just think of the influence that would have on the game at grassroots level.

I know from experience that young players mimic their heroes. In fact, you can pretty much guarantee somebody will score this weekend in a junior game and do exactly what Rooney did at Upton Park.

If that's not motivation for cleaning up the language in professional football, then I don't know what is.