Opinion article on the Adebayor stamp incident

Is it just me, or was Emmanuel Adebayor’s horror stamp on his ex-team mate, Robin Van Persie, one of the most disgraceful events the Premier League has witnessed in years? It’s not just the fact that he deliberately targeted a player with the intention of hurting him; it’s the fact that they were strike partners and supposed friends only a few months before. Adebayor also made an x-rated lunge that could have broken the leg of Arsenal captain, Cesc Fabregas, leaving him with a nasty three-inch gash on his shin. So what could Van Persie have done wrong that infuriated the Togo forward so much that he had to stud him in the face – severely cutting his cheek and only a few centimetres from potentially blinding him in one eye. It’s common assault, there’s no doubt about it. If an incident like that were to happen down the high street, you’re looking at serving time in jail. So what gives footballers the right to deliberately injure somebody and get away with it? I’m sure John Johnson from Peterborough wouldn’t argue too much if he was shown a red card by police officers and banned from entering a nightclub for three days after kicking somebody in the face on a night out. I wonder what would happen if the police began to prosecute footballers for deliberately injuring players? Maybe that’s a step too far, but it would be interesting to see if the level of serious foul play was reduced if players knew that they could be heavily fined, be made to do community service or even land themselves in prison for punching, elbowing or studding a fellow professional. Adebayor claims that his ‘stamp’ was accidental, but it hasn’t stopped the Football Association (F.A) from slapping a three-match ban on his head, and rightly so. Perhaps three matches aren’t even enough. He could, however, find himself suspended for a further three games if the F.A get their way and punish him for his ridiculous attempt to wind-up the travelling Arsenal supporters by running the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal in front of them. Again Adebayor has pleaded his innocence, saying after the game, “The emotion overtook me. A lot had been said and written before the match.” But I suppose in his defence, he did only have 90 yards (perhaps 15 seconds) to decide whether or not to insight a riot – as a result of which a steward was injured. Maybe I’m being harsh on the guy, maybe he did take a lot of stick from the Arsenal fans that once cheered his name, but doesn’t that happen to players week in week out in football at all levels? Adebayor has claimed that a number of the Arsenal players disrespected him before the game by deliberately not shaking his hand. Even if this were true, kung fu surely isn’t the answer, Emmanuel. There are better ways to get your point across than wounding friends that you spent three years of your life with.