Diafra Sakho Injustice

Injustice 

noun

1. an unjust act

2. the practice of being unjust or unfair

FA Cup 4th Round - Bristol City v West Ham United

On Saturday 25th January 2015, Bristol City of League 1 (third tier of the English Football League)

Diafra Sakho Scores v Bristol City
 FA Cup 4th Round

hosted West Ham United of the Premier League (top tier of the English Football League) in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The score stood at 0 - 0 in the 57th minute when West Ham made a substitution, bringing on Diafra Sakho as a replacement for Enner Valencia. The game progressed and the score remained goalless until the 81st minute when Diafra Sakho rose in the box to head home a cross from Andy Carroll. With the score at 0 - 1, the Hammers held on to win the match and progress to the fifth round of the knockout competition. A not too unremarkable story with the possibly expected result of a Top Flight team beating one from the lower leagues.

No doubt, the Bristol City fans went home slightly disgruntled that their team had been narrowly beaten, but happy that they had made a good fist of it, holding a Premier League team to 0 - 0 until late in the game. However, the fallout from that goal not only affects the Robins of Bristol, but also has deep ramifications for the rest of the footballing world.

FIFA's Rules & Regulations

FIFA Regulations for the
Status and Transfer Of Players

FIFA, the international organisation responsible for the governance of the game of football throughout the world, has, as would befit the status of a world governing body, many rules and regulations with which it controls the sport. From the dimensions of the pitch, to how the game is played, to how national associations conduct themselves, each and every aspect of how the sport of football is run is covered. Given that the players themselves are probably the most important element of the game, there are certain regulations which control their role in the game. One of these sets of regulations is "Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players". The rationale behind this document is self-evident from the title  and the directives contained therein are very specific on the contractual obligations of clubs and national associations on how they deal with players:

There are now many international competitions in which national teams compete. The World Cup, The European Championships, The Asian Cup, The Africa Cup of Nations, etc. are regular tournaments involving national teams from around the world. Players are called up for international duty by their national associations and the regulations quoted above place obligations on football clubs on the release of players in order to compete in these contests. In the FIFA document "Commentary on the Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players", Annexe 1 clarifies the clubs' obligations:

In other words, if a player is called up to play in an international tournament, a club MUST release that player. This is further clarified in the "Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players":

The player is prohibited from playing for his club during the time of release for international duty; this is detailed in Annexe 1, Article 5 of the Regulations, Restrictions on Playing:

Failure to comply with these regulations will result in disciplinary sanctions on the club and player as set down in Annexe 1, Article 6:

The above is unequivocal in that a club is obliged to release a player for international duty. Failure to do so will ensure that a player is ineligible to play for their club during the timeframe of the release; if he plays for his club in that time, the club shall lose any points gained or lose a cup match by default.

Diafra Sakho

The West Ham United player, Diafra Sakho, was called up for international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations by Senegal on 18th December 2014. On 7th January 2015, twelve days before the tournament started, Sakho withdrew from Senegal's squad citing a back injury. Under the regulations discussed above, this would mean that, for the duration of Senegal's involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations, Sakho could not play for the Hammers. With Senegal knocked out of the tournament on 27th January, Sakho should not have been selected to play for West Ham in any capacity up to that date...but he was.

The teamsheet had Sakho chosen as a substitute for the Premier League team to play in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 25th January 2015 at Ashton Gate. In the 81st minute, he leaped like a gazelle, headed the ball goalwards, landed on one foot and wheeled away to celebrate scoring the winner.

Anyone who has ever hurt their back knows to complete such a feat would have had such a jarring force on their body that the pain would have been excruciating. Back injury! What back injury?

FIFA Sanctions

Quite rightly, Bristol City called "foul" and complained that, due to FIFA's own rules and regulations, West Ham United should not have fielded Diafra Sakho in any capacity for their 4th round FA Cup tie. Furthermore, the Premier League side should be made to forfeit the match, allowing the League 1 side to compete in the next round. This complaint was heard by FIFA who, having carefully given the Bristol City argument some cogitation, went totally against the organisation's own reasoning and imposed a fine on West Ham United and allowed the result to stand. This fine was for the sum of £71,000, a relatively paltry amount in the face of the sums of money most Premier League clubs have at their disposal; when one considers the fact that west Ham were awarded £90,000 in prize money for winning the game, the club is still £19,000 up on the deal.

Ramifications

The point at issue here is that, despite FIFA's rules and regulations being explicit in how the game of football should be governed throughout the world, when it comes to administering justice, FIFA baulks at enforcing its own laws. Would the verdict and punishment have been different if it had been Bristol City, the lower league club, which had broken the rules? As a Swindon Town fan of some years longstanding, I could point to injustice inflicted on my club with the punishment meted out for flouting FA financial rules disproportionate compared to the Top Flight teams caught doing the same (see Financial Irregularities). Therefore, I think the answer to the question posed previously would probably be "yes". 

I have heard from Bristol City fans who would rather not be given the chance to continue to compete in the FA Cup and prefer for their team to concentrate on the league. With both our West Country clubs chasing for promotion from League 1, I can understand the sentiment behind this thought. However, the thin end of the wedge is on display here and if Bristol City, do not appeal FIFA's ruling, such injustice will continue to be the norm when the decision is between a Premier League club and one from the lower leagues.

BBC - Swindon Town ARE Top of League 1

Who Really Killed JFK?

Do UFO's Exist?

Conspiracy theories abound, from the existence of UFO's, to how many people were involved in the assassination of JFK, to did Man actually land on the moon? The debate on these topics can help while away the long, cold hours of a boring night shift or help the slightly inebriated nurse that final pint before last orders down the pub. However, there has been one aspect of the football news that has had me wondering why the BBC is loathe to give credit where credit is due. Is there a conspiracy among the the BBC personnel to play down the great season Swindon Town are having in League 1?

Swindon Town - Top of the League!

Swindon Town's latest run of good results has seen them overtake their West Country rivals Bristol City to top the League 1 table. Although level on points, Swindon Town are above Bristol City on merit by the virtue of a better goal difference. The "Goal Difference Rule" was introduced into English football for the 1976 - 1977 season and is the difference between the goals scored and goals conceded for a team. The League 1 Table above shows that, as of 24th January 2015, although both teams had 54 points, Swindon Town's goal difference stood at +27, whilst that of Bristol City was +26. Therefore, by virtue of having a better goal difference by +1, Swindon Town are worthy table-toppers. Why, then, does the BBC insist that there are joint leaders of League 1?

The football League Show

Football Focus

During "The Football League Show" aired on Saturday 17th January 2015, Manish Bhasin stated, wrongly, that Swindon Town and Bristol City were "joint top". Then , today, on BBC's Football Focus, Kevin Kilbane made a similar mistake in his statement saying that the two clubs were joint leaders. Perhaps the BBC needs to send its employees on a GCSE Mathematics course so that they can add and subtract? Then, Swindon Town Football Club will get the recognition and praise that it deserves...hopefully!

The Most Exciting Title Race is...Not in the Premier League!

The world's attention may be focused on the two-horse race for the over-hyped, over-priced and under-English-represented Premier League, but a glance down the lower reaches of the English football pyramid will highlight the more exciting and competitive nature of football supported by the majority of fans in England. The race for the Championship title is bubbling along nicely, with the top five or six teams still in contention for automatic promotion. League 2 is more open still with seven or eight teams in with a shout of promotion halfway through the season. However, being a Swindon Town fan, I would like to focus on League 1 and assess the title race that sees, at Christmas, four clear contenders for the two automatic promotion places up for grabs at the end of the season.

The graph below shows the progress of the top four teams of League 1 since the start of the season - the dates denote the days when any particular match was played in the league and each of the four teams' position on that date after the matches were played.

Scrumpy the Robin (Bristol City)

Bristol City would appear to be the clear favourites, but with 45 points before the matches to be played on Sunday 28th December 2014, the club is only one point ahead of the three clubs below them in League 1. However, the Bristol "Robins" have held top spot since September and hung on to it tenaciously despite defeats to promotion rivals Swindon Town and Preston North End. 

Rockin' Robin (Swindon Town)

Sunday's games may well see a change at the top. with the leaders away to Gillingham, a team that has started to find a rich vein of form. Nothing short of a win will be good enough for City as MK Dons, who still have a game in hand to play, are at home to Walsall, who sit currently 15th in League 1 and who were beaten at home on Boxing Day 1 - 4 by Swindon Town. The Swindon "Robins" face Port Vale at home with the visitors to the County Ground 12th in the league. Preston North End go to Crewe to play a team who are the only other side to beat the leaders Bristol City (1 - 0 on 20.12.14) and who won on Boxing Day away to Oldham Athletic (1 - 2).

If the current top four teams are still in contention come the Easter fixtures, then Swindon Town's two games at that time (Good Friday and Easter Monday) could be pivotal to the decision on who finishes top of the league. On Friday 3rd April 2015, Swindon Town are home to MK Dons and on Monday 6th April, they face Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Those six points may prove crucial to the decision on which two teams are promoted automatically to the Championship and who lifts the trophy as League 1 Champions on the final day of the season proper on Sunday 3rd May 2015 

The Gas - Escapologists!

My blog post of 27th December 2012 ("BBC Points West Sport - Swindon is in Your Region!") included a gloat at the misfortunes of the two rival clubs to Swindon Town from down the M4 in Bristol; City and Rovers. At the time of writing, whilst Bristol City are still locked in a relegation dogfight and are bottom of the Championship, Bristol Rovers, "The Gas", have hauled themselves to mid-table (15th) and look to have given themselves a great chance of avoiding the perilous drop from league to non-league football. I have, therefore, decided to eat my humble pie now and give a congratulatory nod to the man who has turned Rovers' season around - John Ward.

Appointed on 17th December 2012, this is his second stint with "The Pirates", a club with which he has had some success in the past. His first spell with the blue half of the West Country city saw him in charge of the team from 1993 to 1996, having won promotion from the then Third Division to the Second with York City the previous season (1992/93). Relegated at the end of the 1992/93 season, he came close to gaining promotion from the Third Division when he took Rovers to Wembley in the play off final in 1995, only to lose to Huddersfield Town 2 - 1. At the end of the following season, Ward was sacked and replaced by the  irrepressible Ian Holloway.

Since then, he has developed his managerial career having been in charge at rivals Bristol City (promoted to First Division), Wolverhampton Wanderers, Cheltenham Town (promoted to League 1), Carlisle United and Colchester United before returning to the Memorial Ground. His appointment has had a galvanising effect at the club and he must surely be given a new contract when his current one expires at the end of the season. If the Bristol Rovers board decide to dispense with his services, I can see him having a successful career in leading motivational seminars. Let's face it, anyone who has managed to get a football club from what seemed at Christmas an impossible position at the foot of the league, where the team couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo, to where they are now, must have a magical way of instilling confidence into a group of individuals and get them to work as a team.