Source: Daily_Mail
Piers Morgan: You can't defend the indefensible, Arsene
My worst experience as an Arsenal fan came not with a loss but with a piece of blatant cheating. It was February 1999 and we were playing Sheffield United in the FA Cup. United kicked the ball into touch to allow an injured player to be treated but when Ray Parlour threw it back to them a minute later, Kanu sprinted to intercept, crossed to Overmars in the box, the Dutchman scored and the referee had no choice but to allow the goal.
There was an embarrassed disquiet around the home supporters at Highbury, an uncomfortable feeling that grew into disgust as the game reached its conclusion with a win for Arsenal and the full ramifications of what we had done hit home.
I was so angry I rang the BBC's 606 phone-in and ranted for 10 minutes on air about how revolting it was to see my team do such an unspeakable act. But by the time I had finished my diatribe, Arsene Wenger was already publicly requesting a rematch (which happened). And so my blind fury was replaced by profound pride that our manager had shown such sportsmanship when I suspect many bosses in his shoes might have tried to get away with it.
Wenger, despite our recent differences of opinion over his transfer policy, has always struck me as a thoroughly decent, principled and honest man. He does not betray his players in public, so can be prone to misdemeanour myopia from time to time.
But I have never had him down as someone who would tolerate cheating.
Which is why I find his public rage at Eduardo's two-match ban so surprising. Of course, it is unfair that the Croat gets a ban when most divers get away scot-free. Of course, it is even more unfair that UEFA have said they are not going to review other culprits the same way, thus making an absurd scapegoat of Eduardo when there are far worse exponents of the triple-toe-loop art playing every week.
Of course, it is INSANELY unfair that the man who nearly ended Eduardo's career with a wild, leg-breaking haymaker of a tackle got an almost identical sentence, as if the two offences were of the same ilk.
But I have watched the clip from every angle numerous times now and it is quite clear Eduardo went down like a sack of spuds when the keeper never touched him - and he did so with the obvious intention of conning the referee into awarding a penalty. I don't buy Wenger's suggestion that it is 'inconclusive' or that Eduardo may have been trying to avoid another injury.
What he did, Arsene, is cheating. Pure and simple. Not the worst example I have seen this season but still cheating. So to rail at the burning injustice of it all is rather missing the point.
The reality of modern sport is that as more and more money has piled in, so the amount of unacceptable gamesmanship and downright corruption has accelerated.
Cricketers have thrown games for cash from bookies, Formula One has just been hit by race-fixing charges, rugby's mired in fake blood sleaze, golfers have been accused of deliberately misplacing their balls, athletics is consumed with steroid abuse and so on.
Almost every sport is infested with this poison of some sort.
With the disastrous consequence being that young people are hard-pressed not to conclude that the only way to win at sport is to bend the rules. This has to stop. And the only way I see the situation changing is if sport's governing bodies do what seems to be happening now and clamp down so heavily on cheats that it deters others from even thinking about it. If that means the likes of Eduardo get hammered 'unfairly', then so be it.
Obviously, I would prefer if it was Saint Wayne 'I never cheat' Rooney, whose fall against Arsenal to win United's penalty last week was just as suspicious. And I cannot believe that winking toerag, Ronaldo, has left this country without ever being brought to book for penalty area dives that made Tom Daley look second-rate.
Nor can I stomach the manager who let them do this, Sir Alex Ferguson, sticking his big nose into the debate to claim some fatuous high moral ground as he did yesterday. But I do not think the correct response for aggrieved Gooners is to whinge about how unfair it all is. Cheating is unfair, period. So please do not keep defending the indefensible Arsene because, well, it is indefensible. You were right in 1999 and you are wrong now.
What's Roman going to spend his money on now? You have got to laugh at Chelsea's ban on signing anyone for two transfer windows for tapping up a teenager.
For a man like Roman Abramovich to be prevented from squandering tens of millions of pounds every few months on footballers is like barring Paris Hilton from going to parties or from Gordon Ramsay swearing - it is going to drive him absolutely bonkers.
Russian oligarchs do not take kindly to being told what
they can and cannot do, especially when it comes to spending money. So I think we can safely assume dear old Roman will accept this ruling in the same kind of calm, quiet way Vladimir Putin took Georgia challenging his authority.
Prepare for some very loud eruptions in the King's Road area of west London and loud cries of pain emanating from Comrade Peter Kenyon's office as The Boss shows his appreciation for this development in time-honoured Moscow fashion.
More worryingly for Blues fans, Chelsea's trophy aspirations will be severely dented by this, particularly if they suffer a few injuries to key players like Drogba, Lampard or Terry. Carlo Ancelotti must be spitting Italian blood all over his Prada shoes.
But Chelsea have only got themselves to blame. For years the so-called 'big' clubs have behaved like bullies when it has come to tracking, enticing and snaring young talent from lesser teams.
They have all been at it but, as with Eduardo and his diving, it is Chelsea who have been caught and singled out for severe punishment after a pretty outrageous breach of the rules.
And hopefully it will, again as with Eduardo, send the firm message to other offenders that this widespread malpractice must end right now.
PS
Matt Le Tissier was not the only top player who tried to cash in on the introduction of spread betting by booting the ball straight into touch at the start of a match.
Another very famous footballer told me he did this frequently in collusion with rival players until the bookies cottoned on to what was happening.
This scam merchant also used to plan his Christmas and New Year break every year by working his way carefully to four yellow cards by mid-December, then getting himself booked or sent off in time to be suspended for the festive period.
Now have your say...Thank you for reiterating that in these days of vacuous self-obsessed celebrities, Freddie Flintoff is a real hero. As with any really heroic person, he is never boring and that is partly because he lives life properly - enjoying food, drink and occasional high jinks. As far as I am concerned, that adds to his great charisma and I speak as an elderly lady who still recognises a supremely attractive man when I see one! (You, of course are also one and my sister thinks so as well).
M WILLIAMS
Piers says: 'You and your sister sound like women of impeccable taste.'
You boast that you always believed England would beat this 'aura-less' Australia team. All I can say is that we had Lady Luck on our side throughout the series, both in terms of winning the toss and umpiring decisions.
BRIAN SMITH
Piers says: 'I know. Our poor little Aussie friends, how unfair and cruel sport can be sometimes. HA HA HA HA HA HA.'
As a Manchester United supporter of 50 years, I love your rants against them as it means we're winning. You were very quiet last week after we beat you, don't say you've deserted Arsenal for Fergie's team?
DAVE HUTCHINSON
Piers says: 'I'd rather sleep with Beth Ditto than be a United fan. We outplayed you for 90 per cent of that game and everyone knows it. So wind your Manc neck in.'
