Soccer and Politics have often crossed swords , and the soccer fraternity most often wants politics to keep it's counsel . Perhaps events last friday could be one of those times when the soccer world need borrow a leaf from it's counterparts in politics.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne is to be prosecuted for allegedly perverting the course of justice owing to a traffic related offence by someone driving his car ( it's possible he was ) . He denies being at the wheels of the car at that exact time ( any offence was committed ) , but his wife Vicky Pryce. The salient point to this analogy is that the Secretary resigned his position immediately the Crown Prosecution Service arrived at an official conclusion to charge him for the alleged offense.
Juxtapose the cases of Secretary Huhne , with that of Captain John Terry , and they may not be similar in terms of the alleged sins of both men , nor the gravity of possible punishment , what we have to take out is :
The politician resigned in order not to be a "distraction" , or a cause of division in running Government ; and yes , i am juxtaposing two different circumstances , and two individuals from two different walks of life, but what Terry ought to have figured out long ago is that once events at Loftus Road touched on matters that could be deemed in the public interest , or an infringement of the laws of the Land for that matter , he was walking on broken glass , and ought to have been prepared to resign as captain of the national team without letting it get to the point where he has been sacked as captain for the second time. Had that cause of action been taken , he would have been in a position of strength and honour , consequently having a bit more leverage in this narrative . It's not the first time, in my opinion , John Terry has made a poor call in this episode.
I cannot say i do not feel for John Terry , he must have been heavily wound-up that afternoon by the fans , and felt raw hurt ; that , and the unjust refreeing decisions , could have sent him into melt down. Still the law says , no excuse . John is London bred through and through , his Chelsea team is an ethnic and cultural melting pot , on those grounds , am inclined to think what happened that afternoon was more animal instinct , rather than a definition of his convictions ( if anything wrong was said ) . I cannot say that much for Luis Suarez....... And before it sounds like i am about to pre-empt a court trial , i hasten to add - let justice take it's course , and be served.
As stated earlier , Terry has made bad calls..... he spent far too much time trying to say he was misquoted, or misheard , rather he should have spent that time protecting his integrity by getting the right sort of people around him ( for starters Rio Ferdinand ) ; do due diligence on the PR side , and rally round the right causes associated with anti-racism at what was , and still is a sensitive period for race relations on the foot-ball side. This should have been done irrespective of whether he said , or did not say the alleged offensive word(s). It would been a testament of his true believes. The decision by Chelsea to get the trial put forward was a bad one , and John Terry ought to have forced the issue , because a summer trial does him no favours , nor the foot-ball fraternity. Had he stood trial long before july , this unsavoury incident would have been put to bed much earlier. All this talk , and further distraction exacerbates tension in communities , stadia , amongst players, and England's hopes of being successful at the Euro championships suffers too.... John Terry , in not dealing with this matter properly has let himself become a controversial and disuniting figure . Everyone has their opinions, but we just sound so much more divided than before all of this happened.
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