The good and bad aspects of sports

Last weekend saw the tragic running over of a Genoa fan by the coach carrying the Fiorentina players. While first of all wishing him a quick and full recovery, one has to wonder what was he doing next to the coach kicking it and throwing stuff. All this because Fiorentina clinched a dramatic equaliser late in extra-time and the referee was blamed for not having done his job well. Even if this was the case, which it clearly wasn't, there is no excuse for all this exasperation, not only after last Sunday's game but generally. There is a sense of malaise enveloping Italian football and this should be quickly eradicated. It was done in England, where nowadays one sees whole families going to watch a football match but unfortunatly this is not always the case with Italian football. For the good of all, especially true football lovers, a plausible solution should be found and implemented. Italian sports programs have an important role to play in this aspect, where they should stop playing ad nauseum all the decisions taken by referees. Sometimes even the 'experts' themselves in the program do not have a uniform opinion regarding a decision taken. This in the light that the referee only has a split-second to take a decision. One must accept that mistakes are made by everyone in football, starting from club presidents who do not choose the appropriate coach and player/s, the players themselves and referees too.



Also shocking was the decision not to allow the Israeli player Shahar Peer to take part in the Dubai Open tournament. After the initial and understandable uproar, since it is a well-known fact the the Arab countries aren't big friends with Israel, especially following the recent 3-week Gaza conflict, it has been stated that the decision was taken for sporting reasons; these being because of local opinion following the Gaza conflict, the risk of a spectator boycott and a potential to the well-being of the player. As Peer herself stated, she is not representing her government but is simply a tennis player who wants to be able to play the sport that she loves.



Sports events are usually trumpeted and used as a means of unifying people and countries and for fund-raisers, but unfortunatly as can be seen above, this is not always the case.



A well-deserved congrats goes to Alex Del Piero, who shall shortly become dad for a second time and a very big good luck goes to Newcastle's coach Kinnear, who shall be undergoing a triple bypass operation.