Football's cheats are getting away with too much

Two Minute Warning

16Apr

Football’s “cheats” are getting away with too much

It was a sickening Sunday if you’re of an Aston Villa or Tottenham persuasion, as two highly controversial decisions helped Manchester United and Chelsea claim precious victories. Shaking their heads in collective disbelief, the Life’s A Pitch panel tries to dissect the greater issues surrounding Ashley Young’s ‘dive’ and referee Martin Atkinson’s decision to award Juan Mata a goal, when TV replays clearly showed the ball hadn’t crossed the line.

Looking back on two contentious penalties awarded to Man Utd in as many weeks for alleged ‘fouls’ on Ashley Young, the Sunday Telegraph’s Duncan White wonders if the England winger will find it hard to shake off his newfound reputation in a hurry. “Young’s in trouble because if your own manager is calling you out, you know you’ve sunk pretty low,” he claims. “The problem for him now is that people will be aware of him, referees will be aware of him, and he won’t win them [penalties] any more, certainly not as easily.”

Contemplating Chelsea’s second goal in their FA Cup semi-final thrashing of Spurs, David Walker of the Sunday Mirror believes that the Blues players should be under the microscope for their own actions, just as much as under-fire referee Martin Atkinson. “John Terry and [Juan] Mata knew it wasn’t over the line,” he says. “Players want the referees to be spot on with every decision, yet they cheat and exploit. They will say it was an act of gamesmanship to get there and that the end justifies the means.”

While conceding that Atkinson’s error was inexplicable, The People’s Tom Hopkinson doesn’t believe the red-faced official should be punished too severely. “I don’t think he [Atkinson] should be banned, that’s too harsh,” explains Tom. “He’s just had a shocker, but you should send him away for a couple of weeks, get him away from the game and maybe bring him back for one game in the Championship or League One before the end of the season to get him back in.”

Watch the full video discussion by clicking on the image play button above.

Related articles:

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Video: “Redknapp’s been found out tactically” ahead of Chelsea semi

Mike Calvin: De Gea busy making long-term plans at Old Trafford

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Watch Man Utd, Chelsea, and Spurs live on BT Vision:
Arsenal v Chelsea, live midday, 21 April, Sky Sports 2
QPR v Spurs, 4.30pm, 21 April, ESPN
Man Utd v Everton, live midday, 22 April, Sky Sports 1
Chelsea v QPR, live 1pm, 29 April, Sky Sports 1
Spurs v Blackburn, live 3.30pm, 29 April, Sky Sports 1
Man City v Man Utd, live 7pm, 30 April, Sky Sports 1

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Comments

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Chivers

Atkinson should be sacked as he also should have sent off Cech for bringing down Adebayor; Cech DID deny him a ‘clear goalscoring opportunity’, it was Bale who scored!
Dennisfeegrade

why cant we have 4 lines men.two top end two bottom end .that might help the ref
Bluey

Idiot the goal was scored. Read the rules mug!!
Stonker

Read the post ‘mug’, Adebayor was denied and didn’t score.
Lorne Greene

They do in the europa and Champions league.
Lorne Greene

Look at the pics here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/chelsea-fa-cup-semifinal-goal-wasn-t-among-194507976.html#more-10857

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/new-picture-emerges-suggesting-chelsea-phantom-goal-v-spurs-did-cross-the-line/

Looking at THESE pictures and NOT the ones from teh lino’s view, it looks as it just crosses the line.

The ref is very well placed but at the speed of the game, you have to be an idiot to think that anyone could tell if this was in or still touching the line.
Most people see the pictures and cant be 100% sure.
Only people whove never even reffed U8 think that this call was a horrible miss.
If he missed it, it was a question of hairs.

The replays I saw on game day where ALL from teh lino side and the only thing that was you could see in the net were the keepers white glove and the defenders white sock.
Bluey

Your a fool as well, the Ref played the advantage and a goal was scored. your both fools, so read the rules of the game!!

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