Soho Square Farce
At last, the suspense is over. The Football Association disciplinary committee, in its infinite wisdom, has seen fit to find Arsene Wenger guilty of improper conduct (again) and imposed a fine of £2,500, coupled with a severe censure. That amounts to a total of £15,000 this season and in the judgement of the F.A. makes the Arsenal manager the biggest recidivist in English football.
How curious it is that the man who, according to numerous reports, the F.A. have long since coveted as manager of their international team, should be characterised as a serial offender, the football equivalent of a hardened criminal. It is a scenario which begs several questions. First, if this urbane, intelligent, honest and articulate Frenchman is to be so regarded, and so charged, what on earth should they charge Jose Mourinho with? Second, in view of Arsenes mounting crimes and the apparent inevitability of his guilt in the eyes of officialdom, why doesnt the F.A. save on the costs of the hearings by agreeing an annual fee that could simply be paid in instalments by monthly direct debit? And finally, in the light of the disparity between its extraordinarily harsh treatment of Arsene Wenger and the astonishing clemency ritually shown to the manager of Chelsea, whose antics are widely regarded as appalling and deeply embarrassing, when is the F.A. disciplinary committee going to charge itself with bringing the game into disrepute?
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