Nicklas Bendtner has been handed a one match ban and an £80,000 fine for revealing Paddy Power pants after scoring against Portugal recently, a ludicrous punishment in comparison to other events which threaten to tarnish a thrilling tournament so far.
Controversy has sadly failed to remain on the side-lines so far in these European Championships. Be it racist chanting, fan violence or a handful of German and Portuguese fans showing their sense of humour, Euro 2012 continues to drive the headlines from the pitch and back to another mundane UEFA statement.
Even when Bendtner scored the equalising goal against Portugal UEFA once again ensured themselves the back pages. Admittedly Bendtner was wrong to advertise a competing company on his pants, and did break the rules, but the severity of the punishment portrayed the extent to which his pants stunt had riled the hierarchy within UEFA.
Over the past two weeks a number of fines have been dealt, rather like a closing down sale, which probably suggests that UEFA want a sterner image in spite of their rather obvious ineptitude in dealing with the racist and violent problems plaguing the tournament. Russia were fined £96,000 when their fans mauled some Polish stewards earlier in the competition whilst faced another £23,000 penalty for revealing an illicit banner and Croatia, Germany and Portugal have been penalised.
Add to the matter some over exuberance from England fans (as opposed to mindless hooliganism which blighted the 80s and 90s and sorted itself out minus help from FIFA or UEFA and now adds to ‘their’ tournament) and ugly racist abuse from Spanish fans and the UEFA ‘penalty pot’ looks to grow handsomely.
Ignoring the fact that it becomes so much easier to punish the one really responsible in Bendtner’s case; these crimes surely overshadow a sponsorship plea? Not so with UEFA.
UEFA need to take a strong look at themselves and take the blame for once. They wonder why crimes such as racism haven’t evaporated when the fines they hand out are about a quarter of Bentdner’s! Not to mention a dreadful lack of added funding to help combat the problem rather than taking money from the powerless Football Associations responsible.
I mean it isn’t as if UEFA are running low; just look at the sponsors that Paddy Power tries to compete against!
During an age where reports suggest that 40% of the tickets are sold to corporate partners, the Bendtner fine is grotesque yet unsurprising. UEFA seem to have our sport firmly in their grip and are making it an exclusive opportunity to plunder cash for themselves; contradicting their ‘we care about football’ motto somewhat.
For more from Tom please head to Laligablog.com.
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