Posts Tagged ‘Self Defence’

Said & Done: Another world-improving week from Fifa

Another world-improving week from Fifa; Karren Brady living the dream; plus the latest from Gigi Becali

Man of the week: artless

Fifa vice-president Julio Grondona says Maradona’s attack on journalists was artless. “Many journalists ask insidious questions but that doesn’t excuse it. Outbursts happen, but you need to be rational when dealing with the media, be serene, and not cause offence.” Sepp Blatter: “As president of Fifa, it is my duty to refer this to our disciplinary committee.”
• 2003: Julio Grondona responds to a journalist’s question about referee standards in Argentina by saying: “I do not believe a Jew can ever be a referee at this level. It’s hard work and, you know, Jews don’t like hard work.” (“Julio’s a monumental man!” says Sepp. “We are friends for ever.”)

Hugh pride

Also new from Sepp: “huge pride” in Fifa’s “humanitarian” focus at the 2010 World Cup. “We resolved to instigate a range of projects designed to aid the entire African continent. Funding for the initiative runs to $70m. We’re providing a firm foundation which we hope Africa will build on, making significant progress for the future. Football is a force for change.”
$184m: Fifa’s single year profit for 2008 from an income of just under
$1bn. Fifa’s anticipated World Cup income: $3.2bn.

Mr Football

Best self-defence: Harry on abuse from Portsmouth fans: “I can’t worry about nutters. You’re supposed to stay in the same job for 50 years of your life? It doesn’t work that way, not in football. People who abuse me need their heads looking at.” (May 2008: “Portsmouth is my club – I feel an immense sense of loyalty and unfulfilled ambition. I could have gone to Newcastle, but I would have felt a great sense of betrayal . So they’re stuck with me now. This will be my last job in football.”)

Shackles: free

• August, Notts County chief exec Peter Trembling: “Ian MacParland’s a good coach – a very, very good coach. Potentially a great coach. He’s enjoying the job: he’s thriving on this opportunity. He’s had a lot of criticism in the past but before now he has been working in this league with two arms tied behind his back – but now the shackles are free.”
• October: Sacks him.

So farewell

Sad to be moving on: Karren Brady – famous for attacking excessive salaries “how do you motivate a player on £26k a week?”, reluctance to sign “older players looking for a pay day – they end up bankrupting you” and warning greed could drive clubs out of business. Brady’s exit package to leave Birmingham : £1m, including £780k in bonuses, plus health care and a free mobile phone. “I’ve loved living the football life,” says Brady, “but now I need a rest.”

Out of respect

September, Robinho: “Barcelona are a great club. It is a beautiful city and I like Spain a lot. Who would not want to play for them? No player could say no.”
October: “Of course I would like to play for Barça. Who would not? We could have so much fun. It is an honour that they want me: it fills my heart with pride.”
Last week: “Let me make one thing clear: I will not talk about a hypothetical transfer, out of respect for Manchester City.”

Number crunching

£300,000: Amount Accrington Stanley raised from donations, fundraisers and a loan to stave off a winding-up order.
£410,000: Richard Scudamore’s bonus for negotiating the last £2.7bn Premier League TV deal, added to £590k basic and £213k pension contribution in 2007.

Journalists: idiots

August, Emmanuel Eboue: “It is an honour to be linked with Barcelona. It means I am valued. There are rumours about Fiorentina too. Let us
wait and see.”
October, Emmanuel Eboue: “I am upset with all these links. All summer it was Fiorentina. Where do they get it all from? I’m fine at Arsenal. I love this club!”

Still got it

New last week from Steaua Bucharest owner, Gigi Becali: indictment on charges of illegal detainment after kidnapping three men he claimed stole his car. Previous best Gigi moments: wins a European parliament seat on a pledge to create “enclosed neighbourhoods for gays … Gays are sin!”; commissions a reproduction of the Last Supper with himself as Christ; calls a black TV presenter an “ape”; says women “have no more value” after giving birth; and sacks Turkish coach Yuksel Yesilova for “being too Muslim”. “I am not,” says Gigi, “a civilised man.”

Jane Austen news

Argentine glamour model Melina Pitra – who revealed last week why being “immobilised in bed” with ropes is “the natural order” for a lady – says she will marry “sweetheart” Las Palmas keeper Fabian Assman. “Our physical love is based on respect. Sometimes he requires the back door, and I respect that. What a romance this is!”

Hughes defends Bellamy after FA issues warning over conduct

• Referee told FA he would not have sent Bellamy off
• Neville ‘reminded of his responsibilities’ by FA

Craig Bellamy and Gary Neville have both received warnings from the Football Association following incidents during Manchester City’s 4-3 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

The FA launched an investigation after the Manchester City striker Bellamy shoved his hand into the face of a fan who invaded the Old Trafford pitch. Neville, a non-playing Manchester United substitute, was also investigated for his actions in celebrating the home side’s winner by running down the touchline towards the City fans after Michael Owen’s scored deep into injury-time.

The FA has decided against charging either player with improper conduct but the referee, Martin Atkinson, told FA officials that he would not have sent off Bellamy had he seen the incident.

A statement released by the FA said: “The FA has today warned both Manchester City’s Craig Bellamy and Manchester United’s Gary Neville following separate incidents in Sunday’s fixture at Old Trafford.

• Poll: Should the FA have banned Bellamy?
• In pictures: An explosive Manchester derby
• Bellamy acted in self-defence, says Hughes

“In relation to Craig Bellamy the match referee has confirmed that he would not have sent the player off had he seen the incident with the fan at the time. Craig Bellamy will be contacted by the FA and warned as to his future conduct.

“The FA would repeat its previous advice that players should not become involved with or approach fans in such circumstances. The FA would also take this opportunity to remind fans, managers and players of their joint responsibility towards the game and strongly condemns any pitch invasions by fans.

“Gary Neville has been reminded of his responsibilities following his actions after Manchester United’s final goal deep into injury time.”

United have also avoided any disciplinary action after the City substitute Javier Garrido was struck on the head by a coin as he headed down the tunnel at half-time.

“The FA has also contacted Manchester United regarding a coin-throwing incident during the same fixture. The FA fully expects the club to use all available means to identify and deal with the culprit appropriately and, along with the fan who entered the field of play, look to issue bans on attending future matches.”

Jury clears Gerrard of affray

• Liverpool star ‘unwise’ to get involved, judge says
• Fans gather outside court to cheer ‘Stevie G’ verdict

It took a jury less than 90 minutes today to clear Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard of affray even though he admitted punching a man three times in a bar.

Gerrard maintained that he had acted in self-defence during the brawl at the Lounge Inn in Southport last December, which was triggered by a row over control of music.

Gerrard, 29, had wanted to pick the music in the bar, but Marcus McGee, who was in charge of the CD player, refused his request. The trial was told that although McGee, 34, did not throw any punches, the player believed he was about to be hit.

Earlier in the evening, the England international and his friends had seemed to be in high spirits, singing and dancing as they celebrated a crushing victory over Newcastle United.

Minutes after he had been rebuffed by McGee, the footballer approached him as he sat on a barstool. John Doran, Gerrard’s friend, elbowed McGee in the face, making him reel backwards and forwards. Fearing that he was about to be attacked, Gerrard landed three uppercuts on his face.

During the trial, he apologised for what had happened. Around 100 supporters gathered outside court today and cheered as Gerrard left the building.

Gerrard said: “I would like to put this case behind me now and I am really looking forward to the season ahead and concentrating on football now.”

Judge Henry Globe, recorder of Liverpool, told Liverpool crown court after the verdict that the football player “could walk away with his reputation intact”.

The judge told Gerrard that in hindsight it “may have been unwise of you” to approach Marcus McGee following the trivial disagreement.

“However, that is far from saying you were criminally responsible for the violence that thereafter erupted.”

The judge said when the violence commenced the victim and his partner Gina Lond, who was standing nearby, thought that Gerrard had started it. Gerrard himself had initially thought McGee was the first person to deliver a blow.

“The CCTV evidence obtained later demonstrated conclusively that you were all mistaken,” the judge noted. The judge said the verdict was credible and the jury had demonstrably paid close attention to the full facts of the case.

Six of Gerrard’s friends, two of whom are Accrington Stanley players, will be sentenced next month after pleading guilty to charges of affray or threatening behaviour in connection with the brawl.

Having twice rejected the lure of Chelsea’s riches, “Stevie G”, as he is universally known to the red half of Liverpool, epitomises the one-club player, the local boy made good who has tried to maintain his links to the Bluebell estate in Huyton, where he grew up.

During the trial he appeared to well up as a statement from Kenny Dalglish was read out in court. “He is a very humble man,” the former Liverpool star said, who was “not the archetypal footballer” and had “never forgotten his roots”.

But the England midfielder’s evident puzzlement, then anger, at the man who, in the words of the prosecution, dared to “say no” to Steven Gerrard betrayed the fact he could never be one of the lads.

Jon Holmes, the veteran football agent whose clients have included David Beckham, said: “Their relationship with their community and the world they’re from has changed enormously. The irony is that Gerrard is probably better connected to his community than others.”

Former Chelsea player Pat Nevin said that there have always been punch-ups and drunken incidents involving playersdown the years, but in the past they were less likely to make the papers.

“It existed when I was playing and probably before that. You had those whose heads were turned by the fame and the money, even when the money was just twice the average wage,” he said.

“You also have to think about the way society treats these players. They are treated like gods and they are ordinary people. If you treat them like gods you will be disappointed.”

Gerrard apologises for punching man in Merseyside bar brawl

England footballer admits throwing blow in row over music but says he was acting in self-defence

The Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard claimed today he had been acting in self-defence when he punched a man in a row over music.

The England international told Liverpool crown court that he punched Marcus McGee three times during a clash at a bar in Southport.

He said that he had struck the man “to defend myself”, fearing he was about to be hit by McGee. Gerrard, 29, who denies affray, said that, at the time, he was unaware one of his friends, John Doran, had landed the first blow, elbowing McGee in the face.

“I thought he was going to hit me,” Gerrard said.

“He was on his way forward to me and his behaviour had changed from when I was having a discussion with him. I didn’t know why.”

Asked how he felt now, the footballer added: “I am certainly mistaken in thinking he was coming towards me to throw punches at me. Now I know, obviously, he had been struck, reacted and thought the strike was by me and he came into me and that’s when I reacted.

“I am sorry about the whole incident.”

Gerrard denied that he had lost control on the night of the fight.

He had been drinking at the Lounge Inn in Southport to celebrate a 5-1 victory over Newcastle earlier that day. The footballer had been drinking Budweiser and a sweet liqueur drink called a Jammy Donut shot, estimating his level of drunkenness as seven out of 10. Gerrard remained calm and quietly spoken as he gave evidence, repeatedly sipping a glass of water as he stood in the witness box.

“It was very difficult at the time to explain to the police why I did throw the first blows. But it was because I was arguing and I felt as if Marcus was coming forward to hit me.”

He told the jury he had been used to people “mithering” him and he was usually able to smooth things over.

Gerrard said he suffered “a lot of mither” at traffic lights, shopping centres, bars and restaurants and the comments can be “derogatory or insulting”.

He admitted calling McGee “a prick” to one of his friends when he refused to change the music.

During the conversation with McGee, 34, he claimed the man swore at him, saying: “You are not putting no fucking music on here.”

Gerrard said a member of staff at the bar had given him permission to choose music from a CD player that his alleged victim was operating.

A card that controlled the music was snatched from his hand by McGee, he said.

“I couldn’t understand why the guy had such a problem with me, why he was so aggressive,” he said.

Gerrard said that when he went over to speak to McGee for a second time, he had no intention of having a fight but wanted to “smooth things over”.

Gerrard told the court he had a conviction for drink-driving when he was 19 but had not been in any other trouble with the police.

Gerrard welled up with tears as a statement from Liverpool legend Kenny

Dalglish was read out. Dalglish described Gerrard as “not the archetypal footballer. He does not like to move in movie star circles.”

He described him as “quiet” and “very private.” Despite his wealth, Dalglish said, Gerrard has “never forgotten his roots.”

“He is a very respectful man who has always behaved to senior players in a respectful way,” Dalglish said. “He is a very humble man.”

Dalglish, who had earlier met Gerrard on the night of the incident, said he had been with a group of boys who were “normal, polite, eating sushi and enjoying themselves”.

The footballer said Gerrard had become involved in his wife Marina’s charity for breast cancer and had been a guest of honour at a Hillsborough memorial match.

William Bygroves, the chaplain at Liverpool football club, said in a statement he had known Gerrard since he was a youth. “I have seen him mature into a kind, mature, generous, community minded family man.”

The chaplain said Gerrard had shown interest in those less fortunate than himself.

Bygroves said Gerrard was always generous when meeting children at Alder Hey children’s hospital and had worked on an anti-racism campaign with Gee Walker, the mother of murder victim Anthony Walker.

He described Gerrard as a warm-hearted genuine person.

Cross-examined by David Turner QC, for the prosecution, Gerrard was asked to show the jury how he hit McGee. He gently lifted his right arm to demonstrate the uppercut.

Asked by Turner if he was sickened by what he did, Gerrard replied: “I am certainly sorry.”

The jurors are expected to be sent out to consider their verdict tomorrow.