Proving that a player has deliberately got himself booked is always difficult. But such behaviour must be punished because it is, essentially, cheating.
Cristiano Ronaldo was booked for dissent in the final moments of Portugal’s 1-1 draw against Israel last week so was suspended for last night’s game against Luxembourg. He will now be eligible for Portugal’s World Cup play-offs next month.
No one can say for certain whether Ronaldo acted inappropriately but his post-match comments were quite revealing.
“I can’t talk about that [booking],” said Ronaldo, seconds before basically talking about that booking.
“FIFA are always very attentive to those situations. The play-off is the most important and I don’t want to be out. I will be at those two matches.”
So, essentially, he did it deliberately. Did the “attentive” FIFA act? Of course they did not, announcing yesterday “there were not enough elements to open any disciplinary proceedings”.
David Beckham admitted he got booked on purpose against Wales in 2004, knowing he would miss the next game anyway because he was carrying an injury, the Football Association comically declared there was “insufficient evidence” to charge him with bringing the game into disrepute.
But what did Beckham say at the time? “It was deliberate. I am sure some people think that I have not got the brains to be that clever but I do have the brains.”
A clear admission of cheating was deemed insufficient for punishment. And what did FIFA do?
“This matter is being left to the FA to deal with — FIFA will not take any action,” said a spokesman.
Of course. It’s little wonder Ronaldo had no need to worry.
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