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You wanna see my stiff resistance??

hehehe, why didn't Hitler do something about the 1936 Olympics then since it was his own personal Games ? How was it possible for Italy to exert so much pressure in the French WC of '38 ?

Please. Yu clowns missed the 2 previous ones before beiong given an automatic spot for 1998. France would have probably failed to qualify for 1998 as well.

sicko....

just don't headbutt him...

Please spare me North African goats, Arabian millennium-long lack of available maidens and stuff. I'm not in the mood for throwing up:)

he he he. AS much as a lefty as I am, I'd rather be the descendant of right wiongers than cowards and one only needs to glance at history that France has had its share of cowardly-Maxwell moments.

I guess Palo's soliciting the right-wing adoption of himself. He came to the right place:)

he he he

Palo


You're the decendant of a donkey from Tijuana.

Ukraine, Mexico and Canada the unlikely new axis of evil.

of that donkey and your cowardly mother....

>>>>>>>>>>>>> Palo runs before he gets head-butted.

Unlikely is the key word. Ukrainians are too busy stealing whatever's left in the national treasure. Amazingly, they are still unable to reach the bottom. Canadians are too peaceful and spend whatever evil they possess on ice. Mexicans are too busy joining the Great Satan.

France, on the other hand, is the most independent nation on Earth, it has neither friends nor foes, save occasional Bocassa and Saddam. France is always too busy loving herself - not necessarily a bad trait. If her Arabian faux friends learned the most important bedrock of the French civilization - adultery - how much better this world would be:)

he he he

Forza Fench bigamists!!

Just don't tell Bush. He'll be too busy saving poor Mexicans from angry Canadian terrorists hiding out in the Ukraine.

The more likely axis of evil - internet gambling, statues with bare boobs, and college students.

FIFA punishes Zidane, Materazzi

July 20, 2006
ZURICH, Switzerland (Ticker) - France playmaker Zinedine Zidane has been handed a three-match ban and a fine for his World Cup final head-butt on Italy defender Marco Materazzi, who himself has been suspended for two games and fined for provoking the incident.

With Zidane having quit soccer after the World Cup final, the ban is academic, but the 34-year-old instead will spend three days working with world governing body FIFA.

Zidane was fined 7,500 Swiss francs ($6,000) while Materazzi must pay 5000 Swiss francs ($4,000) for the incident, which occurred in extra time of the World Cup final with the match poised at 1-1.

Italy, which had been under pressure before Zidane was sent off, went on to win the final 5-3 on penalties while the France midfielder later complained that Materazzi had provoked him with remarks about his family.

What a joke

So what message is FIFA sending? If you provoke a physical altercation you will get suspened? How do you measure what's offensive to someone else?

Not to mention the 3 match ban on Zidane is worthless due to his reitrement.

LOl, in one of the Swedish papers they had a poll on the issue and eventually the majority thought Zidane's penalty was too harsh and Materazzi's too lenient.


How do you measure what's offensive to someone else?

While that surely can be difficult it is also so that the things being said is deliberately intended to be offensive, isn't it?
Besides, physical violence is not necessarily that bad. There's more than one person in this world who probably has become a better person after a solid spanking.

And looking like Jeremy Roenick's lost twin brother should constitute a crime in itself

The legal question is on what basis is there to discipline Materazzi? Are there rules in place that prohibit players from trash talk? And if so, is it applied to all players in each game? Or is this just another arbitrary and capricious soccer ruling?

Or is this just another arbitrary and capricious soccer ruling?

It's ridiculous. A collaguae told me it and I couldn't believe it. I can hear Pabs screaming, Totti gets four games and Zz three; he should work with kids for three months.

This FIFA ruling is an absolute joke

De Rossi gets a 4 match ban for an elbow during the run of play and Zidane gets three for a violent headbutt that could cause cardiac arrest? FIFA should be ashamed of themselves. This punishment doesn't even affect ZZ because he's retired...its useless. Great message we are sending to kids...its ok to use violence as a response to trash talking...oh and you get to keep your awards too! LMAO

Then, on top of all that, they suspend Materazzi TWO games for trash talking...which they admitted was NOT racial in any way. Excuse me? Is FIFA going to apply this standard in every game all over the world now? Hell no. They just did this to appease the Zidane and to let him save some face. Once again, a horrible double standard against Italians.

FCK them. The Cup is back in Roma where it belongs!

Azzurro wrote:

FCK them. The Cup is back in Roma where it belongs!

FCK them. The Cup is back in Roma where it belongs!

FCK them. The Cup is back in Roma where it belongs!

FCK them. The Cup is back in Roma where it belongs!

Isn't it in Converciano (FIGC HQ outside of Firenze)?

Casati

That's a good question. I know the FIGC has offices in Roma as well as Firenze, so I'm not sure where it is displayed.

I hope the FIGC appeal this absurd decision. Don't let FIFA get away with this garbage.

I'm in 100% agreement with you, Falc. As I stated a week or so back, there is absolutely no precedent for this punishment, and it surely won't happen again in the future. Therefore Marco has a watertight case against the two match ban (one of those matches ironically being against France), given that there also appears to be nothing set in stone in FIFA's rules regarding trash talking.

Just what FIFA are trying to achieve, I can only guess, because I sure as hell don't know what aspect of the game could possibly be improved from a one-off punishment like this. It's not gonna make a fuckin difference.

Mark

Not only that, but Zidane got 3 games?? Symbolically at the very least he should have gotten 8 or so...even though it wouldn't have mattered.

This makes FIFA look horrible..not that they don't already.

I want to see suspensions levied against every player that trash talks from now on....YEAH RIGHT!

What a joke.

You can still trash-talk, for as long as you don't mention Zidane's sister. I actually forgot what I was going to say about FIFA, but I remember it was about Blatter's family (20 generations back) and definitely worth 3 minutes suspension.

He was punished under the "becoming conduct" rules.

He was punished because he stated that he did insult Zidane.

No other player says in the press after a game they've insulted someone.

Unfortunate for him, he had to admit to something to avoid the accusations of racist comments, but it¿s not a with hunt.

Zidane has to be punished. It it not mere symbolism. The truth is that he can always come out of retirement (he had retired from the NT once before) and although it is unlikely that he will, just in case, this is hanging over his head. Now remember that when comparing suspensions handed to Totti with the spitting incident, that punishment was meted out by UEFA as it was a competition under their jurisdiction. So different judge and jury. On the other hand, in comparison to Del Rossi, this makes no sense. He got 4 games. Zidane should have received more. But then, we know the double standards for the superstars. Too bad that Materazzi is not a bleeder like McBride.

And it makes no sense with Materazzi's suspension. Zidane only got one more match? Even if Materazzi said the worst things, even if racial, it does not justify a physical assault. So are words just as harmful as physical contact?

Uaglio, I agree. A headbutt is very serious foul play and warrants more than a three game ban, even if it won't be served. It also would set a precedent, meaning ugly assaults only being given a ban of 1 game more than some much lesser offences.

Ali, I have to take exception to your reasoning there, on a couple of levels:

1) While Materazzi did admit that he'd insulted Zidane, these type of things go on in pretty much every game at every level. If what he did is covered under the "becoming conduct" rules, then surely the referee can punish a player for insulting another while the game is still going on.

I've only ever seen referees punish insults against themselves, not between players. Out of all the trash talking that has ever occurred on the pitch, surely the ref would have overheard at least a few times? Yet, they have never even awarded a foul for such an event, less still a yellow card.

2) Materazzi, as far as I'm aware, has still not stated verbatim what he really said to Zidane. This is important, because without knowing what Marco said, we have little knowledge of the severity of the insult, only Zidane's version of events (and even he wasn't precise in stating exactly what was said).

I mean, if you went to a police station, and said that you'd committed a theft, but didn't specify exactly what you stole (and your "victim" wouldn't say what had been stolen either), they'd have a hell of a task charging you - even more so getting a conviction in court!

I still say there is no legal foundation for this suspension and the FIGC must appeal, for the sake of the game's sanity. FIFA are losing it big time.

Exactly, Falc. What kind of message are FIFA sending out to kids? They're saying a bit of trash talking (which was not even racial) is just as bad as headbutting someone.

I mean, weren't we all taught not to rise to insults as kids? If we all acted like Zidane every time we were provoked, the casualty units and the prisons would be even more overcrowded than they are already.

Mark, well stated. It was such a blantantly political decision that the real consequences are ignored. It's not a witch hunt on Materazzi but a betrayal of what happens on the pitch. I hope there is an appeal, but Materazzi isn't complaining much--he's taken it for the team. And why would he complain--he is a champion.

In the grand scheme though, this is par for the fifa course, not a farce but BAH!

LOl, in one of the Swedish papers they had a poll on the issue and eventually the majority thought Zidane's penalty was too harsh and Materazzi's too lenient.

Ilove the Swedes!!

Get over it you little Italian whiners!!

You can't compare Zizou and Materazzi. It's like a King and a dirty bastard stable boy. What do you expect?

Mark

EXACTLY right. Materazzi's "admission" that he insulted Zidane is irrelevant. Refs hear insults EVERY GAME and do NOTHING about it. Nothing!

Do you mean to tell me Premier League refs will now red card or suspend players this year when they hear trash talking on the field??? Please.

This is a PR stunt to try to get Zidane to save some face and demonize Materazzi. Pathetic and unjust.

The worst part is that the idiot FIGC is so bogged down in that scandal nonsense that they said they aren't even going to bother with an appeal. Paolo Maldini stated that this is "scandalous".

Sad.

BTW I want the FFF to sue anybody that says that Italy beat France 5-3 on penalty kicks. This is a complete lie we only missed 1 penalty. Since we weren't allow to shoot the last one it should automatically be given to us.
So it should be 5-4. 5-3 is way too flattering towards these football grunts.

Now THIS is a true scandal. Papparazzi suspension is mere detail. He shouldn't be allowed to play at all anyway.

Ali

Still sore after having to watch Thuram cry as Cannavaro lifted the Cup?

It's ok. With some good scouting in your colonies, maybe by 2018 or so you will scrape together a decent team again.

Ah ! We're out of colonies they come on their own now.

Bloody hell we're a touchy group.

I stated what had happene ya bollix, if he wants to appeal he's every right to do so.

Fuquit wrote:Bloody hell we're a touchy group.

I stated what had happene ya bollix, if he wants to appeal he's every right to do so.

Look, you decided to be the official mouthpiece of Sepp Blatter on this thread, so you have to take the heat. Capisce?

What I decided to do was point out exactly what he'd been punished for.

If you think the decision's a bit stupid fine, just don't throw your rattle out of the pram.

Fuquit

I know what he was punished for...problem is, it's not consistent application of the rules and it's way out of line compared to what Zidane received.

It's the double standard that is ridiculous. I guess not all footballers are treated equally.