Having read lots of articles and blogs on the subject of
whether the FA should abolish the pre-match hand-shake after the refusal of
Luis Suarez to shake the hand of Patrice Evra (the man he was found guilty of
racially abusing) in the Liverpool-United clash at Old Trafford last weekend I
thought I would share my thoughts.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said after the
game that Suarez could have caused a riot, slightly over the top; however,
Fergie continued that Suarez was “A disgrace to Liverpool and English football”.
This I completely agree with. Suarez had the opportunity to put the whole thing
to bed by a simple shake of the hand, but could the FA have done more by
abolishing the pre-match handshake before the game?
I personally see the handshake as nothing more than a
pre-match marketing tool where sponsors on shirts get extra coverage meanwhile
TV broadcasters use the hand-shake to go to advert breaks. Rightly the FA will
argue that the hand-shake shows respect between the two sides, however I argue
that if the players genuinely respected each other we wouldn’t see some of the
awful challenges that we see on the field and we certainly wouldn’t see scenes
such as Evra’s pathetic celebration after the game in the face of Suarez which
in Ferguson’s own words ‘Could have caused a riot’ in itself.
The FA already undermined their ‘respect’ campaign weeks ago
when they decided to abandon the pre-match hand-shake between QPR and Chelsea
players in the wake of the John Terry and Anton Ferdinand racial abuse
accusations. The removal of that hand-shake appeared to have removed the
tension between the two sides and a clean game was played between the two.
Where to go from here? In all honesty the FA must abandon
the pre match hand-shake as soon as possible. The players don’t need to prove
their respect for the other players before a game, their actions on the field
should show that. It is nothing more than a PR stunt from the FA and must be
scrapped. If they insist on keeping it then it should be moved to the end of
the game after the players have finished. By moving it to after the game not
only are the players showing respect to their opponents they are also teaching
younger players to lose and win graciously as well as putting an end to the
childish behaviour we saw from Evra and his team-mates after Manchester United’s
win against Liverpool.
What do you think? Should the hand-shake be scrapped or does
it promote respect?
As always let me know.
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