On-Field Immunity?
The net is a great source for wholesale silver in all different shapes and styles Whether you are looking for wholesale silver rings, silver charms, or silver soccer charms, there is sure to be a great option for jewelry on the web!The soccer field is a place firmly rooted in the world, but also, in a sense, removed from it. The norms of behavior followed during a match could not reasonably be employed in any other situation (yelling at your boss as you do a referee cannot have positive results). Like Las Vegas, what happens on the field usually stays on the field. Nowhere is this more apparent than in application of criminal law. Punishment for misdeeds on the pitch is often non-existent (Exhibit A: Toni Schumacher) or handled by the footballing authorities themselves. It is rare that the long arm of criminal law makes its way on the field. Rare, but not unheard of.
Gaston Sessa is an Argentine goalkeeper with a bit of a reputation. A bit of a Toni Schumacher wannabe, he is known more for his antics than for his skill. Sessa’s most recent antic came in April when, after a league match against Belgrano, the then-Velez Sarsfield goalkeeper took it upon himself to make obscene gestures toward the crowd and a photographer (see video here). The Argentine authorities came down hard on Sessa, arresting and sentencing him to ten days in jail for inciting violence.
Gaston Sessa, no stranger to controversy
With violence in the stadium a huge problem in Argentina (witness the scenes at a recent match between Tigre and Nueva Chicago), it is perhaps not surprising that the police there have been cracking down. Gaston Sessa was not the first Argentine player arrested for on-field misdeeds: last year, Belgrano striker Mariano Campodónico was also arrested for making obscene gesturess.A similar incident in Wales occurred last year when Swansea players Lee Trundle and Alan Tate went to the extreme in taunting fans of rival club Cardiff City. After a match against Carlisle being played in Cardiff’s Milennium Stadium, Trundle and Tate unfurled a flag that read, “F*** off Cardiff.” Trundle took it a step further, brandishing a shirt with a “Swansea player urinating on a Cardiff shirt.” Both players were arrested, although in the end were only given a warning and a fine. The FA of Wales added an additional £2,000 fine and one-match suspension for each player.
Lee Trundle charms the Cardiff City fans
The police threatened to get involved last year in a match between Manchester United and Liverpool. When Gary Neville ran 60 yards to exuberantly celebrate a last-minute winner over Liverpool in front of the opposing fans, there was some suggestion that police action might be taken. In the end, the police decided not to press charges, but simply to send a letter to Manchester United. Neville, however, was given a £2,000 fine by the FA and warned not to repeat his actions.
A friendly earlier this year between China’s U-23 team and Queens Park Rangers made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The match was abandoned after a massive brawl broke out between the two teams. Having been captured on video, the police were able to carefully examine what happened. After doing so, they arrested QPR assistant manager Richard Hill and charged him with causing actual body harm for breaking the jaw of Chinese player Zheng Tao. Hill was also suspended for three months from football by the FA and indefinitely by QPR.
One can quibble with the way police apply the laws in the cases above, but at least the laws themselves are just. The same cannot be said of the law that members of the Taliban used to arrest members of a visiting team from Pakistan in 2000. The team had come to Afghanistan to play a series of friendlies. In the middle of their third match, the game was stopped by Taliban officials who stormed the field brandishing guns and accused the players of wearing un-Islamic dress. Five players escaped, but the twelve who did not were arrested and had their heads shaved as punishment before being released. In a rare piece of reflection, the Taliban recognized the error and fired the official responsible for shaving the Pakistani players’ heads.
The “guilty” Pakistani players, post-haircut a la Taliban
A final instance of an on-field arrest was also the most controversial. During a Copa Libertadores match in 2005 between Quilmes, Argentine Leandro Desabato was accused of racist insults against Sao Paolo’s black striker Grafite. Under Brazilian law, racism can be considered a form of assault. After the match, Desabato was taken away by Brazilian police and offered a free night’s stay in jail. Stories claiming the Argentine player could be sentenced to years in prison led to an uproar in Argentina, but ultimately proved incorrect. Desabato was released the next day after paying a $4000 fine. Although Grafite decided not to press charges, it’s probably safe to assume that Desabato will not be returning to Brazil any time soon.
Leandro Desabato is arrested in Brazil
Overall, incidents of players and coaches being arrested for on-filed acts are conspicuous by their absence. This is not due to a lack of potentially arrest-worthy incidents (an on-field fight is not that different from a bar brawl, after all). And it is not due simply to the authorities’ reluctance to take action against famous athletes (players who break the law outside the stadium are often arrested; just ask Glen Johnson). But during the ninety minutes that they are on the pitch, players and coaches are rarely prosecuted for their actions.
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June 28th, 2007 02:15
Forgive me for the length of this comment, but I’ve just done an essay for one of my law courses touching on the issue of violence in sport and how the law is applied, so this post was an really interesting read. I should probably also add that this would only apply to Commonwealth jurisdictions as I don’t know what the law is in other parts of the world.
In both criminal and civil law, the concept of implied consent to injury is used as a defence against charges of assault and battery in sport. Generally it is assumed that the player consents both to injury that happens as a result of action which is within the rules of the sport itself and what is outside the rules but a common ocurrence within the sport by their participation. So in football a sliding tackle that breaks some bones most likely won’t get anybody in trouble, but – as with the QPR brawl – a punch will.
I hope that was useful and not just telling everybody what they knew already.
June 28th, 2007 17:05
Very good points, Linda. After I wrote the post, I thought about some of those ideas, but I don’t know if I could have stated them as clearly as you did. Thanks!
June 30th, 2007 13:28
[...] What happens on the field, stays on the field (Culture of Soccer) [...]
July 1st, 2007 02:59
[...] Culture of Soccer blog has an excellent article discussing how “during the ninety minutes that they are on the [...]
July 1st, 2007 12:06
In the US, prosecution often, but not always, requires someone press charges. Given the tremendous amount of public licensing and other involvement, it is amazing that one can hit someone publicly (with more documentation than usual) and not face prosecution.
If I hit someone (I don’t) I might sit in jail. If a soccer player stomps on another player, they miss out on a few games, which, we are told, costs them money. I don’t get to (or want to) pay money out to hit people.
The consent to injury should not include something blatantly intentional. We need to have a more outraged response to violence.
In Canada, one can do this with a large stick and be invited to join the national team later. This is not normally a violence loving country. The rink is also an exception.
July 10th, 2007 21:50
[...] tip-offs, however, including the fact that some players covered their legs while playing (see my previous post, which included an incident in Afghanistan in which players were accused of dressing in an [...]
March 4th, 2008 07:01
Duncan Ferguson was charged with assualt for head-butting John McStay in a Rangers v Raith Rovers match in 1994. The incident was missed by the match officials, however reported to the Police. Ferguson spent 3 months in jail as a result of his conviction.