There have been so many surprises in recent months in the world of football, but you probably didn’t expect to see so many self-appointed experts in the nuances of the language spoken in Uruguay.
The FA have taken a lot of stick in recent weeks for their decision to ban Edinson Cavani for an Instagram post with a potentially offensive word in there, while even the PFA went after the FA for making a completely absurd decision.
It takes a special kind of arrogance/incompetence to see two people conversing in a foreign language before deciding that you’re offended by it and the general public must be too, so there’s no sign of the FA backing down here.
READ MORE: Video: Nasty neck grab from Man United star Edinson Cavani slams Yerry Mina to the floor
Some reports have come out about the FA’s reasoning for the ban and it essentially sounds like they have decided to go after Cavani because of his fame and following on Instagram:
FA have released written reasons re Edinson Cavani 3-match ban. Includes this: “In light of player’s high profile, inability to speak English + had approaching 8m Instagram followers, Commission surprised that no ‘(social media) training’ specifically put in place by his club.”
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) January 7, 2021
That openly suggests they would’ve handed out a lesser punishment if the same thing happened with a (no offence intended) West Brom reserve player with a few hundred followers, but that would also indicate they openly operate an unfair system where consistency is not shown in their punishments.
The social media training idea is also interesting – do clubs now have to sit players down and say “You’re in England now son so don’t be speaking any of that foreign language because we might decide to interpret it our own way and decide to be offended for no reason.”
The best part about this is there’s a perfectly legitimate reason to dish out a three game ban to Cavani – Look at the improvised chokeslam on Yery Mina against Everton where they came out and said the official saw it and decided it was fine.
The FA’s incompetence knows no bounds, but supporting an incompetent referee who turns a blind eye to violent conduct yet throwing a hissy fit for something that nobody has any reason to be offended by is outstanding even by their standards.