However stupid it may sound, sport wouldn’t be the same without controversy. Part of the excitement would be removed, and the drama extinguished. It has always been part of the sporting culture, and one thing is for certain it constantly gets us talking.
Regardless of the sport controversy still lies near by, waiting to rear its ugly head and throw the sport back into disrepute. Whether it be team games such as cricket, rugby or most of all football, or alternatively individual sports such as tennis, athletics and cycling controversy is nearly always present.
Often such issues cast a dark shadow over a sport, such as drug scandals in athletics and cycling which have destroyed the reputations of former greats such as Lance Armstrong and undermined the credibility of the sport. Alternatively there are stranger occurrences such as Darren Bent’s goal which was deflected off a balloon by Sunderland in their 2009 clash against Liverpool, and the jelly bean mystery of the 2007 test match at Trent Bridge between England and India, which left Zaheer Khan outraged at the presence of jelly beans on the wicket whilst he was batting.
Indeed it is controversies such as these which make sport so memorable. Very few people will know who won those encounters or anything else about the contests, and without the drama they may well have slipped into obscurity. Indeed it is controversy which gets us talking; take the 2007 Rugby World Cup final and the debate that surrounded Mark Cueto’s disallowed try, which had a significant impact upon the fate of the whole tournament. Off the top of my head I don’t know the final score, I can’t remember the try scorers and I wouldn’t like to guess the England line up, what I haven’t forgot is how Cueto was agonisingly tackled on the try line in the corner, and after much deliberation the video referee decided that it was ‘no try’.
However the sport that we associate controversy with most is undoubtedly football. From Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ to Sir Alex Ferguson’s ranting at Mike Dean last week, controversy is never far away. Every weekend it reappears, as it proves impossible to completely subjugate. Saturday’s matches were no different, with refereeing decisions and player actions causing a number of talking points. Should Samir Nasri and Steven Nzonzi have been sent off, should both Stoke and Wigan been awarded penalties, did Vincent Kompany commit a foul in the build up to Man City’s second goal against Norwich? All of these are questions thrown up from a day’s football, and are reflective of the occurrences of each and every week.
The question is how to stop this constant feeling of injustice, frustration and anger when controversy undermines the action on the field. Technology could well be the answer; it has been proven to work in other sports with the introduction of Hawkeye in tennis and cricket and the use of video referees in rugby, but until now football has resisted the urge to turn to technology, despite the desperate need for simple introductions such as goal line technology. Refereeing is now a thankless task with officials constantly being berated by players, managers and supporters alike. Every decision they make is under the microscope, so great is television and media coverage; it’s easy to make a decision when you can look at it ten times from different angles, but referees only get one split-second opportunity to make the correct decision.
It’s no surprise therefore that mistakes are made, and players, fans and pundits alike have a tendency to forget all the correct decisions referees make, and instead lambast their mistakes. I’m quite confident that the referees’ critics would fare no better. We must not forget that referees are only humans, not robots. I sometimes feel people would rather heartless, emotionless robots officiating football; creations that got every decision correct. If that was the case football would be a much more boring game.
Controversy is part and parcel of the beautiful game, and it’s why we love it so much. What would the fans have to moan and argue about without it? What would Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen and co. talk about on Match of the Day? And who would Alex Ferguson direct his anger at if all officials were robotic? Love it or loathe it controversy is most certainly ingrained into the culture of football; it sparks emotions and creates interest adding to the excitement of the beautiful game. Controversy won’t go away overnight, it’s here to stay.