SALON

Thursday, Jan 24, 2013 7:35 PM UTC

Chelsea player criticized after ball boy kicked

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Chelsea player criticized after ball boy kickedA ball boy, third right, lies on the floor following an incident Chelsea's Eden Hazard, not pictured, as referee Chris Foy, centre in black, makes his way over to calm the situation during the English League Cup second leg semi-final soccer match between Chelsea and Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales, Wednesday Jan. 23, 2013. Hazard received a red card for the incident. (AP Photo/PA, Nick Potts) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE(Credit: AP)

LONDON (AP) — Just when it seemed Chelsea’s reputation couldn’t sink any lower, along came “Ballboygate.”

The Football Association’s disciplinary body will review the game after winger Eden Hazard was sent off for kicking a 17-year-old ball boy while attempting to retrieve the ball near the end of a League Cup semifinal match against Swansea on Wednesday.

The Belgian winger has apologized to the ball boy — and will not face criminal charges — but will be handed a minimum three-match ban for violent conduct. The FA could increase the suspension in “exceptional circumstances.”

The European champions likely will face more accusations that its millionaire players are out of control, soon after the racism scandals involving John Terry, Ashley Cole and John Obi Mikel in 2012.

“There’s no defense for that,” former referee Dermot Gallagher said. “It was an extreme, but you can’t have that at a football match.”

The kick sparked a flurry of activity on social networking sites and induced imaginative headlines in British newspapers, such as “Ed Case,” ”Occupational Hazard” and “Boots of Hazard.” BBC radio has already been referring to it as “Ballboygate.”

Some ex-professionals sympathized with Hazard, who was attempting to get the ball into play quickly with Chelsea needing late scoring to force extra time. The match finished 0-0, with Swansea advancing to the final 2-0 on aggregate goals.

“I’m not saying its the correct thing 2 do but when in the heat of the moment u just want the ball,” Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar wrote on Twitter.

For Chelsea, controversy seems to hover over the English club.

“I do not know what you expect from me,” Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez said. “Do you think we are not disappointed with the situation, that we do not regret what happened?

“Do you want to change things? We cannot.”

Chelsea probably wishes it could change several circumstances in the past 12 months, except for its unexpected Champions League title in May.

Team captain Terry was banned for four matches for hurling a racial slur at an opponent during a league game. The case, which also involved Cole, took a year to be resolved.

In November, a complaint by Chelsea that one of its black players — Mikel — had been subjected to racist abuse by a referee during a game was dismissed by the FA. Referee Mark Clattenburg was removed from duty by the Premier League for four straight weekends.

Chelsea responded quickly to the latest situation, putting an apology from Hazard on its website. There are reports the ball boy was welcomed into the locker room and treated well by Terry and Frank Lampard, Chelsea’s two most senior players.

“Both parties have come together and we’ve got a mutual bond,” Gallagher said. “That is brilliant for the future, but it doesn’t escape the fact that the FA are duty bound to act.”

More By Steve Douglas.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations