More than a handshake
Well at least that’s what the FA were trying to get at with the Respect campaign launched in 2008, where a pre-match ritual was announced.
According to this ritual, the starting XI of either team proceeds down the line to shake each others hand. A mark of respect they said.
3,117 games have gone by where this ritual has been upheld and theoretically, 377,157 handshakes should have been exchanged but in five instances, we have been robbed of what is quite plainly a nice gesture before the madness that is a Premier League game begins.
One prominent missed handshake was when Wayne Bridge refused to acknowledge former teammate John Terry’s presence after he, well, slept with Bridge’s wife.
Terry was a culprit again as he, allegedly, racially abused Anton Ferdinand and the latter then chose to not shake his hands. Twice. The second time, Chelsea and QPR didn’t have the handshake ritual at all.
The Chelsea captain supposedly called Ferdinand a ‘black c***’ so Anton refused to shake his hand. Fair enough (oh, the irony). And the other handshakes that were missed because of racial abuse were when Luis Suarez refused Patrice Evra’s hand and then Ferdinand refused Suarez’s.
No you have not stumbled upon the plot of the season finale of Ekta Kapoor’s latest blockbuster soap. This is the premier league. Where once the football starts, it is the greatest show on Earth. But beyond it, it is no greater than a reality show being directed by Ekta Kapoor!
Prematch handshakes teach so much to the kids. It is about respecting your opponent, no matter who he/she is. It is about common sense. The handshake is not the problem. Maybe it is Terry who has been refused more handshakes than a sewage-cleaner while on the job.
Or Luis Suarez, who has bitten, dived, hand-balled and racially abused his way into the hearts of millions of Liverpool supporters around the world.
And the entire spotlight will focus around Evra and Suarez this weekend should either of them start for their clubs.
While both players have been confirmed to conform to procedure, in case they choose not to, let’s not condemn a good ritual. Let’s berate the men that refuse to behave gentle.
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