Has Wayne Rooney issued such a statement? Wasn't he also sent off for a pre-meditated attack on another player, albeit not quite so dramatically as Zidane's incident?stevocod posted:
Football crowds will never be as good as rugby crowds, but neither act of retaliation is good for children to view or act upon and as an experienced ambassador to the game Zidane has got off lightly and bringing the Cantona example to the fore, he has to serve community service as well as his ban and I think Zidane should do the same despite the fact he's now retired.
Also he should issue a statement to the world announcing his wrong doing and this should not be deemed as sporting behaviour despite he may have been racially abused or it was a terrorist remark.
I still don't feel the Cantona and Zidane incidents are comparable - one's an on-field incident: ugly and unnecessary, but still part of the game. The other is an off-the-field assault on a member of the public, which has no place in any sport. Yet Zidane seems to be considered a footballing pariah because of his actions, whilst Cantona is still a hero to the red half of Manchester.
As for the influence on children, perhaps they should be watching chess instead? Football is hardly a great example of sportspersonship and fair behaviour at the best of times...