4/28/2007

A tale of two London clubs


Just to show people about bias and tendency amongst leagues, not just referees, to be biased in favour of "bigger" teams, here is an example of the double standards at play.


One team, let's call them Team A, signed a new player who was a free agent, they registered him with the FA, they registered him with their league officials, indeed they did everything you could imagine to ensure they followed the rules. There was, however, a problem. This player they signed had previously been playing in Wales so although he was English and the team he had played for in Wales had been in the English league, they needed to also register him with the Welsh FA, even though the Welsh FA have no jurisdiction over them or the club they signed him from.


Compare this to another London team. let's call this second club Team B. Team B signed two players, flouted a clearly stated league rule that club's cannot register players when their is a conflict of interest over who owns them and when the player themselves is contracted to a third party. this rules is so well known that I know about it, indeed, any real football fan would know about it.


So what's the problem ? Well Team A had 3 points deducted fro them whilst Team B had no points deducted. Okay, Team B were fined £5.5 million, but that's okay because Team B are owned by a man worth £600 million, so this is just small change to him and the club will, if they stay in their league, which is increasingly likely, receive a cheque for £30 million in the summer, from the league itself.


So do we know the names of the teams ? Well Team A is AFC Wimbledon in the Ryman League and Team B are West Ham, in the Premiership.


Is it any wonder that fans feel that there is a bias from top to bottom which favours bigger teams over smaller ones.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The problem is tha the Premiership act like a cartel to protect their own. They are all hypocrites.

Joe Otten said...

As as Sheffield United supporter, of course I agree with you.

Of course West Ham should have points deducted. Points off next season would be fine IMHO, if it is too difficult to deduct them in the middle of a relegation fight.

The only consolation I suppose is that West Ham are almost certainly relegated anyway. But I will have mixed feelings at the last game if we are safe and it is between West Ham and Wigan.

Joe Otten said...

Ouch. West Ham are doing worryingly well. And Tevez scored two of their goals today. It's not cricket.

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