The Eduardo Witch Hunt: A True Story

By Zain Alvi | 3rd September 2009

The Eduardo Witch Hunt: A True Story | read this item

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A great majority of the football world has grown used to laughing off Arsene Wenger’s dramatic remarks over major incidents in recent years. This is precisely why the Arsenal manager was largely ignored when he labeled the accusations over Gunners striker Eduardo’s recent “dive” against Celtic as a “witch-hunt”. A week after that incident, UEFA has gone a step ahead of Wenger in terms of creating dramatics as the organization has imposed a two-game ban on the Croatia frontman.

With this irrational step, UEFA have certainly proven Wenger right. Perhaps there is a witch hunt against Eduardo. If his career-threatening leg injury in 2008 was a nightmare he would never want to recall, then 2009 is quickly becoming another year to forget for the extremely talented forward. And while Martin Taylor’s disastrous foul in 2008 must have been accidental last year, it is clear that Eduardo’s detractors are deliberately seeking to hold him back this year.

As far as I am concerned, a player who possesses such a clinical ability in front of the goal cannot be expected to dive cheaply for goals, particularly when his side is cruising 2-0 on aggregate while playing the second leg at home. This is precisely why I feel that there is no concrete proof that Eduardo actually took a dive. Granted, no Celtic player made any physical contact with him, but the benefit of the doubt should go the forward’s way considering that he did not ask for a penalty after hitting the turf.

UEFA should remember that a broken left fibula, even after surgical repairing, remains a fragile part of the foot, which makes a player vulnerable to falling while running at high intensity levels. That being said, it is obvious that the penalty decision was far from accurate. But as I argued in one of my previous articles, consistency in such decisions is a responsibility that needs to be taken by the officials, particularly in a case where the referee awarded a penalty without the attacking team shouting for it.

Chelsea’s powerful striker Didier Drogba and former Manchester United sensation Cristiano Ronaldo have both been accused of diving frequently in recent memory. Liverpool’s talismanic striker Fernando Torres is often guilty of going down too easily as well. One incident that remains particularly fresh in my memory involves another Liverpool player – Ryan Babel – who deliberately went to the floor with Kolo Toure a significant distance away from him during the final moments of his side’s Champions League quarterfinal clash with Arsenal two seasons ago.

Replays clearly showed Babel took an instant fall out of nowhere (he was not making an intense run like Eduardo), and unlike Eduardo he has not suffered a career-threatening injury that could explain his fall either. Furthermore, that was a far more significant dive since it saved the Reds from crashing out of the Champions League at Arsenal’s expense. Eduardo’s penalty, as a reminder, came at a time when the Gunners were already poised to progress with a two-goal lead from the first leg.

Some might think of it as karma that Eduardo did not manage to leave a football field happily by the end of the week. At Old Trafford, when Arsenal needed that crucial equalizer at the death, Eduardo did a brilliant job of staying onside as he flicked William Gallas’ headed pass gently into the path of Robin van Persie, who slid the ball easily into the net. However, since Gallas was declared offside in yet another notorious incident, Eduardo’s efforts were washed out without a reward. The punishment should have ended there for a man who was already jeered throughout the night by the Manchester United fans.

Unfortunately, UEFA was not done yet. Michel Platini and his panel went ahead with the drastic measure of banning Eduardo in order to deter others from following up with anything remotely similar. Since we’ve seen a lot more obvious diving incidents in the past, why did UEFA pick Eduardo of all people? It this is not a witch hunt, then what is it?

Whether or not this sudden decision to impose bans would stop players from going down too easily is a debate for another article. For now, the global football community should actively get involved and make it known whether or not it supports UEFA’s decision to ban Eduardo without a single warning about such a rule forthcoming.

Give us your opinion! Has UEFA crossed the line here or is it going to better the game? Have your say below!

AisKOOL says:

September 11, 2009 at 7:35 am

I think Monsieur Platini does not like any good player that is better than himself. He’s a soul-partner with a certain Mister Pele of Brazil. Check their history of doing and/or saying things in recent history. It will show that these people are wolves missing some mouth-watering grapes. Football is much better without their foul-mouth words and even worse antics.

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