The Guessing Game: Emmanuel Adebayor’s Suspension.

By: chris | September 14th, 2009

Despite all their successes this weekend bringing them closer and closer to legitimacy, Manchester City are still left with a bit to clean up before getting back on with the football. Specifically, they have to clean up Emmanuel Adebayor’s mess, as the new boy in blue is looking at a whole host of problems – legal and otherwise – after his shenanigans on the weekend. And yes, that’s plural, as Adebayor is under review for two incidents which leave us wondering just how many brain cells are bounding around upstairs.

The first is in that handy gif with little explanation necessary: after knocking the ball away, he jumped on former teammate Robin van Persie’s hand. At first it was a “did he or didn’t he?” moment, but further replays, such as the one above which shows him looking down before hitting RvP’s hand, lead us to reason he did. Robin’s not happy, and neither are the boys upstairs.

The second is below and is also painfully simple in its explanation: Adebayor scored a goal and sprinted the full length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the fans…the Arsenal fans. Gooners, as one might expect, were mildly displeased and wound up in something of a kerfuffle. A kerfuffle which resulted in minor riots and an injured steward – making this a serious matter to people who determine serious matters.

So these “incidents” have prompted review boards the country over to hit their underground Batlairs for secret meetings and discussions on how to punish Emmanuel – if he’s due a spanking at all. But while the “hand stamp” would seem to be the more malicious, it’s the crowd instigation drawing the ire of the Greater Manchester police. You don’t want to draw the ire of the police.

Now it’s not that the popo will suspend Adebayor, it’s that bringing the police into the frame for an on-field action brings the game into all sorts of disrepute and will surely piss off Scudamore & Friends to the highest order. Throw in the hand stamp and Adebayor’s in deep, pardon the English, shit.

Some are already speculating (strongly) the hand stamp will be worth a three game ban with a mystery bonus possible for the crowd instigation. So we’ll play the guessing game: will it be three for the hand stamp plus? Will they stop at the three? Will it be less? Or will it be a substantial suspension for each action? Adebayor apologized swiftly, but that’s not usually enough to sway the suits that make these decisions.

For starters, I’ll go ahead and say five. It just seems the standard course of action to come down hard on mindless infractions these days, and this would just be another on the notch of disciplinary committees the world over.

[Gif & vid via 101 Great Goals]

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Category: English Premier League, World Football

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Saalu Reuben

what adebayor did was very bad while because it was in Arsenal that adebayor know how to knock ball, though he could have be patient and i did not see the need of him hitting van persie and also fabregas but they could have give the three week suspension. thanks for considering this In The Name Of Jesus.
Pseudinho

I'm guessing he'll get something in the neighborhood of 3-4 games. I actually don't believe he should get any games suspended. Maybe a fine, but that's it. It's been a complete overreaction by Arsenal supporters and the English media.
Laurie

I wish I knew how to make .gifs. That one is awesome.
Tom

Anything less than 3 games for the face rake/hand stamp would be shocking to me. There's absolutely no place for that in football, period.
Jay

Dave - you are a twat, the stomp was intentional...anyone who has played can see that, he knew exactly what he was doing and that is why he deserves a ban, the crowd stuff just underlines his intent....where are the videos of the racist chants, I've seen the accusations on here, but no evidence of it, and besides what did RVP have to do with that? I'd give him 8 games, because he still won't own up to the intent. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that a Adebayor would act like this since he apparently has apologists like Dave out there encouraging him.
sscouser

Vinod, if I am included in the "some of you are missing the point here" statement then you may need to read my comments again. Also, let me just add that "intention" is hard to prove that's why Arsenal won the Eduardo appeal.

elle, Gary just got a fine. Also, please note that he wasn't even the one that scored the goal. Again, Ade was already shown the yellow card. He may plead autrefois acquit or autrefois convict (a peremptory plea), meaning he has been acquitted or convicted of the same offense. He can't be "tried" twice for the same crime on the same set of facts. Double Jeopardy?

What did Henry get for this?:
http://www.freewebs.com/allthe...
sscouser

@ Vinod, if I am included in "some of you are missing the point here" then you need to read my comment again. Also, let me just add that intention is hard to prove that's why Arsenal won the Eduardo appeal.

@ elle, Gary Neville just got a fine. Also, please note that Gary wasn't even the one that scored the goal. Again, Ade was already shown a yellow card. Therefore, he may plead autrefois acquit or autrefois convict (a peremptory plea), meaning he has been acquitted or convicted of the same offense. He can't be "tried" twice for the same offense.

What punishment did Henry get for this:

http://www.freewebs.com/allthe...
elle

The face/hand stamp deserves a ban and as for the crowd instigation, Gary Neville was punished for celebrating in front of Liverpool supporters 3 years ago and, assuming I remember correctly, he didn't run the length of the pitch to do it. If he was punished for that you can count on Adebayor being punished for what he did.
Vinod

Some of you are missing the important piece here. Forget the fact that he was trying instigate his former club's fans and all that.

He tried to stomp on a player!! You can clearly see that! He could have blinded Van Persie. If anyone has the nerve to say that that doesn't warrant a ban, you should really start watching something else. Like UFC.
Oli Davies

Woah, this one really gets folks afumin' hey.

3 games for the stamp/kick, clearly. Interacting with oppersition fans is a booking. But what he did could also be a Public Disorder offence, that's a criminal record. So, should he be punished further?
sscouser

Ade was already given a yellow for crowd instigation so the FA is toothless. Also, if the ref says he saw the hand stamp incident then there will be no ban. Remember when Bosingwa kicked Benayoun (http://footballblips.dailyrada... the FA didn't charge Bosingwa with violent conduct because of the fact that the "linesman" saw the incident but failed to act. So let's wait for the ref's report first.
Ian

In the words of puppet Jose, Shut up Dave. If you have video evidence of the slew of accusations you've made about Arsenal (while calling the stamp "alleged" in the face of actual evidence), show us. Why is it that when a player obviously does something wrong, the answer from his or the team's fans is to tell us what the opposition also did wrong? If fans were singing racist chants, that's a great shame, and I'm the first to want that sort of thing out of the game, but it will always be harder to do anything about that, since cameras aren't on the fans all match. Adebayor did something malicious, and monumentally stupid, in full view of the world. 3 matches, minimum.
shay

I, like most people, have to work with customers in my job. They can yell at me, call me names and generally express the opinion that everyone at the place is a c**t. But since I represent the people I work for and get paid to do so I cannot react in kind. A footballer should be prepared to handle these situations without acting stupid and getting a ban that will likely hurt the team in the long run. It's not like Adebayor is a teenager who is new to fan abuse and reacted naively. He's an adult with experience and should have kept his cool. Now his team that were doing so well will suffer without him. He should have seen it coming.
Al

After the hand stomp, face kick, a big f-u to fans who pulled for him. I say he and Serena Williams get married, f-off to some f(ar) off island and leave the rest of us in PEACE!
Al

Hand stomp, face kick, a big f-u to fans who pulled for him. I say he and Serena Williams get married, f-off to some f(ar) off island and leave the rest of us in PEACE!
SP

ok rafa
Dave

Ok SP, You ignore the violent reaction from supporters to someone merely sliding on their knees. You ignore the FACT that a number of Arsenal supporters were singing a particularly offensive rascist song at Adebayor throughout the match. You ignore the FACT that Arsenal players were targetting Adebayor with violent tackles. You ignore the FACT that Van Persie repeatedly swore at City supporters when he scored his goal. If you can ignore all that and casigate Adebayor for his slide and you think "pretext" justifies your position then that is your business. Fortunately, I am more intelligent than you and can look at things on a less partisan and blinkered level. Incidentally, you're a c****.
Ebrahim

I agree with Dave. I think the FA should look at ALL sides here and not just clamp down on what Adebayor did. The Arsenal players need to be reprimanded for their 'tackles' that quite obviously weren't meant to be going for the ball - that's just not football. It's similar to what Roy Hodgson said earlier in the season when Andy Johnson was deliberately fouled and got injured - that shouldn't be part of the game - it should be about going for the BALL, that's why its called footBALL.... But its typical of authoritarian figures to overlook the actual CAUSE of events.
SP

plus, do you realize the irony of expecting everyone to be civilized while calling someone who disagrees with you a clown, an absolute idiot, and someone with idiotic comments?
SP

dave, as simple as it would be to look at it completely observationally without any pretexts, that is not how it works. even though he just slid on the ground, he knew exactly how the fans would react, just like the rest of the world knew how they would react. adebayor and the rest of the world knows that he wasn't just aiming for a simple sliding celebration.
Dave

Erm,the fans aren't paid to keep their conduct under control? Do you realise how thick you sound. I don't need paying to act in a civilised manner, maybe that is not the case for you. If you think that someone sliding on their knees, justifies violence then presumably you are an absolute idiot. And since when does getting paid lots of money make any difference to one's temperament? Answer, it doesn't. I expect people to be reasonable human beings, regardless of what they earn because salary is actually irrelevant. Do you expect an oil baron to be civilised but a bin man is allowed to walk around the streets smacking peple? No, of course not you clown. Arsenal fans were singing racist songs on Saturday and Van Persie was easily as guilty as Adebayor on many levels. This is just a witch hunt and your comments are idiotic.
Marlon

Until this post I didn't notice that he steps on his hand at all. The face kick is so much more noticeable.
david

adebayor goaded the arsenal fans before the match even started when he said in the evening before that arsenal fans arent real fans, not to mention how he acted the entire previous season with arsenal. the face stamp is obvious, as is the fabregas ankle stamp earlier. the fans dont get paid to keep their conduct under control, he does, so he should have acted accordingly.
Dave

I have heard virtually no media commentators blame the fans for their rection to the celebration. Let's not forget, all Adebayor did was slide on his knees, he was not insulting or abusive. If we are now in the realms of saying that this justifies fans being randomly violent then we are on very dodgy territory indeed. Interestingly, Robin Van Persie had earlier sworn at City fans when he scored his goals, the difference is that City fans did not become violent and his celebration WAS abusive. Adebayor was targetted by Arsenal players throughout the game including the Van Persie lunge that led to the alleged stamp. Frankly people need to look at the bigger picture of the whole match when judging Adebayor's actions and he certainly does not deserve to be hung out to dry in my opinion. As for Van Persie's post match comments, just embarrassing.
Kasia

Jumped on his hand? He did worse, he kicked his face.