“Everyone has a Twitter. It’s impossible to stop people talking. It’s not like in the past.” – Rafael Benitez
Footballers and twitter, they just can’t seem to help themselves, can they? ‘Professional footballer ‘X’ is likely to face disciplinary action after a controversial post on his twitter account’ has become something heard all too often in the media. The latest ‘Twit-storm’ was caused by England and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole, who last week criticised England’s Football Association, the FA. Cole labelled the FA a ‘bunch of twats’ on his account, and although he later deleted the post it had already been ‘re-tweeted’ thousands of times and been seen by just about everyone in English football, including the FA. Cole’s tweet was in response to the FA’s disciplinary proceedings against Chelsea and former England teammate John Terry, during which the FA revealed they had questioned the viability of the evidence given by Cole to a Magistrate’s Court in a separate proceeding against Terry.
The tweet that caused the storm
What Cole said is, at the moment very true, the FA is a real shambles with a disciplinary process as consistent as the Pakistani cricket team. John Terry was banned for four matches by the FA for racially abusing QPR player Anton Ferdinand, while a 14 year old boy received a ban of five matches for telling the referee his name was ‘Santa Claus’ after being sent off. It is, however unfortunate, not Cole’s place to point it out given he does represent the English team, which is governed by the FA. He at least could have omitted the ‘twats’ part, tame as it might be compared to what other people might say, he should have known that the ultra politically correct FA and English media would have made a mountain out of this molehill.
Cole is far from the first footballer whose Twitter account has landed him in hot water. Many have gotten themselves into trouble for criticising referees, football bodies or even inadvertently revealing private team information to the public. Promising English youngster Ravel Morison was even released from his former club Manchester United after a series of misdemeanors culminating in him posting a homophobic message on his Twitter account.
Ravel Morrison, no longer the next Man United star after his Twitter comment
But why is it that footballers are apparently unable to control themselves on Twitter? The intelligence of the average footballer is often lazily touted as an explanation when footballers get into off field trouble. People look at English footballers making obvious spelling mistakes on Twitter or struggling to string a few coherent sentences together in an interview and the old generalisation of ‘typical, dumb footballers’ is bought up again. What many people don’t often acknowledge is that to become a professional in any sport you have to sacrifice your education for your sport. My high school physics teacher told my class how Australian tennis legend Pat Rafter had failed physics at our school because he was training everyday instead of studying. It’s a rarity that you see a top professional footballer with a university degree, which is bad news for me and many others at uni. In this sense should we really expect footballers to ‘know better’?
“It’s impossible to stop people talking.”
Besides, footballers don’t necessarily say uneducated things on Twitter, often it’s more the case that they make errors in judgement as to when it’s appropriate to say something. This isn’t exclusive to footballer and celebrities. Higher education doesn’t prevent a person from saying the wrong thing. I know many university students who have made silly, ill-informed and on one or two occasions even inadvertently racially insensitive comments, one of those in a public setting back at high school. Had a professional footballer made the same comment as my friend, he would have been slaughtered in the media, which brings me to the point that footballers simply cannot say many of the things that a normal person can. I could swear on Twitter, I could write that a referee from my game was ‘a f***ing blind wanker’ if I wanted to. In comparison, over the weekend England and Chelsea player Ryan Bertrand swore in frustration on Twitter because of a sickness that stopped him playing for the England team on Friday night. Many people speculated that Bertrand’s injury was too minor for him to pull out of the game and that he was being ‘soft’. Bertrand responded angrily to this idea, tweeting “Do you think a ‘sore throat’ could stop me being a part of a match for my club or country? #yourfuckingnuts this is what every boy dreams of.” After his tweet received worldwide attention and scrutiny he deleted the tweet and apologised on his Twitter account for causing offence. Keep in mind he wasn’t swearing at anyone in particular but out of frustration at an ill-informed public belief that he had shrugged off his chance to play for his country.
Unfortunately for professional footballers they are always in the public eye. Everything they say and do is scrutinised to the point of insanity, this is particularly true in England. Social media is a great way to connect with their fans, but it’s also very easy for anyone on Twitter to say things they should not without realising it, given there is no ‘editing’ process on social media sites. Private thoughts become real electronic words available to the public in mere seconds, and within minutes tens of thousands of people have seen what the footballer wrote, and have passed it on to others. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The moment it is divulged [an idea], it forces itself into the possession of everyone, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it.” It might be a bit of a tacky idea, but perhaps footballers should remember the classic rule about sending angry letters. Hang on to it, and if you still feel the same way the next morning, then go ahead and send it.
Sources:
http://soccerlens.com/intelligent-footballers-is-it-possible/8128/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/oct/11/ryan-bertrand-england-twitter
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/17/ravel-morrison-homophobic-twitter
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (volume 6) published 1903
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