Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

PASSION. One of many words associated with football. Unfortunately idiocy is another one that fits the bill perfectly. The mind boggles to come to terms with why Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been slapped with a two match ban for merely showing his enthusiasm.

The England man said that the automatic two-match ban was "clearly excessive" and I completely agree.

There is always going to be swearing in modern day football, it is part and parcel of the game, it is the culture that we live in. Tempers are running high and emotions are boiling over, and showing your passion is a crime now...apparently.

It seems that, lately, the FA are doing all they can to undermine United. First by hitting Sir Alex Ferguson with a five game touchline ban for improper conduct after his rant at Martin Atkinson, and now the ban dished out to Rooney for foul and abusive language. This means both will be in the stands for the crucial FA Cup semi-final tie against local rivals Manchester City.

It is such a harsh and petty punishment for Rooney, who has done worse things in his life than swear down a television camera. Yes, there would probably be children watching at home, but it is nothing that they will not hear in the playground in a few years time anyway.

Live matches always have abusive chants coming from the stands that cannot be edited out. Is this just the FA trying to even out the law for when Rooney should have been suspended for elbowing James McCarthy in the fixture against Wigan Athletic?

If so, it is a terrible way to go about it.

The absence of the former Everton man in the semi-final clash will have a drastic impact on moral in the City dressing room. Although Rooney has not hit top form at all this season, he still has all the capabilities to cause problems, and Roberto Mancini will no doubt be relieved that his name will not be on the team sheet.

I do not think that anyone particularly cares that he swore down the lens of a camera. It was certainly inappropriate, but there are much worse things in life at the moment.

So does the punishment fit the crime? Not one bit.

The English game is becoming a complete farce. It is high time the FA took a long hard look at some of their actions and realised how truly pathetic they are.

Kolo's Drug Disgrace

WHY do football players feel the need to take drugs? As if they do not have everything already, they feel the need to have even more and even find themselves above the law. Manchester City's Kolo Toure is the latest example to be disgraced after the FA informed him that he tested positive when he gave an A sample.

The Ivory Coast international, who was not involved in last night's 3-0 FA Cup fifth round victory over Aston Villa, has been suspended by the club. And quite rightly so.

Why should any player be treated differently? We saw former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu test positive for cocaine in 2004, which led to the Romanian being sacked and fined £20,000 by the FA, along with a seven month ban. Mutu still has to pay his transfer fee back to the Stamford Bridge outfit.

In 2006, former West Ham United midfielder Shaun Newton also tested positive for cocaine and, like Mutu, was banned for seven months, while in the same year Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Chris Cornes was banned for six months for the same indiscretion.

Surely the former Arsenal man should receive the same treatment, even if it is not cocaine. Drug use is the same, no matter what language you speak, and anyone who abuses the system should be handed a fine and a ban.

Dwain Chambers was banned from athletics for two years after testing positive for tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). Many believe that the British track star should have been handed a lifetime ban, but he returned to the athletics scene in 2005.

He is not the first City player to be involved in a drugs scandal. In 2003, Christian Negouai was fined £2,000 by the FA after missing a drugs test, although the man signed from Charleroi for £1.5m was stuck in traffic but was willing to take the test.

This case was used by rivals Manchester United who tried to appeal against Rio Ferdinand's eight month ban, but FIFA President Sepp Blatter claimed that there were distinct differences between the cases, stating that Ferdinand was unwilling to take the test.

Should Toure be found guilty, the FA should hand out the strictest punishment possible in order to get the message out that drugs are completely unacceptable in sport.