Are footballers exempt from the law?

[d9f1c7]

http://news.sky.com/h...news/article/16233757
If I did this in the high st I'd be prosecuted for Assault/ ABH so why is this thug not being prosecuted?

[Zeuhl]

Yes Joey Barton is a thug - always has been.

However, relating it to the standards of behaviour expected of us on the 'high st' is inappropriate; in a match, most of the players are expected to spend their time jostling, kicking, swearing at and pushing each other over.

Not the usual 'high st' experience - although it may depend on where you live.

[Zeuhl]

PS

professional footballers are also expected (increasingly i'm sorry to say) to fall over as if poleaxed after the slightest physical contact from another player.

so in many cases an attempted prosecution for 'assault' may prove interesting

[hideaway]

Banning a thug from playing is effectively giving him a paid holiday. I would make the player do a job within the ground -cleaning the stands. toilets etc for the duration of the suspension.

Footballers and athletic cheats rule the world now thought -don't they!

[hideaway]

ps sorry about the t on the end of though.

[d9f1c7]

I'm surprised that QPR haven't fired him anyway, surely they have grounds now. They'll be paying wages for a third of the season when he can't actually play.

[Zeuhl]

Well.... no, not really.

I suppose people who are embittered or frustrated might choose to portray it that way

[Zeuhl]

sorry that post was a reply to hideaway

[Zeuhl]

d9

do you reckon QPR could claim in an industrial tribunal that they have never encouraged players to 'get physical', or that their match preparation didn't contribute to a heightened competitiveness?

[andy-hughes]

I believe the QPR board are pondering the legal and financial aspects of firing Barton - which he certainly deserves.

There was talk of him coming to Stoke before he joined QPR and the rumour is that Stoke were warned about their (reasonable) proximity to Liverpool, and the potential for Barton to be fgetting up to naughties back home - he is a thug from a family of thugs.

It would be good if money did not talk for once, and he was fired, as he deserves to be.

And Balotelli should be warned as well, sticking his 10p in when he was not involved.

[excelsior-1]

no

[doctordb]

A lot worse happens on the rugby field; gouging, raking, punching, butting, biting, fingers up you know what in the scrum. Players get cited and banned and that's the end of story. why should football be any different?

[emmie]

it would seem so going on the fact he only got a 12 match ban. He is a thug, and anyone else would likely have gone to jail

[flip_flop]

He does let himself down, because on his day he is a great midfielder.

[emmie]

the footage they showed on the news, had him elbow one player, kick another i think, and head butt another, what a charmer.

[chaptazbru]

His Mother must be so proud !!

[DTCwordfan]

and his grandmother - but then they be known for hacking the back of people's knees......

[Gromit]

It seems they are. When those offenses took place he had already been sent off, meaning he was no longer a player. His attacks were the equivalent of ABH, GBH but non of the attacked players are going to report or prosecute him, so he gets away with it.

[ELVIS68]

Firstly there's not any clear footage of him actually elbowing Tevez, and judging by the way Tevez hit the floor there would have been a bruise at least.

Secondly, if you kneed somebody in the back of the leg and half heartedly head butted them you'd probably end up getting your arse kicked.

I still think he should be sacked, after all it's not like its his first offence.

[Gladeian]

I find it strange how Plod and the CPS are very keen to jump on players who are alleged to have spoken racist abuse but in this case, which in MHO is far more serious, remain leaden-footed about taking any action. I may be wrong here (and I am sure I will be corrected if I am) but I was under the impression that in cases such as this the prosecution do not actually require a formal complaint from the victim of the assault. There is clear video evidence of what has occurred.