The Banana incident

[southlondonyiddo]

So you think he should be banned for life ? yes or no?

So where do we draw the line, footballers headbutt other players in the same rush of blood as you describe, possibly indangering them far more than a banana skin, which is what it was btw, are you going to ban them for life? last time i checked they get 3 games for potentially really harming a fellow player .

It was wrong , and he will be punished, but lets not go ott ffs.

You are well out of order. Rules are rules

I personally think that If you throw the skin of a fruit on the pitch in the direction of a multi millionaire who has just taken the piss out of you then you should be publicly beheaded infront of your fellow supporters that you have let down

Levy should arrange this in Park Lane Square before our 1st home game at the new stadium

A life ban is simply not long enough. It should be a double life ban minimum

There is absolutely no room in these circumstances for common sense or even the notion that you are innocent before proven guilty

Seriously that banana skin could have ended someones career. Get a grip ELY

 

[double0]

People can sugar coat this to deflect the focus.... But those of a certain age know exactly what (absolute stupidity) black players had to endure with banana skins or whole, monkey chants and all sorts of fuckery directed to them because of the colour of skin.

 

[DJS]

Lifetime ban does seem harsh to me.

Maybe 5 years or something similar with a warning that if involved if anything again then would be lifetime ban next time.

 

[EastLondonYid]

People can sugar coat this to deflect the focus.... But those of a certain age know exactly what (absolute stupidity) black players had to endure with banana skins or whole, monkey chants and all sorts of fuckery directed to them because of the colour of skin.

Your missing the point of the whole argument, If he brought in a banana into the ground and threw it at a black player i would be the first to want him banned for LIFE....But BUT ffs he didn't , so why the fuck are we still going on about racism!!!!

 

[southlondonyiddo]

People can sugar coat this to deflect the focus.... But those of a certain age know exactly what (absolute stupidity) black players had to endure with banana skins or whole, monkey chants and all sorts of fuckery directed to them because of the colour of skin.

So if it is proven that he threw the skin at Bellerin and it had absolutely no racist connotations whatsoever he should still be banned for life because it was a banana and there were black players around and 30 odd years ago lots of absolute neanderthal scum used to throw these because these absolute fucking scum **** idiots linked black players to monkeys

If there was a hint of racism he should be banned but If he's going to be banned because it was banana skin as opposed to orange skin or a melon etc then it is absolute bollox

 

[EastLondonYid]

So if it is proven that he threw the skin at Bellerin and it had absolutely no racist connotations whatsoever he should still be banned for life because it was a banana and there were black players around and 30 odd years ago lots of absolute neanderthal scum used to throw these because these absolute fucking scum **** idiots linked black players to monkeys

If there was a hint of racism he should be banned but If he's going to be banned because it was banana skin as opposed to orange skin or a melon etc then it is absolute bollox

Seriously i fucking give up.

 

['O Zio]

So you think he should be banned for life ? yes or no?

So where do we draw the line, footballers headbutt other players in the same rush of blood as you describe, possibly indangering them far more than a banana skin, which is what it was btw, are you going to ban them for life? last time i checked they get 3 games for potentially really harming a fellow player .

It was wrong , and he will be punished, but lets not go ott ffs.

What players get up to with each other has absolutely nothing to do with this so I don't really understand the point you're making on that one so I'll leave it.

Personally, I think if it is determined that his story is right and he wasn't trying to be racist, then I wouldn't ban him for life. I'd ban him for a long time but probably not for life. However, if the club and/or PL/FA (whoever is actually responsible for this) are taking a zero tolerance policy on crowd trouble, including throwing ANYTHING onto the pitch/at players regardless of the colour of their skin, as they have been doing for years, then I'm not going to argue against that because I can see their reasoning for it. Whether or not I would personally exclude him forever is neither here not there, but if that's what the club choose to do then fair enough and it's what I would've expected them to do even if I didn't agree with it. Like I said, that's just the way things have been for decades now. If you cause any kind of crowd trouble you get a ban, that's just the way it works nowadays and has done for years.

 

['O Zio]

So if it is proven that he threw the skin at Bellerin and it had absolutely no racist connotations whatsoever he should still be banned for life because it was a banana and there were black players around and 30 odd years ago lots of absolute neanderthal scum used to throw these because these absolute fucking scum **** idiots linked black players to monkeys

If there was a hint of racism he should be banned but If he's going to be banned because it was banana skin as opposed to orange skin or a melon etc then it is absolute bollox

You're missing the point completely, that's not what anyone's saying. The point is that even if the fact that it was a banana/black players is all just a complete accident/coincidence, the fact still remains that he's thrown some sort of object onto the pitch at the players. If there is a zero-tolerance policy towards that then he can't really have any complaints. From what it sounds like it's not being treated as a racist attack, it's just being dealt with as him having thrown something at a player, and if the punishment for that is also a lifetime ban then so be it.

 

[mil1lion]

You are well out of order. Rules are rules

I personally think that If you throw the skin of a fruit on the pitch in the direction of a multi millionaire who has just taken the piss out of you then you should be publicly beheaded infront of your fellow supporters that you have let down

Levy should arrange this in Park Lane Square before our 1st home game at the new stadium

A life ban is simply not long enough. It should be a double life ban minimum

There is absolutely no room in these circumstances for common sense or even the notion that you are innocent before proven guilty

Seriously that banana skin could have ended someones career. Get a grip ELY

It could have hit someone in the eye to be fair. I can see it now..."ahhh my eye, I'm not supposed to get banana in it"

 

[Gassin's finest]

Isn't the point, not that he threw a banana peel, but that he threw anything at all. The defence that he "threw the first thing that came to hand in the heat of the moment" implies that he could have thrown anything without pause... Fruit, veg, bottle, hand grenade?

Therefore, a ban. For life? Would depend on if he has previous or not, maybe?

 

[southlondonyiddo]

You're missing the point completely, that's not what anyone's saying. The point is that even if the fact that it was a banana/black players is all just a complete accident/coincidence, the fact still remains that he's thrown some sort of object onto the pitch at the players. If there is a zero-tolerance policy towards that then he can't really have any complaints. From what it sounds like it's not being treated as a racist attack, it's just being dealt with as him having thrown something at a player, and if the punishment for that is also a lifetime ban then so be it.

This is as bad as Brexit. People have lots of different points about this just as they had lots of different reasons for wanting to leave (apart from the major racist one!!!) or stay

My argument is:

If it was racially motivated - life ban
If it was not - a months ban/6 months/1 season - Whatever common sense and previous cases may determine

If we are talking zero tolerance then as far as I am concerned that is bollox because there is a huge difference between what you can throw at people and the harm it can cause

Every case should be heard and listened to and the verdict/sentence should be determined according to the evidence and any previous history associated with it

Zero tolerance is extremely dangerous and as far as I am concerned complete bollox

 

[EastLondonYid]

Isn't the point, not that he threw a banana peel, but that he threw anything at all. The defence that he "threw the first thing that came to hand in the heat of the moment" implies that he could have thrown anything without pause... Fruit, veg, bottle, hand grenade?

Therefore, a ban. For life? Would depend on if he has previous or not, maybe?

He has no criminal record or thrown any hand grenades or rocket missiles in the past.

He is a 57 year old man who has never broke the law before,, he lost it and made a mistake, he will be punished, but you can't prove that he would throw anything more harmful on the pitch just because he lost it and threw a piece of fruit which was by his feet.

We all have done things we regret, lets not hang him out to dry.

Football clubs are so hypocritical, one fan means fuck all to them and they can ban him for life , when players who are huge assets do wrong they get a slap on the wrists.Don't make me list all the shit players have got away with.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Don't make me list all the shit players have got away with.

DIdn't Fabregas throw a pizza at Alex Ferguson? But TBF it didn't have any 'nana on it.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

He has no criminal record or thrown any hand grenades or rocket missiles in the past.

He is a 57 year old man who has never broke the law before,, he lost it and made a mistake, he will be punished, but you can't prove that he would throw anything more harmful on the pitch just because he lost it and threw a piece of fruit which was by his feet.

We all have done things we regret, lets not hang him out to dry.

Football clubs are so hypocritical, one fan means fuck all to them and they can ban him for life , when players who are huge assets do wrong they get a slap on the wrists.Don't make me list all the shit players have got away with.

Are you absolutely 100% sure he's never thrown a a hand grenade or ever let off a rocket launcher because I was in Croydon last week and there was this guy that looked a lot like him....

 

[Kiedis]

How about we just assume he was rascist, and then give him a four match ban and a fine like John Terry got?

 

[vegassd]

My argument is:

If it was racially motivated - life ban
If it was not - a months ban/6 months/1 season - Whatever common sense and previous cases may determine

If you believe in those sentences you are now policing what is inside a person's head. Two people could commit the same physical crime but you are setting their punishment based on what they were thinking at the time. Surely that is more BS than the idea of a zero tolerance approach to crowd infringements?

I personally think the guy should receive a life ban. Not because of any rationalisation of what he did or which fruit skin was lying around, but because if this sort of incident is seen as any way acceptable (ie. just a 1 season ban) then you open the door for fans to keep pushing the boundaries until somebody gets hurt.

Like so much in life - and so often in football particularly - it will be the actions of the few which affect the many. In this case, previous years of twat fans throwing stuff at players leads to a zero tolerance approach, and now this dude has fallen foul of those laws. It sucks for him but if he hadn't broken the rule he wouldn't be facing the punishment.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

If you believe in those sentences you are now policing what is inside a person's head. Two people could commit the same physical crime but you are setting their punishment based on what they were thinking at the time. Surely that is more BS than the idea of a zero tolerance approach to crowd infringements?

I personally think the guy should receive a life ban. Not because of any rationalisation of what he did or which fruit skin was lying around, but because if this sort of incident is seen as any way acceptable (ie. just a 1 season ban) then you open the door for fans to keep pushing the boundaries until somebody gets hurt.

Like so much in life - and so often in football particularly - it will be the actions of the few which affect the many. In this case, previous years of twat fans throwing stuff at players leads to a zero tolerance approach, and now this dude has fallen foul of those laws. It sucks for him but if he hadn't broken the rule he wouldn't be facing the punishment.

We'll agree to disagree

But if you were being rational you also have to distinguish between someone that has been a lifelong supporter and has been a ST for years and years and travels to lots of away games and somebody that just turns up very occasionally for a bit of 'fun'

A lifelong ban is trivial to some and life changing for others

There will be people on here with opinons and views who never/very occasionally go to games. That is a completely different mindset again...

 

['O Zio]

This is as bad as Brexit. People have lots of different points about this just as they had lots of different reasons for wanting to leave (apart from the major racist one!!!) or stay

My argument is:

If it was racially motivated - life ban
If it was not - a months ban/6 months/1 season - Whatever common sense and previous cases may determine

If we are talking zero tolerance then as far as I am concerned that is bollox because there is a huge difference between what you can throw at people and the harm it can cause

Every case should be heard and listened to and the verdict/sentence should be determined according to the evidence and any previous history associated with it

Zero tolerance is extremely dangerous and as far as I am concerned complete bollox

Like I said before, I don't personally think he should get a life ban, but everyone has known for decades that you can't be seen to do anything that's even remotely construed as "hooligan" nowadays no matter how trivial, so I can understand why he's got the ban regardless of racial motivation or not.

Also there's the obvious point of where abouts you draw the line between what someone has thrown being dangerous or not? Given that throwing stuff at the players if pretty much universally agreed to be something that has no place in the game, it's just easier to say you can't do it at all than it is to start having to decide on the individual dangers of a hot dog vs a banana vs a plastic bottle vs a coin etc.

 

[mil1lion]

This is as bad as Brexit. People have lots of different points about this just as they had lots of different reasons for wanting to leave (apart from the major racist one!!!) or stay

Brexit was actually a poll to determine the percentage of racists in the country. Obviously they couldn't do a poll asking "are you racist?" because typically racists will say no. Instead they came up with a way to get the true results through a "Brexit" vote. In conclusion they determined that 52% of Brits are racist.

 

[LexingtonSpurs]

I don't think there is any scenario where this looks good for your friend.

He threw a banana peel at a black player.

Excuse: He just threw whatever was there, never gave it any thought.

Problem 1: What if it was a bottle? Would he have thrown that? I assume the answer to that is "No, he would know not to throw a bottle at someone!" But, that then begs the question - if he would know not to throw a bottle - at what point would he know not to throw a banana peel?

Problem 2: Why throw anything, at all, on the pitch? Emotions run high - I get that - but there is a very bright line, and you don't throw things on the pitch. He is 50-yo, surely that is a life lesson he has already learnt.

My advice to him would be to apologize publicly, and figure out how to reach out to Aubameyang and apologize to him directly. He should state that he did not intend to offend anyone, but that he realizes that throwing a banana peel at players, no matter the intent, is wrong and offensive. He should apologize to anyone who was offended, and to Aubameyang specifically. He should apologize to Spurs, and Spurs supporters for bringing them into disrepute. He should then say that he will accept any ban imposed and will learn from this.


I think if he does that - and accepts responsibility - he won't get a lifetime ban.