Should Adebayor have been punished?

This evening, Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal has been fined £25000 and given a 2-match suspended ban, for, in simple terms, celebrating a goal. Admittedly, this may not tell the whole story, and players of today are hardly likely to lose sleep over losing money. It does make you wonder what the letter from Soho Square said, though. I imagine it read something like this:

Dear Mr Adebayor,
Following your celebration against Manchester City after scoring a goal, the FA has decided to fine you £25,000, and give you a 2-match suspended ban. If you continue to celebrate after your goals, further action will be taken.
Yours sincerely,
The FA.

To me it seems the FA has set a dangerous precedent. Not long ago, players were warned that if they took their shirts off after scoring a goal, they would be issued with a yellow card. I still fail to see who this offends. The beauty of football is that, in the words of the Ladbrokes commercial, 'everyone has an opinion'. Inevitably, there will be those who feel that Adebayor was stirring up hatred and violence amongst the Arsenal fans, and in the light of the horiffic events at Upton Park, the Arsenal forward should be given a far stricter ban. There is no doubt that what Adebayor did was stupid. But a poorly-timed tackle in the centre-circle is 'stupid'. Yet it does not warrant a ban. Where do we draw the line?

Adebayor will argue that he was celebrating within the confines of the pitch, and he is perfectly within his rights to do so. For me, however, it is the Arsenal fans who need to look at themselves in the cold light of day. I've been guilty myself of shouting horrendous things towards opposition players and fans, but in the heat of the moment, grown men can act like children. A far worse crime, in my mind, is an appalling two-footed tackle on an opponent, or, as we saw from Adebayor on ex team-mate Robin van Persie, a sickening stamp which caused the Dutchman to require serious treatment. In that now infamous match at Eastlands, we saw the best and worse of Emmanuel Adebayor. We saw his mesmerising trickery which showed that the forward is worth every penny of the £25m City paid for him in July. Unfortunately, we also saw the petulance and sheer foolishness that so often dominates the back pages, when in fact it shouldn't. I hope now that both City and Arsenal can draw a line under the whole affair, and we witness a repeat only of the highlights, and not the lowlights, when the two meet again in April.

Ed Higgs.