Avid Manchester City fan, Stephen Williams sent us the following:
It used to be a proud boast of English justice that one was innocent until proven guilty. Another principle was the judicial decision makers were not influenced by outside comment especially from those in High Office before or during the judiciary process. Obviously the English football disciplinary processes and the people who run our game or are involved in it have never heard of such principles.
Let us look at the way Emmanuel Adebayor has been treated in this respect by the FA, the Premier League, Arsenal Football Club, the Police and the vast majority of tawdry hacks that have put pen to paper in at attempt to produce the most sensational headlines they could manage
Firstly, Mr Ian Watmore FA Chief Executive (and reportedly a big Arsenal fan) comments that the disciplinary commission will be having a good look at both incidents. Which is fine given his role but then he has to add ‘I was pretty unimpressed’. Very reassuring for all those that want an unbiased approach by out footballing judicial masters and rather like the Chief Justice saying the ‘accused will get a fair trial even though he’s plainly guilty of the most horrendous of crimes’
Secondly, we have Richard Scudamore of the Premier League who proved himself totally incapable of maintaining a neutral position before the judicial process was complete by saying that Adebayor has ‘hurt our image and brought shame on the game’. That was obviously intended to put more pressure on the disciplinary commission and perhaps a lynching might be more to Mr Scudamore’s taste. Let’s just hope his sense of justice is never questioned as it would be found sadly wanting.
Thirdly, we have Arsenal Football Club for it was they would sanctioned the usage of their official website for the attack on his fellow professional by Van Persie. Now this is a very sinister development in inter club relationships and is even worse than a player trying to get another one booked by waving an imaginary card in front of the referee.
Now we have a mechanism by which one club is trying to get the players from another banned from games. Perhaps next Arsenal might take a full page advert in the Times or a TV commercial to make their pleas and just think Arsenal FC were once regarded as the bastion of respectability. Sorry Arsenal FC you have been shown as sneaky and stab in the back merchants, particularly as your fans were hardly innocent of using vile and racist chants or of throwing missiles on the pitch and Mr Van Persie’s tackle hardly came from the fair play manual.
Then we have some fellow that was an ex-Metropolitan Police Commander (and probably a rabid Arsenal fan) called John O’Connor, that some hack has no doubt found in a North London watering hole drowning his sorrows. He was quoted as saying ‘I’m sure the police will want Adebayor to be made an example of…hic…’
Thank goodness the current Commissioner of the Met Police is a Tottenham fan or no doubt he would have called it a riot and the boys in blue would have been racing up to Manchester in their vans with batons at the ready and a warrant for Adebayor’s arrest.
We then have Manchester United football club and that bastion of good taste and fair play Piers Morgan throwing in their two penny worth and finally a galaxy of hacks with their sensational copy. If you read them at face value you would think that Mr Adebayor had raped, pillaged and committed treason before blowing up FA headquarters with a nuclear warhead.
What did he actually do…erm celebrate a goal he had scored in front of a crowd of people who had abused him for 70 odd minutes and then allegedly stamp on a player that had tacked him studs up and if he had made contact could have ended his season if not his career.
Please also note that I did say ‘allegedly’ because I defy anyone watching the ‘incident’ at normal speed to say it was a stamp. No commentator did, the referee didn’t and none of the crowd did. It was only when the slow mo was shown that the lynch mob took shape.
From my point of view when you are unbalanced by a studs up tackle, it is hard to keep your total balance and your feet can go anywhere. Yes they can go into a stamp or they can try and avoid your opponents hand or they can accidentally make contact.
The process of justice will decide this but how can it, when the head of the FA, the head of the Premier League, Arsenal FC and our tawdry Fifth Estate have already decided the outcome? Shame on the lot of them and particularly messrs Scudamore and Watmore as they are clearly not fit for their positions and are merely puppets mouthing what the faceless power merchants behind them require.
The most important thing for Manchester City FC is to recognise what your are up against in terms of the footballing establishment and to stick together and to have a siege mentality as you will need it in the months ahead. Chelsea were similarly treated and this proved to be an effective response. I just hope those that run MCFC do not suck up to these people and just accept the over the top punishment that will be meted out and then carry on regardless.
Our time will come and then these people will suddenly become all positive – hideous but true I am afraid. 
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