Lies and deception in football and the real world

JAN 31 — Watching the Oscar-winning movie “Braveheart” recently, where Mel Gibson starred as the great Scottish warrior and leader, William Wallace, one is painfully reminded of deception in the hearts of men.

Wallace, whose father had been murdered by the invading forces led by a ruthless King Edward I, was eventually betrayed by some of the noblemen of Scotland in his fight against the English. That was one example of such deception.

Another was demonstrated in a speech by a crooked English Lord and magistrate, to some Scottish common folk, about how they have “tried to maintain peace and harmony” for the good of Scotland – all this in the midst of their evil methods and ill-treatment, sometimes violently, over innocent people for their own pleasure.

This is what can happen when people who perceive themselves as being superior, or the majority, and more importantly, above the law, start spouting nonsense purely to gain favour or popularity for their argument no matter how ridiculous and blatantly untrue it may be.

Every effort to spread truth, besides fair and balanced views, in this country, on any topic, let alone on the recent protests and violence by some over a High Court decision, seems to be met by a greater surge of lies and deception.

Recently, I wrote about the uproar by those not happy with the court’s verdict on the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, by clarifying the reasons behind the use of the word by East Malaysians and the reasons for The Herald to use it too. You can read it here – “A letter to a Muslim friend” .

I stressed that the many different ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak, respectively, had been united all their lives and for generations past in their use of Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia as the common language.

I also specifically said that never in the history of the Catholic church in East and West Malaysia, nor of any other Christian denominations, has there ever been the use of the word “Allah” to mean Jesus. This was an absolute lie.

Yet just three days ago, at the expense of all Malaysian tax-payers, an officer with a government body on the Islamic faith addressed 800-plus government civil servants during working hours (who is responsible for this negative value in the so-called KPI, I wonder), and continued to spread this lie. You can read it here – “Muslim overseers blame Christians for ‘Allah’ row”.

But lies and deception are not limited to government officers, leaders, politicians and other VIPs in this country or anywhere in the world for that matter – former US President George W.Bush and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair come to mind, but that is another whole long story in itself.

Yes, it happens in the world of football too.

Tonight, Arsenal take on Manchester United (MU) in a key contest for the English Premier League (EPL) title.

This encounter has been one of the most anticipated match-ups every season over the past 13 years in the European football calendar. After all, both teams feature a variety of European talents besides some stars from Africa and Asia too.

Anyone who wants to claim some superior right of calling one team more English than the other, should just look at the colour of their skin and stop being hypocrites. It is simply racist to talk about teams being “pure and true” to English tradition in the melting pot that is England.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is famous for saying “I never look at passports when I select or buy players”. However, many MU, Liverpool and Chelsea fans, who want the race category in local forms to be removed, gladly taunt Arsenal fans by the same token of wanting race to be part of football. Idiots.

Wenger’s counterpart in MU is the reason I brought up the topic of lies and deception. In a famous encounter back in April 2003, Alex Ferguson accused Arsenal defender Sol “the Second Coming” Campbell of “elbowing” MU striker Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.

The incident happened nine minutes from the end. Campbell was given a red-card, which Ferguson insisted was correct, and despite Solksjaer wanting to testify to the FA in the subsequent appeal that he knew it was an accident, Fergie refused to allow his player the right to correct an injustice.

As a result of the failed appeal, Campbell was handed a 4-match ban. Happening in the closing weeks of the season, with MU chasing the Gunners for the title, the loss of a key player derailed Arsenal’s effort to retain the title.

Yet, last week with MU defender Rio Ferdinand clearly looking behind him, then elbowing his ex-teammate Carlos Tevez, in the heated Carling Cup semi-final clash at Old Trafford, the red-nosed one was willing to defend Ferdinand’s innocence. Gimme a break! Most deservingly, Ferdinand has been handed a 4-match ban – though some say it should have been more for clear intent in his action.

With Campbell back in the line-up for tonight’s match, it makes for a nice full circle back to that season when Arsenal narrowly missed on a second consecutive League & Cup double.

In case you are wondering, yes, I will be biased with regards to this match. I can’t wait for the Gunners to take MU by the neck, ram a few goals down their throats, and all the while giving a performance of the season to drown out MU fans for the rest of the year.

Anyway, the feeling of superiority and being above the law by Ferguson and his men, is similar to that which is demonstrated by certain quarters in this country.

Okay, I know it is only a game, only sports, blah blah blah . . . but hey, when you want to see equality and fairness in all things, why should the serious business of football be not included.

Finally, if these so-called authorities on religion, or of any religion for that matter, want to take up an issue, I’d like to suggest the banning of football jerseys, T-shirts and other apparel or merchandise depicting an image of Satan. I’m sure most of you will agree with me on that.

*The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.