Just when it seemed Chelsea’s reputation couldn’t sink any lower, along comes ‘’Ballboygate.’’
The Football Association’s disciplinary body is set to open a fresh file on the English club after winger Eden Hazard was sent off for kicking a 17-year-old ball boy while attempting to retrieve the ball toward the end of a League Cup semi-final match against Swansea.
The Belgium winger has apologized to the ball boy – and will not face criminal charges – but will be handed a minimum three-match ban for violent conduct, depriving Chelsea of one of its top players.
Worse for the European champions, however, is having face up to further accusations that its millionaire players are out of control, soon after the racism scandals involving John Terry, Ashley Cole and Mikel Obi that blighted 2012.
‘’It is an extraordinary incident,’’ former referee Dermot Gallagher said. ‘’There’s no defence for that. Someone said it was borne out of frustration but you have to accept it. It was an extreme, but you can’t have that at a football match.’’
The incident sparked a flurry of activity on social networking sites and induced imaginative headlines in British newspapers, such as ‘’Ed Case,’’ ‘’Occupational Hazard’’ and ‘’Boots of Hazard.’’ BBC radio has already been referring to it as ‘’Ballboygate.’’
Many ex-professionals have reacted with sympathy for Hazard, who was attempting to get the ball back into play as quickly as possible with Chelsea needing two late goals to force extra time in the second leg. The match finished 0-0, with Swansea progressing to the final 2-0 on aggregate.
‘’I’m not saying it’s the correct thing 2 do but when in the heat of the moment u just want the ball,’’ Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar wrote on Twitter.
