Well UEFA finally ruled on Chelsea’s behavior after the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona and I am surprised at how lenient the bans are.
The media is portraying UEFA’s ruling to hand lengthy European bans to Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa as harsh. I disagree.
Drogba was given a six-match ban, but since the last two games are suspended for two years making this a four game ban for his foul-mouthed confrontation with referee Tom Henning Ovrebo at the end of their Champions League semi-final defeat by Barcelona in May.
Chelsea full-back Jose Bosingwa got a four-match ban – with one game suspended for two years, making thisa three game ban for labeling Ovrebo a “thief” after the game.
The day after the semi-final I wrote that Chelsea have to face UEFA’s Wrath over their conduct. UEFA’s showed that their campaign for respect for referees is a PR move only.
If UEFA President Michel Platini was serious about making sure that referees were respected he would have given Drogba and Bosingwa more than 4 and 3 game bans respectively.
Also, what happened to Michael Ballack? Ballack if you remember became incensed that a penalty was not given in extra time and aggressively chased the referee on the pitch and TV replays seemed to indicate that Ballack bumped the referee. Did he get off scot-free here?