Football is the king of sports. It’s entertaining, full of surprises and excitement. It also has memorable moments to offer. But it has its downsides too. Very often, you find players indulging in dangerous tackles, at times leaving rivals seriously hurt. We’ve seen players compelled to leave the pitch on stretchers or with heads in bandages. It’s far from “sportif”. You also have players deliberately pushing their rivals forcefully and pretending that they were playing fair.

We see victims falling to the ground face forward and sustaining severe injuries. You can see them bleeding. In the Germany v/s Sweden match (on Saturday 23rd of June), we all saw a Swedish player leaping over a German player on the ground and the latter receiving full in the face a blow with a foot. The player was injured in the face and was bleeding. He had to be accompanied out of the pitch.

Sometimes, in spite of their injuries, players have to continue playing as if nothing is the matter. Injury affects a player’s performance, especially if he happens to get a blow with the elbow in the region of the eye or a brutal nudge in the ribs. It’s not at all pleasant to watch players contorting with pain.

We also see players holding their opponents by their shirts to prevent them from moving forward. This provokes a fall with nasty consequences. It also gives rise to heated arguments between them. Others have to intervene to calm down things. Such behaviour cannot be approved, especially if it involves seasoned players. We expect them – not only in this World Cup but in any match anywhere in the world – to play the ball instead of the player.

We’ve seen players struggling wildly with each other to gain possession of the ball. In the process, they get injured. They’ve to be given medical aid. It’s disappointing to watch a key player leaving the pitch at a crucial moment. His absence impacts on the morale of teammates and may even affect the results.

Playing recklessly is sanctioned by the referee but in general certain challenges on opponents are considered as routine. The referee allows the match to go on in order not to break the rhythm at which the match is unfolding.

Overly aggressive

When football goes too physical, the fun is spoiled. Some people may argue that aggressiveness is a vital part of the game and that without it, football wouldn’t be football. Fierce tackles, punching in the chest or in the face, dangerous dribbling, attacking from behind to stop a player from scoring, clashing of heads in the air, collisions, tripping a player up or playing a dirty trick on someone may appear to be normal ingredients of a spectacle to some people.

But the truth is that they go against responsible playing. It’s not true to say that everyone is interested in the brutal side of football. We do have many who find violence in football unacceptable.

We’ve witnessed players rolling and twisting on the ground, clenching their teeth, puffing out their cheeks or hiding their faces in their hands to express intense pain. The camera pans on the player and we’re, for a few minutes, exposed to the darker side of a popular game.

A brilliant footballer performs intelligently and plays his role within a team effectively. He is in full control of himself, psychologically and emotionally. He plays a ball, not a player. He enjoys playing and you, in turn, enjoy watching him. You share his passion. You derive joy in watching him play.

He loves football and doesn’t want to lose his fans by playing rudely and maliciously. He plays to entertain you, not to bore you or infuriate you with illegal challenges like literally crushing the foot of a rival.

During the Portugal-Morocco match (Wednesday 19th of June), wesaw a player lifting his shirt to show injury marks on his right flank. Today players are crazy about winning by hook or by crook. Competition is becoming stiff. Everyone comes in the stadium keeping alive their chances to win the trophy. The pleasure of playing and keeping the audience amused is sacrificed to the physical aspect of the game.

Violation of rules

When you see a professional player getting up with difficulty after having been vigorously thrust to the ground and balancing a threatening finger right under the nose of a rival, you wonder if it’s football you’re watching. There shouldn’t have been such nasty scenes in the first place. Football has to be pleasant, not full of bitterness and gore.

What pleasure is there in knowing that your favourite player won’t be able to play the next match because a hot-blooded opponent treacherously wounded him? The sufferings of the injured players don’t end when the match is over. They continue suffering in the dressing room or the infirmary for a long time to come.

The way players wrestle with each other to possess the ball gives you the impression that they’re trying much more to impress their coaches or the audience than to demonstrate skill. They want to show how determined they are to gain the ball.

I like football but I dislike the flagrant fouls and the gratuitous violence that go with it. Football is a contact sport but often certain players are overly and unnecessarily aggressive in their approach. They intentionally harm opponents and thus violate the formal rules of the game. The yellow card and the red card are clear indications that the players are not playing the way they are expected to play.

Maybe they think that their aggressive manner of playing will get the crowd into the game or that people would like them better. They think they’ll be liked for their fighting spirit. But their getting “dirty” is hardly approved by the majority of spectators. No one in his right mind would approve any sort of violence.

When children and adolescents watch acts of violence in football, they may grow up believing that it’s natural to play this way. If the best of players can play hazardously and cross the limit of what is permissible, then, why can’t they? Violence in football is sending the wrong signal to them.

There’s nothing like an ideal match. A good match for me is one that gives me many delightful memories, not painful ones, to cherish.