No need for spitting at all!
If someone came up to you in the street and spat in your direction just what would you do? You would have every right to call the Police as it is or can be be common assault depending on how bad the situation gets.
So now when a footballer spits at another player on a football pitch there can only be one outcome; a red card! Well done to Mark Clattenberg for seeing West Brom's Popov Goran spit at Kyle Walker. It was that quick that most of the crowd didn't see it! The victim in this case was then booed for the rest of the game; I can only presume that the crowd didn't know the real reason the player was sent off till after the game.
I'm very pleased that his boss Steve Clarke never tried to defend him; no excuse at all!
This does open up a bigger question; do footballers need to spit at all?
It's a sport that players give their all to and yes sometimes they need to spit but surely not half as much as they do at the moment. The sad thing is it's all caught on camera and the pictures go worldwide. They can go to the side of the pitch and do it.
I found this from the Heatlh Protection Agency;
"Spitting is disgusting at all times. It's unhygienic and unhealthy, particularly if you spit close to other people. Footballers, like the rest of us, wouldn't spit indoors so they shouldn't do it on the football pitch. If they are spitting near other people it could certainly increase the risk of passing on infections. Certainly, spitting is a nasty habit that should be discouraged – and it should be discouraged by the clubs."
The thing that bugs the hell out of me is these players are looked up to by children of all ages and if their role model can do it then why shouldn't they?
"But Mum the number fourteen for our team does it so why can't I?" How do you answer that?
Footballers have a responsibility to uphold and I personally think if they are caught spitting at an opponent more than once they should face a longer ban; it's the only way both footballers and the fans will know how disgusting this nasty habit is.
