I cannot see this posted anywhere yet, sorry if it has been.
Yet again another England footballer is punished before being found guilty. I am refereeing to the fact that Alan Smith has been dropped from the England friendly for allegedly kicking/throwing a bottle back into the crowd during Leeds’s Carling cup defeat to Manchester United.
In my opinion this is disgraceful, we live in a country where innocence is presumed until being found guilty. This is one of the most fundamental rights of a person. Alan Smith may well be guilty of this, but as we have seen the Rio Ferdinand incident was not a one off and has set an alarming precedent. Anytime an England player is accused of anything they are out of the squad, regardless of whether they are innocent or guilty. Now in this case it is only a friendly match, but what if a bogus claim is made about one of our top players during Portugal 2004? Sound far fetched? It could happen.
Sven has graciously said that it will not affect Alan Smith’s future selection prospects, and I take him at his word. However, it must in some way affect Alan Smith’s future prospects since it has given another player, namely James Beattie the chance to shine and robbed Alan Smith of a potential chance to show his worth.
Anders.


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Still a bit annoying though, he apologised to the girl pretty damn quickly and as far as he, the girl and her family were concerned the matter was resolved and he volunteered to speak to the police!
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