The bite of the week

That unusual piece of drama that unfolded in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup semi-final game between Kingston College (KC) and Jamaica College (JC), where the young KC defender Khalifah Richards inexplicably bit the JC forward Shadane Lopez on the shoulder, continues to drive the local sporting discourse. The game was live on cable television, but for those who might have missed it, social media did the rest as this bizarre incident dominated discussion spaces across the local football fraternity and beyond.

As is the tendency with these hot-button topics, opinions are split as to the seriousness of this offence and what punishment should be meted out to this youngster. One colleague suggested he be banned from playing football for life, while another opined he needs professional help and counselling in order to first understand why he indulged in this deviant behaviour, and to ensure there is no recurrence of same.

This is a massive overreaction to not that big an issue, in my opinion. These things will and do happen in the cut and thrust of competitive football at all levels. When that adrenaline gets pumping and the passion and emotions begin to run high, these and other infractions will occur in the heat of battle, which is why there are referees in charge of the game, and disciplinary panels and jurors in place to administer the requisite punishment as per the laws of the game, and the rules of the respective competitions. End of story. There is no crisis or imminent collapse of our nation because of the indiscretion of one overexuberant young footballer.

Memories of Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 FIFA World Cup flashed to mind upon seeing this latest incident, and it is fair to assume that high-profile incident influenced the actions of the young ‘Fortis’ player in those fleeting moments.

The game officials, in their wisdom, or lack thereof, issued yellow cards to both the biter and the victim, who did retaliate by swinging an arm that did make contact to the opposing player, which could be deemed violent conduct.

Disagreement

Not for the first time, football fans would have disagreed with the decision of the referee. On the face of it, biting an opponent and conversely, striking an opponent are both conventional red-card offences, but again, the world will not end and Jamaica will not be a consumed by a tsunami because a schoolboy footballer bit another and the referee failed to oblige with the requisite punishment.

Jamaicans do have this undeniable tendency to be self-righteous bastions of the moral high ground. This incident provides another opportunity to punish and punish and punish in the quest for that illusive moral utopia.

The fact of the matter is that these are still young amateur schoolboys who remain impressionable and naive as they seek to navigate their space in this feisty, competitive world.

Reasonableness seems to have gone through the window as the calls for swift and extreme justice take centre stage.

No doubt, the KC football fraternity, and, indeed, the wider KC family, will have some stern words with the young footballer. The governing body for high-school sports, ISSA, could conceivably intervene with reasonable sanctions of their own.

The extent to which some people are exhibiting an insatiable thirst for blood is a mere index of the type of overreaction which typifies modern Jamaica. It is unlikely that the players involved suffered any serious injury from this event. For God’s sake, let us take the necessary action and move on. It was simply what it was, the undisputed BITE OF THE WEEK.