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It has been termed something of a mutiny, and Roberto Mancini of Manchester City finds himself with a lot on his hands after City lost to Bayern Munich by two goals earlier in the week.
The pictures of a gesturing Mancini, attempting to get Carlos Tevez to play with the chips down, are remarkable. Tevez steadfastly refused. Teammate Pablo Zabaleta was also involved, swearing at Mancini.
Initial suggestions that this reluctance were all something of a misunderstanding have been dispelled by the manager, and perhaps those keen lip-readers keeping an eye on what exactly was being said by the fuming participants.
If Mancini gets his way, Tevez will not wear the shirt again, cooling off till he is sold off in January as damaged and discredited goods.
“If a player plays for Manchester City in the Champions League and earns a lot of money and does this, then he can never play for me again.”
Whether the indignant manager gets his way remains to be seen. The management will have to be content with Macini’s handling of the situation.
Witnesses will have to come forth, though the event was entirely filmed. For now, Tevez has been suspended for two-weeks, and has been slapped with a fine worth a staggering £500,000.
There is no doubt more will come out in the wash. Tevez may well feel hard done by, after what he feels to be inappropriate treatment handed out to him after his role behind City’s FA Cup victory and Champions League qualification.
The irony remains that, after having been prevented from playing at stages of the City campaign, he refused to get on the pitch when asked.
Then again, in refusing to do his job, he was simply joining thousands across the country who make the same argument every day.
His club supporters have come to despise him and there is little doubt that many will be happy to see him go. This is not say that the player’s error of judgment will land him a permanent reputation of unreliability.
He is hardly the tainted goods that he is being made out to be. As Des Kelly for the Mirror (October 1) muses, ‘Real Madrid are probably reserving a seat for his flight to Spain during the January transfer window right now.’
Nor should it be forgotten that Tevez is one in a string of players who have done something similar – claiming they were not ‘in the right head-space’, demonstrating a combination of wiliness and childlike indignation.
A querulous Wayne Rooney held Manchester United hostage to his fortunes, and duly profited with an increased salary.
Luka Modric, at Tottenham Hotspur, refused to play, expressing a desire to join Chelsea. It was hardly a behaviour that landed him a severe punishment. On the contrary, as Kelly points out, he got an extra £60,000 a week, plus bonuses.
William Gallas went one further – in playing, he threatened to score an own goal against Chelsea if he was not allowed to exit the club.
A lifeline of sorts has been Tevez’s way – from Suleyman Kerimov, billionaire and owner of Russian Premier club Anzhi Makhachkala.
Kerimov fancies himself as an empire builder of sorts. First, he has his club. Now, he wants his own variant of the Galacticos – so far, Samuel Eto’o and Roberto Carlos of Brazil have swelled the ranks.
Tevez’s sin was his lack of discretion. Had his overindulged and pampered ego been vented in private, away from the public glare, he might be facing a different response today.
Now, instead of attempting to make amends, he is threatening to litigate. Against the offices of Sheikh Mansour, with a trillion dollar fortune to back him, his sanity may well be questioned.
Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Cambridge.
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