Robbie Keane has his hit, roll and rifle routine, Tim Cahill likes to punch the corner flag, but a santa hat … well that just crosses the line when it comes to acceptable goal celebrations.
When Jonatan Germano nodded home in the 12th minute of the Melbourne Heart’s 2 – 1 win over the Brisbane Roar on Friday night he pulled old Saint Nic’s headgear out and put it on.
Referee Kris Griffiths Jones didn’t see the funny side of it and gave Germano a yellow card.
The whistleblower was only following FIFA rules so you can’t really blame him. Players are banned from revealing advertising, religious or political slogans after finding the back of the net, but surely there needs to be a little wiggle room with law 4.
It’s … only … a … santa … hat!
Who was offended? Of bigger concern for the Heart should’ve been how Germano managed to play professional football with the hat hidden for 10 minutes.
He must have been fairly confident of scoring. Would he have shown the same commitment to the cause in the 89th minute?
The rule does have some merit. The previously prolific flow of messages on t-shirts was risky for officials around the world.
A player could create headlines with a permanent marker, but there should be exceptions.
The Australian sports market is tough to crack and even tougher without a sense of humour.
The fact Brisbane has now lost two games in a row is a great talking point for football fans who find tactical numbers like 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 interesting. I confess I’m one of them, but for everyone else the fact a man wearing a santa hat was punished may not project the best image.
It’s not the FFA’s fault because the rules are black and white. It’s not exactly the biggest issue facing the game either.
If men with deep pockets showed up on Frank Lowy’s door step offering to fund a team in western Sydney under the proviso all the players got to wear festive hats, I’m sure he’d welcome them into the A-League with open arms.
Sport worldwide is slowly being cleansed of characters. Far too often a character is thought of as someone who goes out on the drink all night and rocks up 10 minutes before a game to score four tries or score a century.
But there’s a difference between a character and a nuisance. The issue is that shades of grey exist in life, but not in most rule books.
The NFL is one competition that has been able to find a more acceptable blend. They’ve cracked down on post touchdown antics, but only those deemed excessive.
In a recent match Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson mocked New York Jets opponent Plaxico Burress by pretending to shoot himself in the thigh after he’d scored a touchdown.
Burress has only recently returned to the NFL after serving a 20 month sentence for illegal gun possession. He went to prison after accidently shooting himself in a night club in Manhattan three years ago.
The incident sparked a response from NBC’s Bob Costas who also commented on the nature of post touchdown celebrations in the NFL.
“For those of you too busy keeping up with the Kardashians to notice, we live in a culture that in many ways grows more stupid and graceless by the moment,” Costas said.
“Sports both reflects and influences that trend, so on playing fields everywhere, true style is in decline while mindless exhibitionism abounds.”
“There is a difference between spontaneous and/or good-natured displays of enthusiasm and calculated displays of obnoxious self-indulgence,”
“That train has already gone so far down the wrong track, there’s probably no turning back. So our suggestion here is a more modest one. Hey, knuckleheads, is it too much to ask that you confine your buffoonery to situations that don’t directly damage your team? Week after week, game after game, we see guys who think nothing of incurring penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, costing their team’s valuable yardage, even late in close games.”
Germano’s santa hat stunt cost his team because he was shown a yellow card and was therefore in danger of being sent off.
But it was, as Costas says, a good natured display of enthusiasm.
If we’re forced to lose that then sport will be poorer because of it.
adam214
Guest
Jebus why don't we take the decision out of the refs hands and if any celebration is deemed excessive or offensive it decided by a tribunal and fines and in extreme cases suspensions are handed out. That's what happened with the idiotic celebration by the bills player in reference to plaxico burress of which im sure he found it funny after being humiliated and put in jail for 20 months for it.
Walt
Guest
It was good and it was very Australian too. Great publicity for the Heart too. But rules are rules, dont make exceptions just because it is Christmas. What next, player pulls a vuvuzela out of his shorts?
Philip
Guest
Luke, your summary is wrong and a misquoting. It wasn't "as Costas says, a good natured display of enthusiasm". It was, as Costas says, "calculated displays of obnoxious self-indulgence”. Germano could have cost the team dearly if he picked up a second yellow for a match incident. Your drawing a long bow to suggest the game will be poorer because we don't allow Santa hats in shorts!
damo
Guest
"Of bigger concern for the Heart should’ve been how Germano managed to play professional football with the hat hidden for 10 minutes." Exactly what i was thinking. GOod thing it wasn't the one i wore to my work christmas party, covered in bells and tinsel, pretty sure he would of been found out much earlier. Isn't FIFA missing something here to? I agree with Stu in that the card was more off putting than the celebration; if you want bums in seats, shouldn't we be encouraging spectacle?
Kasey
Guest
Tom, there is a very recent example of a ref showing he important common Sense Law of football. The ref was widely praised for this http://www.wcyb.com/sports/29659022/detail.html http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/billy-sharp-son-tribute-scores-goal-lifts-shirt-photo-2855006.html Of course very soon after this you had the bru-ha-ha between FIFA and the English FA/Parliament over the wearing of a poppy on the shirts of the 'Home Nations during International Friendlies on or near Remembrance day.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I just hope Labinot Haliti doesn't have a massive season.
Cpaaa
Guest
Fifa dont even follow their own rules, so that would make Kris clown Jones a muppet, a party pooper, a spit bucket, and most importantly the christmas grinch. Who has been pulled up by the cops for doing the wrong thing only to be warned, "dont do it again", stay safe, have a nice day? this was one of those situations.
TomC
Guest
I mostly agree with the article. The rules are absolutely clear and it was stupid of Germano to pretty much guarantee himself a yellow card, but at the same time I thought it was hilarious and it was good to see some colour in the game. It'd be nice if there could be some leeway, but then again there needs to be consistency. So I guess I'm pretty torn on this one.
mds1970
Roar Guru
The yellow card for a player that takes his shirt off to celebrate is standard - a player not wearing the team uniform during game time will always be penalised. I don't have a problem with the card. Yes he was wearing his uniform, but also something else. I'm sure Germano was expecting a card. But it was funny.
Stu
Guest
Just as good natured as feigning injury or blatantly wasting time? I think the tactics employed by the Heart did more damage to the image of the game than the yellow card. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.