Sporting fans around the country are horrified after the Westfield FFA Cup. Many of these fans have never watched a football match in their lives.
In what was arguably the best Westfield FFA Cup final in it’s short history, Sydney FC’s extra-time win over Adelaide United was marred by an incident involving the Reds’ Michael Marrone.
Now known as ‘the ball boy pusher’, Marrone was sent off in the second half of extra-time on Tuesday night in Sydney.
Marrone has been slammed from all corners of the country with Today Show co-host Karl Stefanovic even weighing in, suggesting the Adelaide right-back should be banned for months.
United coach Marco Kurz apologised post-match to the ball boy and his father but reiterated that this isn’t in Marrone’s nature.
‘Mickey is a quiet boy’, he said.
‘I can only say Mickey is very down in the dressing room and I think he spoke with the boy after the game.’
(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Marrone did react in the wrong way no doubt, but if we look at the video footage closely, a few things appear that the FFA must take into consideration when handing out any suspensions.
Instead of rolling the ball to the defender, the ball boy refuses to in an attempt to waste time, resulting in Marrone moving forward to get the ball off him.
As he reaches in to take the ball, the youngster turns his back to Marrone, leading to the child falling over.
‘Player-ball boy’ issues aren’t new to the football world, with Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard getting muddled up with one in 2013.
Hazard’s confrontation seemed worse, where he even kicked the ball boy, coming away with a three-match ban from the incident.
When looking at ‘the ball boy pusher’s’ past, he has an almost impeccable record as a defender.
According to renowned German transfer website transfermarkt.com, in close to 200 professional games, Marrone has picked up 27 yellow cards and only one red.
These statistics speak enough about who the right-back is and is one that very rarely is seen making any untoward scenes or problems on the football pitch.
Hopefully the FFA looks at all aspects of this incident and does not fall to media pressure on a ‘lengthy’ ban.
g
Guest
r u ok?
g
Guest
mine too!
g
Guest
agree
g
Guest
seriously?
g
Guest
lol
punter
Guest
Appreciate your opinion, I just saw it differently. I saw poor sportsmanship from ball boy, seen far worse from ball boys. I then saw a grown man push a kid & I agree he was after the ball & not meant to do no harm. However you are not allowed to touch a ball boy, let alone push him over. I then saw another grown man react to a kid being pushed & react in an aggressive manner, but I did not see any Violence. I have seen things like this escalate & then subsides very quickly, nothing to see here lets move on. Red card for touching a ball boy. You may say if this happen in the street, Simon's was a violent act, but so is pushing a young kid to get something he clearly did not want to give up.
Melange
Guest
You’re right, but escalating to the point of violence was because of Simon, in my opinion his was the first violent act. I am not solely blaming Simon, I am saying in the lead up to the melee his behaviour was the worst and should be reviewed by the FFA. No Simon, no violence.
northerner
Guest
I am simply gobsmacked by some of the comments here. In what world do people live, who think it's okay to grab a kid because he's not doing what you want him to do? Yeah, the kid was in the wrong, but the player is not the referee and he's not the parent and he's got no right to grab the boy like that. Whether the bear hug caused the fall or not isn't the issue: he shouldn't ever have touched the boy at all. What is so hard to understand? Is everyone stuck back in the 50s, when a bit of "corporal discipline" on other folks' kids was okay? Cause this is 2017 and it isn't.
northerner
Guest
Of course children need to behave. But what I'm seeing here is a lot of people excusing or minimizing the behaviour of an adult. Surely, the behavioural standards for a grown man ought to be higher, yet the focus is on the kid's mistake, as though that's an excuse for the adult's bigger mistake. Why punish the child, if you're not prepared to punish the grown-up?
punter
Guest
Melange, the incident escalated because the ball boy did not give the ball to Marrone as quick as he would've have liked it. It was further escalated when Marrone rushed it & tried to get the ball & knocked the ball boy over. It was further escalated when Simon rushed in to protect the ball boy & pushed Marrone away aggressively, but did not throw punches. It was further escalated when both benches then raced in. These sort of incidents happen all the time with some sort of gamesmanship in our game. This would not have happened if the ball boy had given the ball to Marrone, this would not have happened if Marrone did not rush in & try to take the ball off the Ball boy, nor would it have escalated if Simon did not rush in & push Marrone away, but to solely blame Simon is wrong.
Gavin R
Guest
This behaviour is not new in any sport with children in such positions.
Melange
Guest
and my children are not brats, they're angels, just ask their grandmother
Lionheart
Guest
he's a child? I don't know how old but if he is a mere child, as you suggest, he should not have been there. He looked in the 12-14 age group to me. Can you imagine a ball boy in the Australian Open tennis or other WTA acting like this kid did? Extremely unprofessional if that is the level we get and accept from our ball boys.
Melange
Guest
I'm not blaming SFC for anything punter. In my opinion the incident escalated because as you said, and I agree, Simon reacted (had to run from a fair distance to do so) and pushed Marrone away aggresively - hence the fight started and hence Simon was the main instigator. If Simon hadn't have done that, I don't think any melee would have occured and you would have seen a contrite player helping a ball boy up, maybe still getting a red. Instead you see a stampede that could have trampled the kid.
Lionheart
Guest
absolutely, I agree, the ball boys must be made aware, if they are not already, of their duties. I suspect they are already made well aware. But there is a massive difference if the clubs are involved in training and selecting ball-boys, as you suggest they are. If that is the case, it should stop immediately. The ball-boys should be identified in the referee 'match officials' group, not in the player or teams group.
Melange
Guest
Just asking the question Andrew. People can have different opinions and I accept that. Just as often people are just plain wrong and if you think your version is similar in any way to what actually happened, I hope you never accept jury duty. What is spruce suggesting Marrone did that warrants 6 weeks. I only viewed the incident on the night, with the benefit of a couple of replays. I saw player go to get the ball; as the player reached for it the boy turned around and shielded it; player reached around to try to grab it; to me they seemed to tumble off balance - I don't believe from the footage Marrone tried to tackle him to the ground. I would have preferred the player call to an official to bring his attention to it. He didn't and unfortunately they fell over. I wouldn't give the player 6 weeks. What is spruce saying Marrone actually did that warrants six weeks.
Nick
Roar Guru
I find it hilarious that everyone seems to be certain that the kid has such a cynical mind.
Nick
Roar Guru
Focusing on the wrong entity Lionheart. It doesn't matter who is providing the ball boys. The point remains the same.
Basil
Guest
Wasn't condoning the players actions. You're right I guess. Children don't need to behave because they are children.
Nemesis
Guest
Super analogy, James. By far, the best explanation of what transpired for anyone who didn't see it, or chooses to ignore the juvenile's behaviour.