Should soccer players be given privacy & how the media has affected soccer.

Recently there has been a string of news reports that have surfaced, which present the private lives of famous professional soccer players for the whole world to view. Most of the time these reports mainly showcase the wrong doings and such of the soccer players. Many household names such as, Rooney, Crouch, Terry and Ronaldo have all been followed by the infamous paparazzi and have been caught having sex scandals, breaking the law, and even peeing in a dark alleyway. Now among the soccer world opinions are divided on whether these should be allowed to be published. However, before we look at this we need to first understand why this is so important. There are two vital reasons why these cases cause shock waves in the footballing world. The first reason is that these footballers are role models to hundreds of millions of people around the world, myself included. Now if one were to read reports about their idol breaking the law or doing morally and ethically wrong things, then one would subconsciously start lessening our moral standards to fit these into it. We would slowly start believing that it is all right to do such things. It is embarrassing for any soccer fan who has lived through at least 4 generations of soccer stars to witness such a thing. I cannot count myself as one of these people, but my grandfather who has watched the first world cup till now, the 20th world cup, can testify to this. During the 1970s to 1990s one would have to wait for years before they could see two events of soccer players breaking the law, such was their discipline. However now, it is a weekly event, where some soccer player is found to be taking drugs, having numerous affairs, running betting rings or connected to the mafias. This has in fact become so mundane that people hardly even care nowdays.

Recently a famous soccer player and also ex-coach, has given his view stating that having your life published by the media and having no privacy is the price to pay for international superstardom and the money that is received out of soccer. He gives some very good points and states how the paparazzi is a double edged sword. If one were able to have a clean image and play breath taking football then you could manipulate the paparazzi and spread your fame and influence wider. However having any secrets or problems and trying to hide them from the paparazzi is nearly impossible with nowdays modern technology.

I believe that the media is starting to take over football with it affecting the results of games. Rather then just the players playing the game and deciding, the media has now assumed total control over football. It has the ability to make a player shine or destroy his reputation. It may not seem like it, but one great example of how the media can affect someone is through the story of Wayne Rooney. He netted 34 goals last season a personal high for him, and made himself into one of the stars of the world. However after a ridiculously poor performance and several sex scandals, both of which were widely focused on by the press for weeks, he has had trouble scoring and has only managed one goal in the last 5 games. The media also has the ability to sway the minds of easy supporters who believe everything they read. Therefore in conclusion I think that the media is getting to much power over the footballing world and the real attention has been drawn away from the game, and more towards the drama.

Baby discovered in plane toilet bin

Recently a baby was found abandoned on a flight toilet bin. The baby was found after the mother gave birth in the toilet of a Gulf Air Jet flight from Saudi Arabia to Philippines and dumped the baby in tissues in the toilet bin. The baby was discovered on landing, and although it suffered some horrible trauma it made it to the hospital where it received emergency treatment and is now stable. The mother is still unknown, but it won't be too hard to find out who the mother is, considering that the list is severely limited based on the passengers on the plane.

I despise people who do this kinds of acts. Simply, they are selfish and cruel people. Firstly if they are not ready for the baby, then they should not have had sex or should have at least used a condom. But, what is most shocking about it, is that after 9 months of carrying the baby around in their stomach, they have no problem with dumping the defenseless baby in some trash can or other worse ideas they can think of. Now, firstly no one has the right other then the baby to decide whether it should live or not. Neither the parents nor anyone else can say that the baby should die, or shouldn't be allowed to live. No one has the right to play God. Another reason that this should not be allowed to happen, is that even if the baby were to survive, most of the babies would end up living a miserable life, always having the weight over their heads, that their mother didn't care if they died. This would lead the baby down a dark path, increasing the risk that the baby would grow up to become a drug user or some other criminal.

The mothers also have a choice, if they were willing to leave the baby, then they should simply just give the baby to an orphanage or some other charitable place, where the baby will be able to grow up in a healthy environment.

Dumping a baby in a trash can, is never justifiable under any circumstances and in my personal opinion anyone who does this should be charged for attempted murder or murder.

Justin Bieber Escapes Arrest

I was just surfing on the net reading the daily news on soccer, when this interesting headline popped up at me. "Justin Bieber after hitting police with a water balloon". This grabbed my attention immediately because Justin Bieber has built his reputation by being a "clean and nice" guy. This was totally unexpected by someone like this, so I clicked on the article and continued to read on it.

Apparently Justin Bieber was "horsing" around with members of his staff before a concert and threw water balloons and two police officers who were there for crowd control. One hit a police officer in his gun holster, while the other hit the police officer in his chest, but did not burst. After this he ran back to his trailer and hide there letting his body guard convince the police officers not to arrest him. The police issued a statement, which says that although the behavior was inappropriate, no further action would be taken, and a report was not even written about the incident.

I am disgusted by this for two reasons. My first reason is that Justin Bieber ran away and hid in his trailer after throwing the balloons at the officers and let his bodyguard do the talking for him. This just proves that he has no guts and that celebrities now days are getting more and more pampered and egotistical. The number of celebrities, who are nice in real life is dwindling down to a very small number now. Does being a celebrity and being famous make them any better then us? I think everyone has their own opinion on that matter, but in my personal opinion celebrities should not be given any special treatment, in fact that should be treated more harshly then the rest of the people, because they are role-models and idols to millions of people around the world. What Justin Bieber is doing, is giving a very bad impression on what is right and wrong to all of Justin Bieber's fans, especially since they tend to be very young.

The second reason that this article infuriates me is due to how the police handled the situation. If this incident has occurred but instead of being Justin Bieber, it was instead some young kid who was unknown to the world I doubt he would be let of so easily. I think now days with the celebrity status, many celebrities belief themselves invincible and able to do whatever they want. They do not think of the consequences of their actions, but rather just do whatever they feel like.

I think the police force should have been a little more harsher with Justin Bieber, although it was only a water balloon, it gives a bad idea of what is right and wrong to Justin Bieber's fans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/7999255/Justin-Bieber-escapes-arrest-after-hitting-police-with-water-balloon.html