UK & World News
- 26 January 2013, 2:17
Eden Hazard Ballboy Clash: FA Charges Player
The Football Association has charged Chelsea's Eden Hazard with violent conduct following his clash with a Swansea ballboy.
The FA said the normal three-match ban that is a mandatory sanction for violent conduct "was clearly insufficient".
The charge came as ballboy Charlie Morgan briefly broke his silence around the drama.
The 17-year-old tweeted that the last 24 hours had been "crazy", adding he had spoken to the footballer and would not be pressing charges.
The FA said: "The FA has charged Chelsea's Eden Hazard following his side's League Cup semi-final at Swansea on January 23, 2013.
"It is alleged that Hazard's behaviour in relation to a Swansea ballboy, for which the player was dismissed in the 78th minute, constituted violent conduct whereby the standard punishment that would otherwise apply was clearly insufficient.
"The player has until 6pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013 to respond to the charge.
"The FA will remind all clubs of their responsibilities in ensuring ballboys and other personnel around the pitch act in an appropriate manner at all times and will liaise with competitions accordingly."
Hazard claims he was trying to wrestle the ball away from Morgan in Wednesday's Capital One Cup match at the Liberty Stadium.
The ballboy had apparently refused to hand over the ball after it had gone out for a goal kick towards the end of the semi-final second leg game.
Hazard was sent off by referee Chris Foy, and Chelsea will not appeal his red card for violent conduct.
The red card carries a minimum three-match suspension.
The match ended 0-0, with the Welsh side going through to the final 2-0 on aggregate. The kick affair has since become a worldwide talking point, including on Twitter.
South Wales Police is following up complaints from members of the public in Sussex, Kent and south Wales.
Swansea will not face any action over the teenager's role in the controversy, as any complaint of time-wasting is considered an issue to be handled by the officials during the game.
what do you think?
Nigel L
Shame on the F A and on Chelsea for not appealing the red card. Have they charged the " Boy " with bringing the game into dissrepute ?
Roy Benham
Don't agree with that but swansea should be charged as well
Derek Milligan
He is 17yrs Nigel ... more like a Ball-lad , if he was my son i would have told him to say sorry to eden & swansea fc .
Nigel L
I know he is 17 thats why the word boy is in inverted commers and i understand he has said sorry to Hazard its the F A that needs to grow up.
shirley sutton
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.
Derek Milligan
I am certainly not a Chelsea supporter , but i will tell you what that ball lad was a disgrace , to be honest watching his antic's it looked more like a video from " you've been framed", Swansea should face the FA on mis-conduct charges , Fair point also Eden should have stood back and asked the ref to add on time ,but his natural instinct was to get on with the game which you expect from a pro-footballer .
Diane Rogers
Why should he be charged, the ballboy was out of order he knew exactly what he was doing. If you look at the footage of him and the other two lads walking away the one on his left is grinning and saying something to him.The player was trying to get the ball. Ih he had really kicked him i'm sure daddy would have taken it further
Angharad Fennell
Daddy is probably embarrassed his kid is such an immature idiot after all the strings he pulled to get him there!
Steve Marshall
I think everyone should take their football heads of and THINK what happened, at that point in time Hazard lost it and kicked at a minor, I know he's 17 but in the eyes of the law he's still a child, no one out there can say for 100% that Hazard didn't catch the lad and there's only 1 person that knows for sure and thats the boy, I'm sorry but in this day and age you can't lash out at someone cos you can't get what you want, obviously the FA have to act on this because you can't have a professional acting like that every time someone wastes time, end of really.
Roy Benham
Well said steve, diane, are you mad????? Yes the lad is a disgrace but hazard should not of done what he did, yes he was trying to get the ball but there was no guarantee he was only gonna get the ball, he should of complained to the ref again about time wasting, you can't condone what he did...........
Diane Rogers
No quite sane ta Roy, have you never done or said something you later regret. The only witnesses is the lad
Roy Benham
Yes I have diane and I took the punishment and admitted I was wrong, yes ha has said he is sorry but at the end of the day what he did was wrong, no matter what his intentions were, he acted inappropriately, he shouldn't of tried using his feet to get the ball from under the lad, I agree that the lad is in the wrong, I agree that hazard did intend to get the ball back put the way he went about it wrong, and in your last reply you have hinted that you believe he was wrong, so I ask you, what is the correct way of dealing with hos punishment??
Diane Rogers
Roy, to a footballer the 3 match ban is a punishment but I do agree with others if it had been Suarez goodness knows what would have happened,Swansea should be punished in some way as well
Andrea Hill
my husband was there and he.thrilled swansea going to wembley. he said hazard should never have gone near the boy, as goal keeper was getting it to do a goal kick.
Diane Rogers
Andrea, my mum is Welsh South Wales but good luck Bradford
Roy Benham
Diane I agree with you if it had of been suarez people would want his head, what I'm saying is that he did do something wrong, we all do it, does the fa need to investigate?? Maybe, 3 match ban seems fair but the fa seems to feel that it needs investigating, what I will agree with you is that swansea needs to be investigated as well, if the ball boy hadn't been stupid then this silly situation wouldn't of happened, and for the record, I have always admired and feared hazrard (being a united fan) wish he'd signed for us
Diane Rogers
Roy, think a three match ban for the sending off is enough. The FA are probably only investigating to tick the boxes. PS good luck FULHAM
Roy Benham
Diane, I kind of agree with you, 3 match is enough and the last thing I want to do is make enemies on this forum, I just feel/felt that people were attacking the ball boy now and not the player, the ball player is very wrong but hazard was also wrong so my argument was why is the fa wring to investigate??
Angharad Fennell
Hard one to call this. The boy should have something done against him as he was clearly in the wrong. However this does not excuse violence. He was violent towards the boy. Frustrated he may have been but the boy is 17 and clearly immature and stupid. Both as bad as each other? Could he not have appealed on the pitch and made it clear the boy was holding the ball and obstructing play? Before you all attack about rules and shizz, i am no good with football. But a footballer kicking a boy for a ball seems childish as well? Think adults could have been adults in this situation? Don't think he should be banned from playing though. Fine maybe?
George Clement
Angharad, you think he's immature at 17, the loony politicians are wanting to give them the vote at 16.
Angharad Fennell
Good lord...I hadn't heard that. As If they'd know where to go. Sorry but I don't think some young people are mature at 17 (I'm making myself sound so old). I stress some but I mean when you see a 17 year old acting like that you do roll your eyes and think immature idiot.
Steve Marshall
Angharad your right it is a hard one to call even though the boy was stupid the player shouldn't have kicked at him, a fine is no good as these players earn millions every year, I think the red card and 3 match ban is fair but I can see the FA adding another couple just to make a point.
Angharad Fennell
Wish I earnt millions a year.....anyhow. I'm being lambasted for not supporting the home team and being called traitor for suggesting the boy was a douche. Which he was. Deffo shouldn't have been kicked tho
Lorgar Aurelian
They can drive at 17. That's far more scary.
Steve Marshall
Hahaha soooo true lorgan, scary thought as I have 2 that'll soon reach that age.
Steve Marshall
Predictive text LORGAR.
Mark Hussey
If it was luis suarez you would call for life ban both were wrong
TIM x
Torres should have retrieved the ball . . He would have missed . . :-D
Derek Milligan
The point is being missed here ! if swansea had put a proper ball-boy in place ie 12,13,14yr this wouldnt have happen , this lad was the chairmans son ? basically he thought he could do what he wanted , May i add it is seen to be an Honour to be a ball-boy. Fact
Baker101
The new footage shows clearly that the ball came out from under the boy after the kick. While he may have caught him with his boot, it was clearly his intention to kick the ball and not the boy. Something should be done to the ballboy. I'd say fine his father, but he's stinking rich. If I were Chelsea, I'd take the club to court for compensation. All the wages they'll be paying Hazard during his suspension, when they're not getting a performance on the pitch from the player, should be claimed back. I don't know how this ballboy thing works, but I'm sure they must be taught how to act when doing the job. You'd never see them do something similar in Tennis, they have to stick to strict rules.
Steve Marshall
I know the ball came out but you have to question the way Hazard got the ball, is it ok for me to use a baseball bat to get the ball out of your hand, no is the answer to that.
Richard Jackson
watch the full video, there are plenty on youtube - the ballboy is clearly in the wrong and then he is play-acting to get the player sent off He has a promising future in the "beautiful game" by the looks of him, everyone does it these days. Football is rubbish now for all the fakery and winning of penalties - whatever happened to skill?
Steve Marshall
I think we all know the lad acted stupidly but the issue is about how Hazard retrieved the ball, both were wrong and unfortunately Hazard is the pro and should have known better.
shirley sutton
I give up on this site - had comment removed yet again and there was nothing writing with it
Lorgar Aurelian
What have members of the public in Sussex and Kent got to do with it?
TIM x
All I can say is if I kicked one of my work colleagues or customers I would be instantly dismissed. But hang on! He's a footballer! You can't sack him! So we suspend him for a few games instead. The lad was a complete idiot but you can't sack him either! Not the chairman's son . . Everything is wrong here.
marcus pick
This boy tweeted b4 the game saying that hes gonna cause some timewasting so watch this space.......hes a spoilt little s#@t whos daddy no doubt being a millionare whos has connections at the club... gives him everything he wants..........!!!
Brian Holmes
He kicked the ball.
shaun spencer
Well my team could do with with several ballboys like this at times.though how they could hold onto the ball for ninety mins im not sure.
matt smith
Mountains and molehills spring to mind. And some of the comments are laughable. The lad wasn't hurt, they've apologised and forgot about it. Leave it.
field_pete
A footballer charged with violent conduct for kicking a football. This is beyond pathetic.
paddyj
The ballboy should be charged with interfering with the game, they are there to keep the game flowing by returning the ball imediately, not to keep hold of it and slow the game down. Little brat!!
Diane Rogers
4:20pm on 25/1/2013
Absolutely disgusting
shirley sutton
4:33pm on 25/1/2013
I agree Diane
Roy Benham
4:43pm on 25/1/2013
Why??
shirley sutton
5:45pm on 25/1/2013
I did put why but had my comment removed
Andrea Hill
9:05pm on 25/1/2013
shouldnt of kicked him.