Free Speech: Robert Huth is made to sit on the FA’s Stasi-styled naughty step
Robert Huth was born in Biesdorf, East Berlin. He’s a footballer about to move between English Premiership clubs, signing for Leicester City from Stoke City, having also played for Chelsea. He’s a big unit, tough and aware his talent lies in stopping goals rather than creating them. He’s witty, too.
On Twitter, Huth has offered the opinions: “Crying on the pitch should merit a three-month ban”; “Let’s all welcome Jon Walters [Huth’s Stoke teammate] to Twitter and congratulate him on learning to write”; and warned one player not to be such a “big girl”.
See. Witty.
But not everyone likes his brand of humour. Here’s the headline on the BBC:
Robert Huth: Stoke defender banned over gender comments
Did he use the banned phrase “man up” in the vicinity of Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool?
Stoke City defender Robert Huth has been banned for two games and fined £15,000 for comments he made on social media related to gender reassignment.
The 30-year-old German had admitted breaching Football Association rules by interacting with a Twitter account that asked users to guess the gender of individuals in explicit pictures.
The FA said the offence was “an aggravated breach” due to the subject. Huth has also agreed to complete a mandatory education course.
Huth played an online game which invites tweeters to say if they think the subject is male or female.
That’s it. But rather than laugh it off and say it was a bit of adolescent-style stupidity, the FA banned Huth, who apologised.
The bit that should make Huth wonder if he ever left the East Germany of his birth is that he will be forcibly re-educated.
Richard Littler has looked at the chairs Huth and other footballers who dare to have a sense of humour and divert from the anodyne ‘role model’ balls can sit upon in the re-thinking suites:
Says Richard: “Took these in Berlin. Seat covers in the old Stasi interrogation rooms.”
No matter what colour you pick, by the time you get up you will think the same as everyone else.
Posted: 1st, February 2015 | In: Sports Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
