Carlton Cole charged over twitter comments

jaykay74

Whatever you say say nothing ! Hope he doesn't use the Big Ron defense that some of his best friends are black

Newsflash FA. It was a friggin joke

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/08/carlton-cole-fa-charge-twitter-comments?CMP=twt_gu

Carlton Cole has been charged by the Football Association with improper conduct with comments he made on Twitter about Ghana fans during the recent friendly against England. The West Ham striker referred to the large numbers of Ghana fans at Wembley Stadium in comments he later deleted.

He tweeted: "Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! Hahahaha. The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St. George's flag!"

The FA today confirmed the charge, saying in a statement: "The FA has charged West Ham United's Carlton Cole with improper conduct relating to media comments. The charge relates to comments made on Twitter during the England v Ghana fixture on 29 March 2011."

Cole, 27, who claimed his comments were a joke, has until 4pm on 13 April to respond to the charge.

Lord Herman Ouseley, head of Kick It Out, football's equality and inclusion campaign, said apparently harmless comments could cause offence. "We continually urge the responsible use of mediums such as Twitter, particularly due to their increasing accessibility and popularity," he said. "What can seem like harmless comments can be deemed offensive by others and lead to unwittingly reinforcing negative stereotyping, including racist ones. We will work with all our partners to ensure that education on what is and isn't unacceptable behaviour, is ongoing."

Aren't his parents from Nigeria/Sierra Leone ?

DB10

what a joke decision

even more evident since he's half African himself. **** sake, the world is turning to ****e

Ordinary man

Have the fa set a precedent for this when they issued a fine to babel? Surely all he can get is a fine

Jelle1880

What a joke.

jaykay74

Ordinary man wrote: »

Have the fa set a precedent for this when they issued a fine to babel? Surely all he can get is a fine

that was pre the respect campaign. the precedent for saying fck was for Micah Richards nothing and for harry nothing same for Rooney himself for England. things change.

DB10

Lets hope it's just a stupid fine. A ban would be disgraceful in all fairness, if I was a Hammer I would be pretty livid right now.

jaykay74

Ordinary man wrote: »

Have the fa set a precedent for this when they issued a fine to babel? Surely all he can get is a fine

The other things is is what Babel said deemed to be abusive/racist ? Don't know what Babel said tbh. If Caole is charged with abusive language then potentially a ban follows. FA are gone a bit mad to be fair.

Gillington

Carlton Cole is 27!?

smokedeels

It was a satirical remark about UK immgration policy made by the son of immigrants, am I missing something, why is he in trouble?

MaceFace

Seems crazy and can't see anything become of it.
It did remind me though of a Kevin Myers piece in the Sindo today.

Maybe someone deems that if a white footballer said it, it would be racist?

Stoopid though.

DB10

MaceFace wrote: »

Maybe someone deems that if a white footballer said it, it would be racist?

I first thought that. Racism these days seems to have been construed into any attack on a black person. Which is terrible.

kryogen

The FA bug me

kryogen

kryogen wrote: »

The FA bug me

I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

Hammer Archer

Sweet Jesus the FA get more ridiculous every single day!!
First they ban Grant for stating the bloody obvious and now they're charging Cole for a joke???

Horsefumbler

Can players in this situation not just say as an excuse that it wasnt them? Like say their a/c gotted hacked or something? How can FA prove otherwise?

Paully D

People are saying it was a joke, but I know I, for one, certainly didn't find anything funny about it.

People emigrate for various reasons. Reasons that the modern footballer wouldn't have any idea about because they're so far out of touch with the modern world.

It's a disgusting and racist comment and should be treated as such. He should have the book thrown at him IMO. Imagine if a white player made that comment!

DOC09UNAM

The FA are really making fúcking idiots of themselves recently.

pjmn

I don't think it's surprising at all that the FA have charged him...

It happens in all walk's of life, when you have an organisation/management team incapable of managing what they are supposed to manage, they take it upon themselves to 'manage' things that have nothing to do with them - this being a case in point...

I think the FA are ... 's

tommyhaas

Paully D wrote: »

People are saying it was a joke, but I know I, for one, certainly didn't find anything funny about it.

People emigrate for various reasons. Reasons that the modern footballer wouldn't have any idea about because they're so far out of touch with the modern world.

It's a disgusting and racist comment and should be treated as such. He should have the book thrown at him IMO. Imagine if a white player made that comment!

Im sure Carlton Cole can relate to the reasons people emigrate, given his parents did and he as such would have been seen as an immigrant by some growing up

I dont see how his comments are racist though, all he's doing is suggesting that the Ghana fans can be identified by their skin colour. Well, cant they? IMO he's used skin colour to differenciate people but has done so only in a descriptive sense rather then being offensive

Helix

Paully D wrote: »

People are saying it was a joke, but I know I, for one, certainly didn't find anything funny about it.

People emigrate for various reasons. Reasons that the modern footballer wouldn't have any idea about because they're so far out of touch with the modern world.

It's a disgusting and racist comment and should be treated as such. He should have the book thrown at him IMO. Imagine if a white player made that comment!

regardless of whether you think that or not, what carlton cole does or says has absoutely nothing to do with the fa. the only thing that the fa should have any say over is carlton cole's work, which is playing football

this utter crap that players can be charged for saying or doing things outside the game in their own personal time is ridiculous, and it's probably not going to be long before a player charged for something like this sues the fa and wins

manic mailman

Bit of a careless remark from Cole but t'is true the FA are takin' the piss. A slap on the wrist should be enforced, nothing more (in this case anyhow).

RandolphEsq

Disgraceful to see a professional footballer making such a casually racist joke. Calling it a joke lends credibility to those that say racism can be a joke.

For example;

Carlton Cole-face

3hn2givr7mx1sc

How can the FA actuallly charge him?
It has nothing to do with them.

parker kent

Paully D wrote: »

People are saying it was a joke, but I know I, for one, certainly didn't find anything funny about it.

People emigrate for various reasons. Reasons that the modern footballer wouldn't have any idea about because they're so far out of touch with the modern world.

It's a disgusting and racist comment and should be treated as such. He should have the book thrown at him IMO. Imagine if a white player made that comment!

I think Carlton Cole is well aware of the issues with race and immigration being a black man with immigrant parents.

It was a harmless joke.

flahavaj

Michael Cole > Carlton Cole.

Helix

RandolphEsq wrote: »

Disgraceful to see a professional footballer making such a casually racist joke.

Why? Why does the job he does make it any more or less disgraceful? (hint: it doesnt, and anyone who thinks it does needs to have a word with themselves)

CorkMan

flahavaj wrote: »

Michael Cole > Carlton Cole.

Andy Cole > Both. #endofstory.

RandolphEsq

Helix wrote: »

Why? Why does the job he does make it any more or less disgraceful? (hint: it doesnt, and anyone who thinks it does needs to have a word with themselves)

You can claim that professional footballers, when not playing football, have no obligation to anyone and people should ignore what they do/say (obviously since they are, for the most part, braindead scumbags) but unfortunately they are seen as role models so kids will listen to what they say and take notice of how they act off the pitch

maximoose

RandolphEsq wrote: »

but unfortunately they are seen as role models so kids will listen to what they say and take notice of how they act off the pitch

I can't stand this argument. Load of absolute tripe. They're seen by PARENTS as having to be good role models, but I dont think kids give two f*cking hoots about what footballers say or do outside of the pitch. Did you when you were young?! I certainly didn't.

And on Carlton Cole, I think this is yet another OTT response from the FA. Harmless joke.

v3ttel

That's ridiculous. It's a lighthearted comment and has nothing to do with the FA? Every time someone cracks a joke they've to look over their shoulder.

Load of sh*t. FAIL

Helix

RandolphEsq wrote: »

You can claim that professional footballers, when not playing football, have no obligation to anyone and people should ignore what they do/say (obviously since they are, for the most part, braindead scumbags) but unfortunately they are seen as role models so kids will listen to what they say and take notice of how they act off the pitch

so what if theyre seen as role models? that doesnt mean the fa should be charging them every time they tell a joke. they are professional footballers, that means they get money to train and play matches. the additional nonsense attached to them by lazy journalists and parents seeking to shift the blame for their misbehaving kids elsewhere is completely unjustified

if they do it on the pitch fine, hammer them. what they say or do in their own personal time should NEVER be interfered with by the FA or anyone else

pickarooney

Either I'm misunderstanding the 'joke' or it's not very funny but in either case I don't understand what the racism angle is.

premierstone

maximoose wrote: »

And on Carlton Cole, Harmless joke.

Ah maxi he's limited yes but thats a bit harsh now

Mitch Connor

Whether it was a joke or not, or funnry or not - I honestly don't see what business it is of the FA's. What right do they have to charge him over this.

Dempsey

Seems the FA will charge people for anything that could interpreted as negative towards them. Very naive comment from Cole in that he should have learnt from what happened to Babel.

RandolphEsq

Like it or not footballer's have a lot of influence. Just because you good people know better than to listen to them does not mean that there aren't certain impressionable people who idolise them off the pitch.

On a separate note, talk about inconsistency with the FA; Rooney gets a 2 game ban for swearing at the camera, Cole only gets a one game ban for calling the Ghana fans illegal immigrants. Seems far more disrespectful.

amacachi

RandolphEsq wrote: »

On a separate note, talk about inconsistency with the FA; Rooney gets a 2 game ban for swearing at the camera, Cole only gets a one game ban for calling the Ghana fans illegal immigrants. Seems far more disrespectful.

I've heard he's going to be fronting the BNP's next campaign against illegal immigrants.

jaykay74

RandolphEsq wrote: »

On a separate note, talk about inconsistency with the FA; Rooney gets a 2 game ban for swearing at the camera, Cole only gets a one game ban for calling the Ghana fans illegal immigrants. Seems far more disrespectful.

Nothing announced yet as far as I know but he is expected to escape with a warning. Don't see 1 game ban reported anywhere.

Mitch Connor

Dempsey wrote: »

Seems the FA will charge people for anything that could interpreted as negative towards them. Very naive comment from Cole in that he should have learnt from what happened to Babel.

but babbel said a ref was biased, I can understand the FA getting involved in that - i don't see what right they have in this case.

Ordinary man

Mitch Connor wrote: »

but babbel said a ref was biased, I can understand the FA getting involved in that - i don't see what right they have in this case.

Will they start getting involved when players are having affairs? Or throwing darts at people? Or shooting people with pellet guns? - not exactly role model behaviour. The FA should concentrate on improving the game and leave the policing to others

Dempsey

Mitch Connor wrote: »

but babbel said a ref was biased, I can understand the FA getting involved in that - i don't see what right they have in this case.

He is a English international footballer making a negative comment about an English international match and the reasons why it was organised. I suppose if he ever wants to play for his country again, he'll pay the fine and show more respect towards English International matches in future when he's not involved.

Why didnt he contest the charge?

Helix

RandolphEsq wrote: »

Just because you good people know better than to listen to them does not mean that there aren't certain impressionable people who idolise them off the pitch

so what? its not in the job description to be model citizens, its in the job description to play football. just because the media has created some kind of frenzy around footballers doesnt change what footballers responsibilities are, regardless of impressionable people who are easily led. their responsibilities are to train well, play well and conduct any club related business they are contracted to do, end of

vicwatson

The FA suck:mad:

vicwatson

Press Association -

West Ham manager Avram Grant has criticised the Football Association's decision to charge Carlton Cole with improper conduct.
Striker Cole has admitted the charge and requested a personal hearing after the FA took action over comments he posted on Twitter during the England v Ghana game at Wembley.
Grant said: "I don't think we need to take it too far. Of course (his apology) should be the end of it. To charge Carlton Cole with racism, I think it was a joke. The FA was a little bit in a fight spirit over the last week. They were looking at Twitter, Facebook and what you said to the referee. This is not the main thing."
The Hammers striker wrote: "Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! Hahahaha. The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St. George's flag!"
Cole, whose mother hails from Sierra Leone and his father from Nigeria, later deleted the message and said it had been a joke.
Grant insisted he had no problem with Cole's tweeting and he suggested the FA should have more important things to concentrate on. There is no precedent for allegedly racist comments expressed via Twitter but Grant does not expect Cole to be banned over the issue.
The most likely outcome for Cole is a warning and a fine. The former Liverpool striker Ryan Babel was fined £10,000 in January after re-tweeting an image of the referee Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt.
Meanwhile, West Ham need their England striker firing on all cylinders in what is shaping up to be a nail-biting climax to the Premier League campaign. But they may be without star midfielder Scott Parker, who would be Grant's pick for PFA player of the year but is struggling with an Achilles problem.
The Hammers tackle Aston Villa at Upton Park on Saturday, knowing a victory could take them out of the relegation zone and to within two points of their struggling opponents. Grant insisted last week's bust-up between Mark Noble and Robert Green at Bolton proves West Ham have enough fighting spirit to stay in the Premier League.
"What you saw from the players in the last game was a lot of passion from the players, a lot of commitment," said Grant. "We are not in an orchestra. This is football, emotion is good. I don't want everything to be quiet. There is a belief. We were last place in the table and many points behind. Now we are in a better position."

RandolphEsq

Helix wrote: »

so what? its not in the job description to be model citizens, its in the job description to play football. just because the media has created some kind of frenzy around footballers doesnt change what footballers responsibilities are, regardless of impressionable people who are easily led. their responsibilities are to train well, play well and conduct any club related business they are contracted to do, end of

Why bother to interview them then? They are lacking education so have nothing inciteful to say

Helix

RandolphEsq wrote: »

Why bother to interview them then? They are lacking education so have nothing inciteful to say

it sells papers doesnt it

you cant honestly think the papers are interviewing these guys because they want to, or in case they say anything interesting?

RandolphEsq

Helix wrote: »

it sells papers doesnt it

you cant honestly think the papers are interviewing these guys because they want to, or in case they say anything interesting?

I think you're underestimating the influence of the media on the people's lives. Carlton Cole's comments could be viewed as this;

"He is a success in life, he says anything he wants, therefore I can say anything I want and I will have a chance to be a success in life"

tommyhaas

Danny Gabbidon facing a ban now too

West Ham defender Danny Gabbidon could face an FA charge after hitting back at the club's supporters on Twitter.




Gabbidon, 31, had been insulted on the social networking site in the wake of West Ham's 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa, which leaves the club trailing 17th-placed Wigan by two points with five games to go.
"U know what, f*** the lot of you," Gabbidon tweeted. "U will never get another tweet from me again u just don't get it do you. Bye bye."
The FA charged Carlton Cole with improper conduct after he made comments regarding immigration on his Twitter account. The West Ham striker has admitted the charge.
West Ham had warned their players to be more circumspect over the use of social networking sites in the wake of the Cole incident.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/908862/west-ham-defender-danny-gabbidon-hits-back-at-fans-on-twitter?cc=5739

What ever about the rights and wrongs of Gabbidon's reaction, I dont see what this has to do with the FA

maximoose

RandolphEsq wrote: »

"He is a success in life, he says anything he wants, therefore I can say anything I want and I will have a chance to be a success in life"

:rolleyes:

Only complete mongoloids would take this mindset from this (non) incident.

Will be interesting to see if the FA take any action against Gabbidon now.

parker kent

RandolphEsq wrote: »

Why bother to interview them then? They are lacking education so have nothing inciteful to say

Plenty of "uneducated" footballers would have plenty of interesting/inciteful things to say were they allowed. The issue is that when they speak honestly, it creates a media storm and leads to potential bans.

The idea that they should not be interviewed because they lack education is a load of pretentious twaddle.