Today we bring you one of those head scratching moments from football that strains the old moral compass to the breaking point. During last nights Ajax fixture AZ Alkammar’s keeper Esteban Alvarado was attacked by an Ajax fan and controversy ensued. The Alkammar keeper, seeing the attacker running towards him, promptly kicked him in the chest and brought him to ground, before kicking the bejeezus out of him.
Following that little run of play, the referee sent the keeper off for violent conduct. The Alkammar manager then led his team off the pitch in protest and the match had to be abandoned. Noe when you see the clip, it looks like the keeper was clearly in the wrong as he took self defense a bit too far. Of course, Esteban argued that he was purely acting in self-defense, but it didn’t wash with referee Bas Nijhuis:
“I understand that Esteban was defending himself, but he walked to him (the supporter) and kicked him multiple times. He could also have walked away.”
An apology has since been issued by Ajax via their website, confirming that the fan in question will be banned for life:
‘This was a terrible incident and we deeply regret it and offer our sincere apologies. The supporter has been handed over to the police. It was a 19-year old man who was probably under the influence of alcohol. He said he hated the AZ goalkeeper and had therefore attacked him.”
So when taking into account this wasn’t just a pitch invader, but a drunken hateful lout running at Esteban, was it really wrong for him to make sure once he was down he stayed there?
Posted by: Matthew Wall, editor, soccerprose.com
