Article:How Much of a Suspension Does Shattering Someone's Leg Warrant? Note: Pictures Are Disturbing







I have to shorten this article due to time constraints (meaning I leave for school in 30 minutes), my article was blocked for spam filter for some reason.

This is a hot topic in the world of soccer, as Arsenal forward Eduardo Da Silva had his leg broken into 3 pieces by Birmingham's Martin Taylor. Eduardo will miss the rest of the season and Euro 2008 for Croatia (Brazilian born but decided to play for Croatia). Now, I only have pictures for you, since the fun folks at Youtube yanked every video, but here is how this happened.

In the 3rd minute of a pivotal match for the Gunners, Eduardo was looking to make a run first, then decided to pass the ball, which was given away. Before that happened, Taylor made a dangerous tackle in an effort to poke the ball away, with his cleats high and coming hard at Eduardo's legs. The images says it all. Taylor was kicked out of the game with a red card shown to him, medical staff ran to the pitch, and started to work on Eduardo. Had this not happened quickly, Eduardo could've had his foot amputated. There is still a possibility that this injury is career ending. The whole stadium was visibly shaken, as all the the fans, managers, and players were watching in disbelief.

The match ended 2-2, and Arsenal ended up dropping 2 points, and had their Premiership lead cut to 3 points. But that was irrelevant to the concern of Eduardo, aged 22.

At one point, Arsene Wenger, manager for Arsenal, said Taylor should be banned for life. He then retracted his statements later in the day.

The major question is how long of a ban does this deserve? Alex Holowczak believes 5 is in order (12 games left for Birmingham in the season), Rawbeezeitz says 10 would be fine. My dad believes he should be banned for as long as Eduardo is gone, and he played soccer, and he watched an opponent's leg break, so don't question his knowledge. The pundits are mixed on this situation.

I think it was a stupid tackle, totally unnecessary, and very dangerous. Accident or not, that's at least 10 matches for Taylor. If you shatter someone's leg and only get away with being banned for 5 matches, that's a crime. I understand the whole Birmingham team, and especially Taylor feels sorry for Eduardo and are upset. But a tackle like that ending someone's season and potentially their career has to have some price to pay.

What do you guys think about this?

And best of wishes to Eduardo, who I hope fully recovers and can play again. I wouldn't want to end my career at the age of 22 that way.