'Fair play' goal in Italy under investigation

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swappysnipes

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Legal and ethical questions surround Ascoli's decision to allow Reggina to score an unopposed goal in an effort to balance out a previous incident during an Italian second division (Serie B) match on Saturday.
Early in the first half, Reggina's Carlos Valdez pulled a muscle and attempted to kick the ball out of play so he could receive treatment. Oblivious to those intentions, Ascoli's Vincenzo Sommese intercepted the ball and set up teammate Mirko Antenucci for a goal as Reggina players protested.
A brawl ensued and Reggina defender Andrea Costa was sent off for hitting Sommese. Once the fury subsided and play resumed, Ascoli, sitting in the relegation zone at the bottom of the Serie B table, stood still to allow Reggina striker Biagio Pagano to score an uncontested goal in an attempt at fairness.
Ascoli's gesture did not bring them good karma for the rest of the match, though, as they lost 3-1 even though Reggina was a man down.
Following the match, Ascoli manager Bepi Pillon (who, curiously enough, managed Reggina last season) said:
“We made the decision [to let Reggina score] all together, there is no single person responsible for it.“We were locked in the changing rooms for two hours after the game to avoid the protests. There is too much exasperation in Italy, too many interests that force you to look only at the results. It’s not fun like this.”
​
The justifiable anger of its fans is not all Ascoli has to worry about in this decision, however. An investigation has now been launched to decide whether Reggina's free goal constitutes fair play or a breach of the rules and whether the fact that the referee did not stop Ascoli from scoring in the first place makes their goal legal.
So what seems to have been a gesture of kindness becomes a source of controversy that could have lasting effects. Who knew that allowing an opposing team to score (without trying to stop them) in a professional league match would cause such a problem?



Source: Yahoo sports and Football Italia
 
Fair play to them for letting Reggina score a goal after they scored after someone went down injured. If only teams in England did things like this.
 
The other team didn't notice though soo I think they did the right thing.
 
There have been plenty of examples of this in England, and the team is usually praised for fair play.
 
Fair play to them i say. I can see why the fans were not happy though.
 
The one big moment of fair play that I personally remember was when west Ham where playing a team (I think it was Southampton, not too sure) and the Southampton keeper was injured in a collision with Paolo Di Canio I think, Di Canio had more or less an open net but he stopped, picked up the ball and called for medical assistance for the stricken keeper. The game ended 1-1 if I remember well and Di Canio was praised by all at the time. So I can't see why this is much different and why there has to be an investigation
 
That's the incident. I wasn't sure about the exact details of what happened so thanks Stuart
 
Jamie F said:
The one big moment of fair play that I personally remember was when west Ham where playing a team (I think it was Southampton, not too sure) and the Southampton keeper was injured in a collision with Paolo Di Canio I think, Di Canio had more or less an open net but he stopped, picked up the ball and called for medical assistance for the stricken keeper. The game ended 1-1 if I remember well and Di Canio was praised by all at the time. So I can't see why this is much different and why there has to be an investigation
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This was in Italy, not England, they have a different mentality when it comes to cheating and fair play (bar a few individuals).
 
That language for the Dutch video is horrible, I had to mute it, but yeah play like this isn't in the rule book but it's fair play.. It should be allowed. Investigating things like this is ridiculous, why don't they spend there time on teams that cheat like Henry and France, and less time on teams actually helping out the opponent! At least it shows sportsmanship is still alive, all be it if it's only in Italy's serie B.

eddlad said:
This was in Italy, not England, they have a different mentality when it comes to cheating and fair play (bar a few individuals).
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I really couldn't see Juve, Inter or Milan doing that.. So I wouldn't say it's the Italian mentality, probably just the honest mentality of the very few professional footballers out there.
 
I'm sure there was one where the game got abandoned at 1-0, and in the replay the team that was losing in the original game gave the other team a free goal.
And I think there was an incident where one team was trying to give the ball back to the opposing goalkeeper and accidentally scored, so the team again gave a free goal to the other team.
England don't frown upon it, because it is Fair Play!
However, in England, we've never had a major match fixing scandal, so maybe that is why it is being investigated.
 
I thought FIFA wanted fair play. Why are they looking into it if they want footballers to be fairer?
 
Chris said:
I thought FIFA wanted fair play. Why are they looking into it if they want footballers to be fairer?
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Isn't it the Italian FA looking in to it? Probably because of the Italians terrible domestic history for cheating lol

Also there is nothing unethical about what they did.. How can this be posted as "Legal and ethical questions surround Ascoli's decision to allow Reggina to score an unopposed goal"

I mean come on, the term ethical means to be "fair and right" this is probably the most ethical thing Ascoli could have done, right?
 
Chris said:
I thought FIFA wanted fair play. Why are they looking into it if they want footballers to be fairer?
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Where does it say anything about Fifa? I'd guess it's the Italian FA looking into it.
 
Saw the same thing happen at an argyle game a few seasons back.

Cant remember exactly what happened, but the other team scored direct from a throw in (or something of equivelent sillyness), there were some protests from the Argyle players, no fights or anything. Then the other team let Plymouth just walk down the other end for mickey evans to score a free goal.

They should do this when the ref has made the wrong decision, and the players have a way of correcting it without having to rule out the goal.
 
Well done to them I say. An investigation is ridiculous.
 
eddlad said:
Where does it say anything about Fifa? I'd guess it's the Italian FA looking into it.
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I didn't say that. I meant that FIFA was encouraging footballers to play fairly. It seems stupid to have an investigation when what they did was the right thing.
 
Aannddyy said:
Isn't it the Italian FA looking in to it? Probably because of the Italians terrible domestic history for cheating lol

Also there is nothing unethical about what they did.. How can this be posted as "Legal and ethical questions surround Ascoli's decision to allow Reggina to score an unopposed goal"

I mean come on, the term ethical means to be "fair and right" this is probably the most ethical thing Ascoli could have done, right?
Click to expand...

There are actually more than one way to interpret 'ethical' in this case.

1. Right and wrong, dealing with morals and morality.
2. Being in accordance with rules or standards for right conduct or practice, esp. the standards of a profession.

So in this case both meanings are at odds with each other.
 
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