beatthatrat said:
Yup, for whatever reason Wenger is stirring the pot in a big way in European football. I don't remember anyone of similar status currently involved in the game raising these questions before. He's forcing people to take notice and acknowledge there's a problem in the worlds biggest sport.
It's a bit strange that people here apart from gooner think this isn't noteworthy. Here's your Bassons, your doping jesus getting stamped on by the authorities for breaking omerta. All he's getting here is scorn.
Agree.
I watch the Sunday Supplement with football journos most weeks on Sky and never have I heard them touch the topic of doping. That was until last week when a significant section of the show was dedicated to discussing what Wenger said.
Yesterday I had a brief interaction on twitter with Ian Prior of the Guardian and responded to what he said by querying whether other clubs were subjected to the same level of testing and if it was just Arsenal, it smacks of attacking the messenger. He said they were already going to pose that question to UEFA about this.
People can dress it up all they like, but Wenger's comments highlighting this issue has got even some journos finally asking some questions. While it's nowhere near still the desired level and I wouldn't hold out much hope of it being a prolonged one, Wenger should be praised for doing so and at least impacting it some bit. Instead in here, it should be deemed as some basis for criticism with the bizarre notion that he's the next coming of Paula Radcliffe. Having your tummies tickled by one too many doping scandals doesn't mean you paint everyone with the same brush.
The game gets criticism when there is silence on it, and yet it's the same when someone raises his head and addresses it. I just don't get it.
I agree tribalism may play a small part but on the part of some cycling fans, I think it's nothing more than a real desire to want football to be painted as dirty if not dirtier than cycling. I don't know if that's the case, but in tacking this topic, I'm interested in the substance, not the hyperbole and innuendo.