Unless you have spent the last few weeks on some remote island where there is no connection to the outside world, if so lucky you, you would more than likely learned of the frankly pain in the neck ferdinand terry lack of handshake affair.
What we will do today though is examine as to what the point of the handshake is, why it’s there and whether it should remain there.
The official description is as follows “In sports or other competitive activities, it is also done as a sign of good sportsmanship. Its purpose is to convey trust, balance, and equality. If it is done to form an agreement the agreement only official until the hands are parted”
The handshake routine was introduced at the start of 2008 as part of the FA’s “respect” campaign, to promote the idea to respect your opponent whether it be a minnow or a giant. This ritual was derided by many fans at the time as the traditional time to congratulate or commiserate with your opponent has always been after the game as a show of respect for his performance.
One of the first to use the ritual to his advantage was Luis Suarez, who had been found guilty of racial abuse during the Man Utd/Liverpool game when he admitted calling Patrice Evra a “Negro” and was banned for eight games. In the return game at Old Trafford in February Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand prompting further outrage and Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA made a strange comment at the time saying it was a shame that it couldn’t have all been sorted out with a handshake, which reinforced many people’s view that FIFA refuses to take the issue of racism seriously.
The John Terry/Anton Ferdinand situation is different to the Suarez incident in that an off duty police officer, who watched the match on TV and can lip read claims that Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand and called him an F****** black C***.
So in comparing the descriptions and the point of the actual handshake along with the events that transpired involving said sportsmen, would you consider Ferdinand right to use this opportunity to make a point, or should Ferdinand be much more a grown up and avoid moving issues to on the pitch and keeping the pitch involved in football instead of personal gripes?