The Jonjo Shelvey Scandal: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Jonjo Shelvey scandal is indeed a hot topic on the lips of Geordies around the world right now.

Speculation, emotions, and hearsay, and of course the couch attorneys are buzzing on their keyboards.  This article is to look at things objectively from multiple sides, based upon what we do know.

Bryan Nelson wrote a great article earlier giving a synopsis of the situation and a little bit of personal view for us all to reflect on.

Bryan Nelson Article Here: Jonjo Shelvey Faces Huge Fine and Ban

This article is going to be contrast to any side, just to add some hot sauce to our thoughts.

As a prerequisite (before reading further), racism has no place in sports, and athletes should be held accountable for their displays of racism (if proven).

First off, no one really knows what Jonjo Shelvey said (if anything at all), except for Jonjo and Roman Saiss of Wolverhampton (or anyone else within earshot).  There have been many rumours and chatter about what might have been said, that does not help the situation at all.  We must be patient and await the legal channels to take their necessary steps.

Secondly, the Football Association and its tiers are extremely diverse in all ways: Race, religion, language, national origin, cultural practices, and family mixes thereof.  With that, comes the intent of the verbal initiator, and interpretation of the recipient.

Proving intent is extremely difficult and private (in the mind), and interpretation is subject to change based upon life experiences, personality, and mood at that current time.

The Wolves game was already emotional due to Newcastle United wanting to win, yet not playing too well.  Emotions were high either way, so this means intentions and interpretations are mixed in the static of emotion and action of the game.  We really can’t speculate.

Thirdly, there may have been a language barrier to where Jonjo was emotional and said something harshly that Roman did not receive properly and felt violated.

Roman speaks primarily Arabic and French, yet Jonjo is a pure Londoner (who are often interpreted as brash speakers).

Misinterpretation often happens a lot in our daily lives with friends and acquaintances (especially between husbands and wives).  Until we find out what was really said, the speculation continues.

Lastly, FIFA and the FA are basically different tiers of the football pyramid, and we all know about FIFA fining the UK national teams for displays of poppies which are purely in remembrance of the fallen allied troops in WWI and WWII.

FIFA interprets the poppy as a “political statement”, to which we should question their “interpretation” as to what was said concerning Jonjo Shelvey on that day.

In conclusion, speculation is awry right now and we must keep it to a minimum. But with that being said, if any racial inflammation was initiated by Jonjo, he needs to take the punishment on the chin and learn by it.