Soccer has ever been a game of sentiments, and this passion towards a game or performance sometimes becomes so elusive that a player doesn’t even mind using violent acts to retaliate for something he did not like about. French club Montpellier HSC is known for its disciplined behavior on field, but in an unfortunate incident last Saturday, its defender Jeunechamp punched a journalist on his face, coz he did not like an article written by him earlier last week. The incident took place on Saturday after Montpellier’s 1-1 draw at Valenciennes. This intense way of retaliation has been shunned by everybody in the business. Even, Montpellier’s president Louis Nicollin has promised to take an action on his player who disrupted disciplinary codes and used physical violence. The journalist being hit by him was Jose Barroso who works for a sport’s daily L’Equipe.
Nicollin informed about his displeasure over this when he was speaking ahead of their next match against Arsenal on Wednesday. He told to Midi Libre “This kind of behaviour is intolerable. This is bad for the image of the club. It does not please me at all, and the club will take sanctions.” Despite being the ruling champion of Ligue 1, current season has not been so good for Montpellier, as it could only win one match along with three draws and two defeats after playing thirteen matches, and Jeunechamp has been its integral part ever since it won the title last season. His violent act seems to be a byproduct of club’s devastating performance this year. Anyhow, on one side, club’s administration is planning to take stringent action against him while Union of Journalist of Sports (UJSF) is also threatening to file a lawsuit against defender even though he has apologized for his behavior.
Soccer players have always seen using abusive comments and physical confrontations with other players or spectators, but this is probably the first time when a player retaliated against a journalist over one of his written articles. Since the matter has now become more serious, there would surely be a disciplinary action against him along with a possible legal court case from journalist’s association. No wonder, if he is imposed with a ban of few matches. This is not the first time such kind of vengeance has happened, coz earlier too, Rene Girard; manger of La Paillade has been accused of delivering offensive hand gestures to Huub Stevens during a UEFA Champions League game. He later disciplined by UEFA for his immoral behavior; the same treatment looks feasible this time too.