Melbourne player red carded over piercing
Reuters - Thursday 23 June 2011, 06:39
MELBOURNE - An amateur football player fell
foul of the referee, and could incur the wrath of his mother,
after failing to prove he had removed a piece of jewellery from
an intimate body piercing during a match in Melbourne.
Aaron Eccleston, who turned out for Old Hill Wanderers
against Swinburne University reserves, was handed a second
yellow card for the offence in the first half of last Sunday's
match.
"During the first half, our player was struck in the groin
by the ball, and left the field to receive attention," said a
statement on the club website.
"At this point the referee became aware that he had a body
piercing.
"He subsequently received two yellow cards, firstly for
re-entering the field of play without the referee's permission,
and secondly for privacy reasons being unable to prove that he
had removed the piercing."
The latter end of the incident was captured on amateur video
and posted on the Internet.
Eccleston, who describes himself on his Twitter page as a
"disillusioned Mansfield Town fan, down under," was shocked at
how quickly the story had spread.
"I don't think my mum's going to be particularly happy!" he
tweeted.
The club accepted the yellow cards had been issued "in
accordance with the laws of football" and apologised to the
referee for the "negative attention that may have been generated
by this unfortunate event".
The laws of football forbid players from wearing "anything
that is dangerous to himself or another player [including any
kind of jewellery]."