After Nicklas Bendtner’s goal celebration that got him to reveal his branded underpants, I knew and I was certain he had got himself into trouble, given the fact that UEFA takes the issue of commercialism very seriously.

I knew the Arsenal striker would be in trouble but I never imagined his punishment would be an outrageous fine of €100,000 and a match ban from international competition. “100,000 what” I screamed in disbelief. I thought for once that I didn’t assimilate the news correctly, but then again, I am sane and the news I saw couldn’t be vague.

UEFA fined Bendtner a fortune for lowering his pants. Yes, that isn’t entirely why I was pissed because I am pretty much aware of the sponsorship rules and regulations which UEFA and FIFA enforces with great intensity. Nevertheless, I am particularly happy that this exposed the crass opportunism of those who run the affairs of the global game.

Bendtner-paddy-powerMy provocation is based on the fact that UEFA took almost till eternity to impose a fine of €80,000 on the Russia team over an incidence that allowed Russian fans assault some stewards at the team’s first game in Wroclaw. The same UEFA surprisingly fined Croatia only €105,000 for racist chants its fans directed towards Italy’s Mario Balotelli. This is the third time in 4-years Croatia have been sanctioned for such nasty behavior, and even when the teams manager, Slaven Bilic wanted to imposed life ban on fans found guilty of racial insults, Michel Platin’s UEFA saw a fine of €65,000 as a maximum punishment. This is racism we are talking about and I am sad UEFA hasn’t done enough. What UEFA and Platini have told the whole world is that all sins are pardonable, even racism but there is no forgiveness for sins that evades the sponsorship and commercial rules that governs the game of football.

This is the height of all arrogant reasoning, when a player is banned for displaying his underwear but a team is allowed to play on when its fans toss bananas at black players. This is insane, something is seriously wrong somewhere. UEFA had an opportunity to take a stand against a problem that is poisoning the game. Instead, it chose to focus on what hurts its wallet.

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