Beware Calciopoli 2006: In The Wake Of Sutton United Goalkeeper Wayne Shaw Pie Scandal,British Football Needs To Guard Its Neck From The Threat Of Illegal Gambling That Almost Killed Serie A

Wayne Shaw put a wager on not only his job, but also his reputation on Arsenal's visit to Gander Green Lane for Emirates FA Cup knockout round tie. He is 46, has battled weight and depression. There simply isn't room for upward movement  as regards his career as a footballer. In any event, he been at the periphery of the action. Maybe life happened and he chose the pie eating stunt as his ode. Maybe he wasn't alone nor doing this for himself only,  being the chum he is, he was taking one for the team. No doubt this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for everyone at the non-league side and one takes opportunities as they come. Or maybe, just maybe, Wayne acted under the suffocating press of gambling money in football.

Today's article was to be a public apology to a man who is not only bravely battling depression, but is admirably fighting mental disease stigma: Sutton FC reserve goalkeeper Mr. Wayne Shaw. In promoting this blog's last post on twitter and facebook, we made a point of shinning the light on abyss that the FA cup match between Arsenal and Sutton FC was.

The caught-on-camera pie eating incident involving Sutton goalkeeper Wayne Shaw played right into the make belief narrative that we the media had fortuitously (not)built. The sight of a heavy (far from football physique) Wayne Shaw chomping on a pie delivered the perfect narrative. Here were guys like you and me living it out on the biggest night of their lives. It is these kind of unbelievable nights that push you to push the kids to pop some grand kids just so you can: " Has mummy ever told you about 20th February of 2017 when granddad and his buddies gave the mighty Arsenal the fight of their lives?"

The Apology That Never Was

When some of us captioned images that told in 1000 words the tale of the pie eating goalkeeper, we were sold to the narrative, lost in our imaginations of what it felt to be a Sutton player that night. Then surfaced some murmurs about infringement of FA rules. Not willing to let go of the feel good, we readily swattered the inconvenient truth as one would do a feaces carrying fly. Party pooping we reckoned; I mean these guys are not pro footballers. I no nothing about FA rules. Certainly not more than is necessary to play a decent game alongside the banker and baker against the plumber and lumber from across the valley on Sunday.

We wanted to apologize and stand with the everyday Joes that Sutton FC represented. In there somewhere, we had come to learn that goalkeeper Wayne Shaw has been battling depression and that the Sutton FC gig did wonders for his fight against mental illness. We wanted to apologize for hanging to dry a guy who clearly deserved a break. His day in the sun. Then like a rude dream, there it was.

Betting Money and Football

There is Swahili proverb: Hayawi hayawi huwa. It translates to:  It's not happening, it's not happening ..happens. No need burying your head in the sand as that which is doubted eventually comes to pass. This is how a Ugandan fellow ( non-native Swahili speaker no less) chose to end the conversation. I don't remember how we had spoken, but a couple of Guinness each had ensured this talk between strangers kept on flowing.

It was at the end of that gutless Stamford Bridge loss to Chelsea when for the umpteenth time, Arsenal's attention turned to the last remaining excitable moments of another underwhelming season: St. Torringhams day and the 4th place trophy battle. What started off as the ever so therapeutic Arsenal Tv -esque postmortem of a torrid Arsenal performance morphed into a deep convo on the effect of money- more so gambling/betting money- on the beautiful game.

In the context of the manner of the Chelsea defeat, in heat of  the moment, I found him probably more wounded then I was given his incredible arguments that drew comparisons between pre-2006 Serie A and today's British game.  This Ugandan gooner (now friend) of mine went as far as suggesting that the litany of Premier League bad refereeing decisions that were on the rise; the sometimes suspect FA decisions with game scheduling, player and manager punishments;  amounted to implicit evidence that the British game was under siege from money. Gambling money.

Martin Luther King, Jr The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at time of challenge and controversy. The Sutton FC- Arsenal FA cup match presented such a moment for the Football Association. Being the meeting of unlikely partners, it was inconvenient. The allegations of a betting/gambling scandal make it uncomfortable. Nassim Bentaleb in his bestseller Antifragile notes that it's such moments that determine if a system will thrive or perish. With the pie eating stunt it remains to be seen if cracks are beginning to show for the British game.