UEFA and Human Dignity

Hot on the heels of the intriguing news that British schools will be relieved of their requirement to teach right from wrong, replacing it with Human Rights, come the ever-helpful UEFA men who are apparently intending to ban 'anyone guilty of insulting human dignity, by whatever means'.

Now I'm all for people being nice to each other, even in sport. I firmly believe, for a start, that the euphemistically-termed 'sledging' should be banned and removed from cricket. It's nothing more than abuse and calling it a test of mental pressure is insulting self-justification. But one wonders just how far UEFA's regulation extends. A few years ago, Sheffield Wednesday had an away kit that was the exact colour of rice pudding with jam stirred into it, and I reckon wearing that was an affront to human dignity.

As a goalkeeper who once misjudged a very hard pitch and a very strong wind, and contrived to concede a header from the half-way line, I am hoping to find that damn APU player and retrospectively get him banned for insulting my human dignity.

Just think: if these regulations had been in force last season, Sunderland could have legitimately sued all their opponents.