Having demanded a review of the Eduardo case, FIFA have backed down after pressure from the FA and the an increasingly frantic Birmingham City manager.
After making one statement saying that players who cripple other players should be out of the game as long as the person they have hurt, FIFA gave in to the FA late on 20 March and dropped the case.
The decision is a massive victory for the “kick Arsenal” campaign run by the media and supported by many clubs who feel it is their only way to combat Arsenal’s style. Arsenal are not the only team picked on in this way but seem to suffer particularly badly because of the sheer speed of their football.
The one positive to come out of the decision is that it might lead some other top clubs to look carefully at the way they are treated in the media and by the players at lesser clubs. This in turn could bring about the arrival of the much anticipated breakaway European League of top clubs – clubs that are willing to play football at the highest level.
For now however Eduardo is left crippled, and Birmingham City and their frantic manager and owner have got away with one of the worst tackles ever seen.
