Mangotsfield United FC - Pitchero

THE WORLD OF SOCCERWelcome once again to THE WORLD OF SOCCER – the column that brings you news stories fromaround the globe. This column is all about showing you how The Beautiful Game exists beyond theseshores, sometimes via serious moments & sometimes via funny or bizarre moments, so let’s crack onstraight away with an April story from ARGENTINA:“ARGENTINE FOOTBALL FANS ASSAULT PLAYERS AFTER CUP EXIT” screamed out the newsheadline back in April. So what happened exactly? Well, dozens of fans of the Argentine club HuracanFC stormed the club's changing rooms after a training session & assaulted some of the players! Theyalso stole players' belongings & damaged their cars outside the stadium in Buenos Aires. The maskedfans carried out the attack after a disappointing result which saw 2 nd division Huracan knocked out ofCopa Argentina by First division opponents Godoy Cruz on penalties a day earlier. "We were in theshowers after Thursday's training session when the disguised fans stormed the rooms and threatenedthe players," said coach Jose Maria Llop. He said some of the players had been physically beaten."When we left the stadium, we also found out that 8 cars had been damaged," he added. The club'spresident, Alejandro Nadur, said the fans had arrived in two buses and entered the stadium. “Whatthey did would not have been justified, even if we had lost 15-0 to Godoy Cruz," he said. Quite righttoo, it wouldn’t happen here, would it, but the fans down in some Latin countries in South America area funny lot when they want to be & it’s best not to get on their wrong side!Meanwhile, over in Africa, a referee in KENYA is suing the FA there after his testicles were “manhandled”by an angry manager! Referee Martin Wamalwa has sued the Kenyan FA for over £150kbecause the attack left him being “unable to enjoy his conjugal rights”. The media there describedthe attack as a “dangerous squeeze in the most sensitive of parts”. Ouch! The alleged assaulthappened in a game in September last year, when Wamalwa was kicked & hit by members of theSparki Youth team before being ‘attacked in my private parts’ by one of the coaching staff. CoachDaudi Kajembe came onto the field & assaulted him after a decision to send a Sparki player off. “Hepulled my testicles. He actually pressed them & I was hanging on to him when he was pulling me. Iwas crying & could not get myself out from his hands,’ Wekesa said. ‘I remember Kajembe told me, raising hishand, “I can kill you in a minute,” & came directly to my testicles.’Wamalwa was rescued by a police officer, but slumped to his knees in pain on the pitch before beingtaken to hospital. He is now unable to have any conjugal rights with his wife, he claims, saying it is‘impossible’. Kajembe appeared in court in Mombasa in April on a charge of assault & causinggrievous bodily harm, (he pleaded not guilty) while Wekesa is claiming the compensation from thefederation for his expensive medical bills & the problems the assault has caused him and his wife,Mary. ‘We used to live as wife & husband. Nowadays we don’t, so that’s how the life has changed,’Mary Wamalwa said. And the outcome?? Having Google’d the story in July, it seems to be ongoing!Now returning from pre-season can be hard for many players, whether they’re joining new teammates, or are a little bit overweight or just reluctant to go back to work. But in NORWAY in April,4 th division club Norwegian club side Ny Krohnborg returned from their winter break to find the motherof all obstacles standing in their way – a new ROAD! The players & management turned up for theirfirst training session after the break, ready to press on with training in preparation for their next gamewhen it was clear that a road had been built through the middle of their pitch! Without informing anyof the management at Ny Krohnborg, the local council had gone ahead with plans to build a supplyroad to the new Khron psychiatric hospital on the site of the Helse Bergen University. Unfortunately,for Ny Krohnborg, this is situated only yards away from the first team's home pitch!It is clear that this story is a one-off, but even chairman Radney Thomsen didn't have a clue this wasgoing to happen either. He told the media, “We were stunned when we discovered that the path wascut. The start of the season is around the corner, but no-one informed us. It's downright scary that thevarious sports clubs that use the pitch have not been told. They have "forgotten" to give notice for the2nd time in three years! This is not good enough. I realise that politicians have adopted a plan for thearea. However, it should be possible to safeguard the sport needs in a better way. We feel simply runover," added Thomsen (with no pun intended). More stories from the WOS again soon…..FIELD REVIEW -21