The Busquets Affair: Have Your Say!

By: Ade C. | May 13th, 2011

Not all of Wordpress exasperating incompetence of late is going to stop us from giving you a place to discuss the Busquets Affair… I know you want to!

Y U NOT MAKE IT EASY TO LIKE YOU, BUSI?

The facts are as follow:

-On the first leg of Champions League semi-finals between Real Madrid and Barcelona, there was a lot of downright embarrassing behviour from players from both sides, which resulted in red and yellow cards, and a complaint from Real Madrid to the UEFA about the ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’ of several Barça players. (This was after Mourinho’s now infamous ‘¡¿Por qué?!’ rant, which Barça then complained about)

-Madridista TV nutjobs Punto Pelota ‘discovered’ that Busquets had apparently called Marcelo ‘mono‘ (monkey) at some point during the match (then they discovered that someone who works for UEFA also has links with UNICEF, which should tell you a lot about their research). Much discussion ensued by people who had suddenly become a) fluent in Spanish and b) experts at lip-reading.

(Now you too can be a lip-reading expert! Me, I will swear in any court of law that calls upon me as a witness that Busi said, ‘moc moc!’!)

-Pep, in a press conference, said that he would punish a player of his if they dished out racist abuse, but that he didn’t believe they would.

-UEFA rejected Real Madrid’s complaint about the Barça players, and Barça’s complaint about Mourinho’s words. RM announced they would appeal, Barça said they would join UEFA’s own proceedings about Mourinho.

-Yesterday, UEFA opened proceedings against Busquets “on the basis of evidence provided by Real Madrid (video and statement of club and player)”.

-Soon after, Barça spokesperson Toni Freixa went on BarçaTV to say that Busquets had said he’d said ‘mucho morro‘ (you have a lot of nerve) to Marcelo, not a racist insult. More lip-readers flooded the internet forums to discuss lip positioning in the pronunciation of frottal vs glottal pronunciation, or something. (can you tell I’m not a lip-reading expert?)

-Barça announced they will present allegations against UEFA’s proceedings.

-ETA: Oh yeah, Barça vice-president Bartomeu spoke out in what many considered a way of saying that Barça would not report racism if it happened to us… until you remember that the club mantains that Busquets is innocent. Bartomeu is just saying that Barça would not raise an scandal, complain and appeal to the UEFA, about unsubstantiated claims.

It seems stupid to say it, but we will say it all the same: WE DO NOT CONDONE RACIST/HOMOPHOBIC/SEXIST/COMMON GARDEN VARIETY INSULTS. We don’t. We think it’s wrong. We think it should be punished, whoever the perpetrator is, whichever team he plays for, and whether he meant it or just wanted to get a rise out of someone.

Now, we don’t condone witch-hunts either. Players should get a chance to explain themselves. We know that Busquets‘ less than stellar fame precedes him, but even an idiot with a penchant for diving should get a fair trial against an accusation of racism. UEFA aren’t the Platonic Ideal of a governing body, but they’re the best thing we have at the moment, and they will surely make every effort to see this matter solved, if only because everyone’s got their eye on them.

If it’s proved that Busquets made a racist comment at Marcelo, UEFA’s proposed five-match ban looks like very little; the club should also take measures (a hefty fine, suspension from Liga matches, community service in the shape of babysitting Bojan, I don’t know). If it isn’t, then what? People will believe it was true nevertheless; that’s the nature of these allegations.

Have your say if you want to. Point out whatever facts show that I’m just an undercover UNICEF agent / closet madridista / secretly a Busi fan (in spite on all evidence of the contrary). Just remember, KEEP IT POLITE. Let’s leave the swearing matches and unsportsmanlike behaviour for Clásicos and discuss this in a rational manner. I know we can do this better than the sports press!

And follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates on this, and more pleasant news, all discussed in as serious a manner as befits a blog who keeps making Bojan jokes!

Some Related Barcelona Posts:

Category: Barcelona, El Clasico, Players, Team News

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Rahul_Madrid

1. Funny how Barca fans have accused Madridistas of suddenly becoming lip-readers, when all of you are now going on about how Busquets lips came or didn't come together. Who are the "expert lip-readers" now?

2. Many of you have pointed out to the fact that Marcelo didn't react as suggesting that Busquets didn't say anything racist. Uhh... stadiums are loud folks.

3. Why on earth would Busquets try to cover his mouth if he wasn't saying something racist? Players swear at each other on the field of play all the time, it's a common occurence and nothing new or particularly controversial. The fact that Busquets so obviously tried to hide what he was saying strongly suggests he said something racist.

4. We all have our biases, both Barcelona fans and Madridistas like myself. But looking at it objectively.. is there REALLY anything in Busquets' personality that truly leads you to believe that making a racist statement is BEYOND him? Seriously? The guy may be a world class player but he has always been a prick. If you are objective you can't seriously be in disbelief over the allegations of racist comments. No fair-minded person would put it past Busquets. Especially in such a heated and high-stakes encounter as this one, where players may say something in the heat of the moment without thinking.

5. I really hope the coming season's Clasico encounters won't involve any of the diving, insults, conspiracy theories and general bad blood. You may support Barca and I may support Real Madrid, but we both know that these are the two best clubs in the world and they should start acting as such.
Jose P

i'm just amazed by how different the spanish language in spain (castellano) is versus the spanish spoken here in the u.s. mono is slang for monkey thus being considered a derogatory slur. different words...colloquialism.
Nicksincere

I'm just not convinced by Busi's explanation. Why would he cover his mouth if he was saying "some nerve"? Whatever he said, it was something he was trying to prevent exactly what is happening.
Seth

i didn't get mono out of that, like so many have said, the way his lips move doesn't appear to indicate that's what he said. when you say 'n', your lips sort of pucker or form a 'fishy face'. he doesn't really do that. that being said, i'm not a lip reading expert either. he could have said "mono", or "moc moc", "mucho morro" or "there's grass on your shirt". but if he did say mono, i think he should hit with a hard penalty from Barca. that sort of attitude should 100% not be tolerated, which it clearly isn't, but Barca need to make that known. Suspension from pre season, x amount of La Liga games, docked pay, shaving Messi. the stricter the better if this is conclusively proved, if you ask me.
James

"community service in the shape of babysitting Bojan"..... I cannot stop laughing after reading this :D