Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. The playground maxim resonated this week as legitimised thuggery battered football's already bruised reputation as a civilised spectator sport.
The gruesome scenes of baton-wielding barbarism during Manchester United's Champions League tie against AS Roma in the Stadio Olympico, followed 24 hours later by Spanish police preserving the peace like savages, have served to strengthen Rangers' plea for leniency in their ongoing investigation from within the hushed corridors of Nyon, Switzerland.
Michel Platini, as the freshly appointed president of UEFA, will require the incisiveness of his handsome playing career to safely negotiate the first, perhaps biggest, crisis of his privileged position.
To be blunt, the images of anarchic bloodshed have put in to perspective the raging debate on sectarianism in Scotland and, most pointedly, at Rangers' front door. Sir David Murray, in undersigning the pre-emptive self-policing initiative, has willingly acknowledged that his club are in peril as a result of an imbecilic pocket of travelling fans. The question for UEFA as they ponder the evidence from Pamplona is in determining the more serious crime: singing wounding songs with the intent to offend, or maintaining order like henchmen at the gory command of a despotic leader?
Those of even a basic level of intelligence have learned to disregard bigoted bile as the currency of the uninitiated and, mercifully, the era of blood on the streets has largely been eradicated. The seriousness of the problem in Scottish society does not correlate with the belated public debate which intensified as soon as UEFA took its own overdue moral stance.
Yet the wanton abuse of largely innocent supporters this week has highlighted one of the game's more graphic ills.
Quite rightly, the subject of anachronistic religious discrimination and bigotry has been raised by UEFA as unacceptable in the 21st century sporting arena, but the governing body must show equal, if not greater, contempt for the brutal treatment of hundreds, even thousands, of visiting spectators by Italian and Spanish police.
This week, the football world has conveyed little sympathy towards a traditionally chaotic English following. The poorly-paid and profoundly disgruntled Italian police and carabinieri simply cleaned off their batons, shrugged their shoulders and declared this week's antics as a part of the job. It is hardly surprising. England has long been tarnished by the hooligan element that has left its own trail of debris as a consequence of their loutish existence.
This time it is different and the adverse reaction has caused a groundswell Rangers should rightly attach themselves to. UEFA must radically revise and harmonise their security and safety procedures. To ignore the recent evidence as a mere blip will be to the detriment of their tournaments' prestige and integrity.
Spanish authorities were forced to remove their rabid police force from the away section of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville but not before one disabled Tottenham fan was allegedly "set upon" amid the rioting.
Right-minded Rangers fans depict similar tales of indiscriminate beatings during their recent visit to Pamplona to play Osasuna. Already in debit with UEFA for sectarian chanting in Villarreal last season, they had feared the police brutality would have been secondary to fresh claims of sectarianism. This week's developments will test UEFA's priorities. Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, has already sought the assistance of the first minister, Jack McConnell, to lend political gravitas to their defence, although he is likely to find tackling Alex Salmond a more pressing engagement than Platini. Bain also pointed to "dreadful incidents in Bratislava, Stuttgart, and Villarreal" to embolden Rangers' claim that the unsightly scenes in Spain were not entirely of their supporters' volition.
UEFA, of course, do not have the jurisdiction to take law enforcement into their hands. Yet they can and should remind the associations of Italy, Spain and other notoriously heavy-handed countries of their responsibilities to maximise safety and not exacerbate incidents within stadiums. Rather ominously, William Gaillard, UEFA's ubiquitous media spokesman, has already cautioned that the organisation "is a football authority, not a law and order authority".
But the glamorisation of the game simply cannot be sustained in such an incendiary environment. UEFA must send out a strong message that actions speak louder than words.
And another thing . . .
Reverting back to a top division of 10 teams may make sense, especially when dovetailed by the inception of SPL II, but implementing the necessary change would require an unimaginable show of Corinthian spirit from those endangered by the proposal. With SPL rules requiring an 11-1 majority for such a decision, can the organisers really expect lower-ranking teams to effectively vote for their own relegation?
The top-six split was introduced to prevent a 44-game season, and packaged to increase excitement and entertainment. It has not succeeded. Ultimately, though, the success of any championship season is dependent on a depth of quality and competition as lacking here as it is in the Premiership.
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