Famous Soccer Stars Get Red Carded for Twitter Usage
posted Saturday Jan 23, 2010 by Kyria Gianos
You would think as a professional athlete, watching what you say would be important. After all, you are a role model to thousands all over the world. But to some of the world's greatest soccer players, biting your tongue is optional. Looks like there are going to be a lot of yellow cards issued. The offense: sharing too much on social networking sites, like Twitter.
Many professional soccer players from Steven Gerrard to Cristiano Ronaldo frequent sites like Facebook and Twitter to keep the rest of the world up to date in the soccer world. Well, some coaches have decided to ban players from using these sites due to inappropriate news feeds. One well known club, Manchester United, believes these sites have caused many problems with rival teams. What happen to beating your opponent on the field?
Ryan Babel, a member on Liverpool posted a recent news feed claiming he had received "no explanation" from the manager, Rafael Benitez, after sitting for the game. The Internet has allowed people to take a more cowardly approach in daunting situations instead of communicating face to face and it appears that many coaches of professional sports teams don't approve. Another incident occurred when Jozy Altidore revealed more information than his club approved of. They were not happy, to say the least.
On the other hand, some feel that by banning players from using these sites, coaches and managers are overreacting. It was even said that "social media sites are not the enemy. They are a medium for clubs to better engage with their supporters, wherever they may be." While that is true, it is not the manager's responsibility to babysit the players, and since many have decided not to control what they share with the world, this is the only way to keep tabs on them. Do you think athletes should be banned from using social networking sites? Let us know!