Chelsea left the Capital One Cup last night and headed straight into an oncoming storm of controversy. Failure on the pitch followed by controversy off it would appear to be taking the form of a habit for the West London club. During a 0-0 draw with Swansea City, Chelsea player Eden Hazard appeared to kick a Swansea ballboy in reaction to the ballboy lying on the ball while Hazard was attempting to restart the game. Hazard was shown a red card for the kick and could now face a lengthy ban from the FA, beyond the minimum three game suspension for violent conduct.
Hazard later apologised for the incident, with The Guardian quoting the Chelsea player as saying - “The boy put his whole body on to the ball and I was just trying to kick the ball and I think I kicked the ball and not the boy. I apologise. The ballboy came in the changing room and we had a quick chat and I apologised and the boy apologised as well, and it is over. Sorry."
The ballboy was identified as Charlie Morgan, the son of a Swansea director, Martin Morgan. He was treated in the Swansea dressing room before being invited to the Chelsea dressing room where Hazard apologised. Swansea City have confirmed Morgan will not be pressing charges.
Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup offered some form of understanding, although not forgiveness, for Hazard’s actions, “I was a player and can understand he was frustrated. Your pulse is very high and sometimes you say and do things, you overreact. You want the ball boy to give you the ball, but there are still things you can never do. You can't kick him. It was a huge mistake."
The draw means Swansea go to their first ever major cup final, where they will face Bradford City who are only the second fourth tier side in world football history to reach a major cup final.
Chelsea meanwhile will wonder how much more damage their public image can take. The fact that a player kicking a ballboy is not the worst public relations incident of season for the club is indicative of the seemingly constant stream of controversies coming from Stamford Bridge.
Already this season club captain John Terry has been banned for four games for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand while Juan Mata and John Obi Mikel made false allegations of racism against referee Mark Clattenburg. In November a Chelsea fan was arrested over allegations of racially abusing Mancehster United striker Danny Welbeck.
The club have also come in for criticism for their sacking of Champions League winning coach Roberto Di Matteo, while the fans’ treatment of current interim manager Rafa Benitez has drawn criticism from many.
