Castro gets punished for his rant, but that isn’t the most famous one
Martin Castrogiovanni has been banned for three days by his club Toulon, and is unlikely to feature in the return Champions Cup clash this Saturday against former club Leicester, whom he left in 2013. A festering grievance at the manner of his departure surfaced with spectacular results Sunday night following Leicester’s 25-21victory. Let’s have a look at some other ill-judged heated rants that cost the sportspeople in question dearly:
Serena Williams was fined $2,000 (£1,265) but avoided a Grand Slam ban for her tirade at umpire Eva Asderaki in the 2011 US Open final.Williams was on a two-year probation for a similar outburst in 2009.The incident occurred when the American looked to have saved a break point, but her cry of “Come on!” was judged to have come before Stosur had a chance to get the ball back. The point – and the game, the first of the second set – subsequently went to the Australian for “intentional hindrance” and a furious Williams aimed an angry tirade at Greek official Asderaki. Williams, 29, who received a cheque for $1.4m (£885,000) for coming runner-up at Flushing Meadows, was consequently given a code violation. Williams had been fined £53,000 and put on a probationary period at the four major championships in 2010 and 2011 after verbally abusing an official over a foot-fault call in her semi-final defeat by Kim Clijsters at the 2009 US Open.
Didier Drogba raged at referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after the final whistle following the club’s European exit against Barcelona. Chelsea teammate Jose Bosingwa was also disciplined for insulting the Norwegian referee during heated scenes at Stamford Bridge. The players were incensed at the Norwegian official’s rejection of a host of penalty appeals throughout the second leg clash. Drogba, who had been substituted during the second half, stormed back onto the pitch at the match’s conclusion to join teammates in remonstrating with Ovrebo. After the official was hurried off the pitch, on-the-pitch television cameras broadcast the forward exclaiming: “It’s a disgrace, a f*****g disgrace”. Chelsea were also charged for the improper conduct of their players and the poor behaviour of some supporters after having been denied a place in the 2009 Champions League final by a late Andres Iniesta goal for Barcelona.
Possibly the most famous rant of all time has to be in 1981, with a young John McEnroe, who, during a first-round match against fellow American Tom Gullikson, disagreed with umpire Edward James over a call, arguing he had hit the ball inside the court. “You can’t be serious man, you cannot be serious!” he shouted, rising to a spectacular crescendo that brought out an audible gasp from the audience. “That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up! How can you possibly call that out?” He later called James the “absolute pits of the world,” The umpire responded by awarding a point against the 23-year-old. The audience applauded. McEnroe then swore at the tournament referee, prompting another point penalty. McEnroe went on to defeat his Swedish archrival Bjorn Borg in the final, earning his 1st Wimbledon title and angrily smashing a racket in the process.
Would any tipster ever had predicted that today most exhibition tennis match audiences can’t wait for McEnroe to start playing just so they can get a rendition of, possibly, the most famous rant of all time…How things can change with time!
Castro gets punished for his rant
December 11, 2014
Updates