Abolishing the Pre-Match handshake would be another foolish mistake by the FA

This past month has certainly raised a lot of questions about the stability of the 'World's most popular League'; Racism has found its way back into our game, The FA have undermined the manager of our country forcing him to resign, and a certain Uruguayan has single handedly re-ignited the bitter rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United. Now we sit here and see our National team with neither a captain nor a manager with a major European tournament fast approaching and questions whether The FA has what it takes to restore some stability back into English football?

After this weekend's clash at Old Trafford the idea of dismissing the pre-match handshake was very much a talking point between football fans up and down the country. But the thought of removing a process that acknowledges respect from each team towards their opposition would be a disaster for English football. It was terrible to see the pre-match handshake be thrown-out like some old rubbish when Chelsea and QPR met in the FA Cup last week. This was The FA's "clever" decision as they tried to remove any confrontation between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand. Also keeping in mind that John Terry has yet to be proven guilty and has been stripped of the Countries armband due to his alleged racial rant. 

But then you can argue that The FA was correct with their decision at Loftus Road after what unfolded in Manchester on Saturday. Luis Saurez, a man very much loathed by much of the English football population, rejected the outstretched hand of Patrice Evra and set the tone for a very dramatic afternoon of football while stealing the headline of every Sunday paper in England. It blew me away to witness a grown man act in such a childish manner as to not shake the hand of his opponent and put their troubles behind them. But that wasn't the case with Suarez, who has been at the center of much controversy throughout his playing career.

Not so long ago The FA was desperately promoting the issue of respect throughout professional football in order to improve the behavior of this countries grass roots level football. The word ironic suddenly springs to mind.

But how is it possible to avoid the scenes from the weekend without resulting in a banishment of the traditional handshake? Perhaps The FA should fine the club for failing to control it's players and should also warn, or maybe ban, the players involved. Although The FA  claimed this morning that no action will be taken against either Liverpool, Evra or Suarez.