The FA's response to unsatisfactory Carlisle verdict TSS June 13, 2010 Leeds United 23 Comments Carlisle fans storm pitch after JPT shoot-out Angry at the news Carlisle had got away without any punishment following the pitch invasion that saw three Leeds United players assaulted, I decided to email the FA for an explanation. My email to them was as follows; Dear FA, I’m absolutely outraged by the decision not to punish Carlisle for the pitch invasion which saw three Leeds United players punched and think it’s about time someone in your organisation took a step back and realised the full ridiculousness of it all! When one of your own policies is to dock points to those member teams who are struggling with financial difficulties – often caused by yourselves as teams try to compete with the bigger ones, funded by Sky Inc. – to not condemn and punish the same teams when their fans assault the players you’re supposed to represent, the entire organisation really needs to get it’s priorities right! Are we to conclude that the FA prioritise money over the safety of it’s players? My personal theory is that the FA only act when the media takes notice, and since Carlisle were the culprits here and Leeds United the victims, no one really cares. If this was the other way around, you’d be lining up at FA HQ to condemn the actions of Leeds United fans (as you’ve done many times in the past). The whole thing stinks of double-standards and serves only to further fuel my contempt for the people running our national sport. I’m not holding my breath for a response, as I’m guessing the FA will follow it’s usual policy of hiding behind closed doors and issuing the kind of no comment statements I expect from 10 Downing Street. I feel I should warn you in advance that anything I do receive will be published on the Leeds United site www.thescratchingshed.com, where there are thousands of unhappy Leeds United fans once again angered by your organisations inconsistencies. As you see above, I wasn’t expecting much of a response. Having followed football since birth, I knew they’d issue some vague statement reaffirming their actions. Like the one that follows; Thank you for your email. In cases involving crowd problems, The FA has to be satisfied that all reasonable steps were taken by the club with regard to crowd management. In this instance, we’re satisfied that the club did take all reasonable precautions. Kind regards The FA know this is absolute nonsense. When the pitch invasion happened, the stewards and Police were scrambling to safety, not once trying to help the Leeds United players off the pitch. Where exactly does that fall into their taking ‘all reasonable precautions’ policy I wonder? The people employed to ensure the safety of players didn’t fulfil their role because they were massively lacking in numbers and didn’t have the balls to do so. How the FA don’t see a problem with this is beyond me! Not satisfied at all, but I felt the need to vent. I shouldn’t be surprised by the outcome at all, and in truth I wasn’t. The FA have failed once more as far as I’m concerned.