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Chelsea And Sunderland Could Be In Trouble For Terry's 26th Minute Substitution

Chelsea And Sunderland Could Be In Trouble For Terry's 26th Minute Substitution

David Moyes admitted to Sunderland's involvement in bizarre incident

Joe Baiamonte

Joe Baiamonte

In case you needed any more reason to roll your eyes with abject fucking despair at the state of modern football, David Moyes admitted yesterday that he agreed to have his Sunderland team put the ball out of play in the 26th minute in order for John Terry to receive a guard of honour off the Stamford Bridge pitch.

Bizarre as it already was for Terry to be granted his wish to play just 26 minutes so he could be given a standing ovation in the minute that shares the same number as the one that's adorned his Chelsea shirts for the past 17 years, Moyes and Sunderland's collusion in the whole, needy affair was even more nauseating.

Of course, for his services to Chelsea, Terry deserved a send off befitting of the club's most successful ever captain, but he surely would have received one without needing to organise it between himself and his opposition on the day of his final match at Stamford Bridge as a Blues player.

And it's this organisation that could potentially land Chelsea and Sunderland in trouble with the FA.









In agreeing to put the ball out of play at a specific time ahead of the game, the two teams have essentially taken part in spot fixing.

Several bookmakers take bets on the number of throw-ins that will occur during a game of football and how many will be awarded during each half.

Of course, neither Sunderland or Chelsea were actively trying to influence betting slips, but they were agreeing to deliberately perform a spot in a match ahead of time, which is something John Terry's new best mate Triple H is usually more accustomed to:



The FA have not made any sort of announcement as to whether the incident will be investigated and, in all likelihood, it probably won't, especially seeing as a match between a team already crowned Champions and an already relegated Sunderland was basically a glorified friendly instead of a competitive Premier League clash.

However, with barely anything in the way of integrity remaining in the modern game, surely the FA could intervene to ensure nothing like this happens again.

That may seem like a joyless attitude to have to a player being given a hero's send off that he does actually deserve, but what's to stop more teams and players becoming involved in similar situations in future seasons? And what's to stop it influencing punters' betting slips?

Should Sunderland and Chelsea face sanctions for their actions, or with the match being a meaningless, end of season affair, does it not actually matter all that much?

Have your say in the comments section, below.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: John Terry, Football, Sunderland, Chelsea FC, Premier League