OT - Chelsea Soccer's Eden Hazard kicks ball boy

Certainly the kid doesn't deserve to get "kicked", though I am skeptical of how much he was "kicked"... that said. He tried to stall the game up, by doing so he put himself in the action... That Cal trombone player took one in the kisser because he wandered onto the field. If this kid didn't lay on the ball, we wouldn't be having this discussion. From what I have read both sides have apologized and they met in the locker room afterwards as well.

F that. That dude needs an ass whipping. Refs, fans, chain gang etc, are off limits no matter what. Athletes no this. It's hard to tell but it does appear he gives him a shove.

Further evidence shows that the kid was being a little shit, but that still doesn't justify kicking him:

Hazard is one mean guy. Feel sorry for the kid. No matter if the kid was stalling you don't kick him to get the ball. Why they have referees on the field.

That kid had no business being on the pitch. If the ball is not over the sign, you let the players get it. PERIOD. The kid put himself in the game for no reason and made it worse by diving over the ball. I have no sympathy for that kid.

the kid. It looks pretty clear to me.

I feel like they should suspend both of them, Hazard and the ballboy. You clearly can see him cover the ball with his hands when he falls on it. I don't believe for a second that he just stumbled on top of that ball.

The play will be reviewed and a subsequent match ban will take place. Probably more than 3 games.

Ban Hazard for a couple of months. You simply cannot do that to a fan, ball boy, ref, etc. The ref would have been adding on time and woud have been well within his rights to kick the ball boy off the field. That is some shit you'd see from a pair of 6 year olds.

An interesting note, and one that I don't think excuses Hazard in the least, but the ball boy is only 4 years younger than him.

Where is Herm with a comment on youths not respecting soccer authority ???

In 1994 Eric Cantona of Manchester United kicked a fan (some say after being provoked) and was banned for 4 months.

Whatever the ball boy may be doing, for Hazard to be taking it out on a young lad when the result is not going his way is certainly not acceptable.

I hope they both learn that their are consequences to every action. I'm sure all of us need a kick to the ribs at some point in our lives. Hazard seems like an ass and the kid will be fine. Life lessons are great.

If you decide to step into the tigers' cage, don't cry when you get bit kid.

The analogy that comes to mind (and I'm not much of a sports guy), is Ron Artest, whose provocation was more than anything the ballboy did here.

So assuming Hazard was not just trying to poke the ball free, then no, a red card doesn't seem on par with what happens in one case in the US.

When Lampard and Hazard are talking to the ref, the ref goes (in disbelief) "Did you kick him???"  
Hazard says some sort of his side of the story, but without another word the ref pulls out the red card and motions him off the pitch.  

He could very well lose his place on the national team, or banned for a spell of future matches. I know the then Scottish Captain Barry Ferguson was banned from further selection at all for making moderately lewd gestures during a match. It clearly looks like he tried to clear the ball from under the kid, but it was still a silly thing to do. I'm sure the kid was fine, it wasn't much of a kick, but he should definitely be disciplined because of it.

What a piece of crap that player is. I hope he dies in a fire.

How can people say he kicked the ball?  Watch the video.  The ball is buried under the left side of his body.  He kicks him cleanly on the right side while reaching out for the ball with his hands.  He kicked him.  Stop making excuses.

The guy was trying to get the ball and the little shit of a kid seemed to be intentionally trying to slow him down. Nothing malicious looking about the kick, just looked like a frustrated guy trying any means necessary to get the game going again. And to the part where the soccer fans neg me: Maybe if soccer wasn't such a ridiculous sport where the last part of the game wasn't all about how good your are at stalling while the clock is running, this nonsense where a ball boy crosses the line to get in on the action wouldn't have happened and his "poor" ribs wouldn't have paid the price. To all soccer fans, I'm sorry. I respect the athleticism required and the sport's popularity, but the pathetic and incessant flopping and stalling makes it feel like I'm watching a bunch of Dwyane Wade's running around and this incident is a prime example of this theatrical bullshit.

@CHARLIEM0RGAN

"The king of all ball boys is back making his final appearance #needed #for #timewasting"

Doesn't necessarily make it right, but c'mon now, the kid was clearly trying to stall the game, and then when he gets tapped in the side he goes all Hollywood on us as if he just got hit by a truck.

They're both idiots, and Hazard is now being investigated by the South Wales Police, but people are overboard here. The kid isn't 4 years old, and he was deliberately holding up the game. 

The main reason Hazard's in the wrong, IME, is that the kid, while cheating, is presumably just carrying out orders. There should be an effective mechanism in place to punish the home team for this (with sanctions, say, up to and including a penalty kick), but you can't go around kicking cheaters just because there isn't one.

I think a short ban would be ok--it would send a message to the player--but any longer bans should come with new rules to punish home teams with ball boys pulling this crap, or it'll just get worse.

I just stopped by espnfc.com to post some comments on what I think should happen to Hazard (at least a 10 match ban if not the rest of the season). It's amazing how many people are stridently defending Hazard...even blaming the kid. All those people need a serious adjustment to their world views - it's embarrassing.

Do I feel bad for the kid? Aboslutely not. He went after a ball he shouldn't have, clearly tried to waste time, and then acted like he had been shot as he rolled around on the pitch.

That being said, Hazard still should have just let the kid be a little shit rather than trying to kick the ball out from underneath him and putting himself in this situation.

1. The ballboy is 17.

2. I'm not even sure he kicked him. Check out this video at 33 or 34 seconds: 

Ref would have awarded some extra time had he continued to stay on the ball. Kid isn't completely innocent, but Hazard is really a moron for doing that. 

Eden Hazard is a tremendous little bitch, and has been for years now.  He fits right in at Chelsea.

The ball boy is 17. He knows better. He's stalling the game. I just wish he was actually kicked that hard to cause him to roll around like that. 

The guy deserved it.  It's bad enough watching the players on team that's up a goal stalling with the ball, but to have your grounds crew do it as well? If you want to be involved in the action, then you'd better be willing to take what's coming to you.  Plus, I'm not even sure he actually kicked him.  It looks like he pokes the ball free and it squirts out the other side.

Why doesn't soccer have a time keeper or at least transmit the official's time to the scoreboard? I'm far from a soccer fan, but it seems to really detract from the excitement of a close game when you, as a spectator, have no idea how much time is left.

17 year old knows what he is doing. Frustrated player wants to get the ball back in play...No blood, play on! 

But as a United fan it is nice to see Chelsea lose.

did not use his hands to hit him, that would definetly be a red card.

a big accident. The boy when he first fell wanted to roll to his right but the Chelsea player was trying to roll him to the left niether could gain any ground. Then the player reached over to pull him to the right while the boy was now trying to roll to the left. It seemed the player finally got frustrated and did indeed kick the young man and he finally was able to roll off because no one was stopping him then.

Champions of Europe.

Hazard was trying to retrieve the ball from under Charlie Morgan, the teenage son of the Swansea City director Martin Morgan, who had flopped on top of it and appeared to be wasting time after 78 minutes of the goalless draw at the Liberty Stadium.

It was a light tap to either a) knock the ball loose from the stupid kid's grasp or b) let the stupid kid know that he's doing something stupid. It's not like Hazard booted the kid, either way. As others have said, if you intentionally put yourself into the field of play, then you deserve what's coming to you.

Anyway, as a LOSC fan and a lover of Belgium, Eden Hazard gets a free pass on this. Coincidentally, Zenedine Zidane loves him.

Shouldn't have kicked at the 17 year old but it looks like he got ball.