RUFC – Banned? What does it really mean?

What exactly does ‘being banned for one game and having to sit in the stands’ really mean?

Well, after what I saw on Saturday with Swindon Town boss, Paolo di Canio serving a one match ban, it means very little.

I must be naïve but I imagined he would have no contact with his players or his other backroom staff from setting foot off the coach that brought them to Don Valley. Oh, you thought that too, huh? Wrong!

He was actually allowed in the dressing room before the game, at half-time and straight after the game. AND he had a mobile phone and was able to phone/text his instructions to the bench throughout the game.

Now, I’m not picking on Sig. Di Canio (as if I would!) but how on earth does this constitute a ban? In my opinion it’s absolutely ludicrous that, when you are banned, you can still issue the orders – all he couldn’t do was dance up and down the touchline pointing and shouting. I remember a player being sent off a few minutes from the end of a game a couple of years ago and he went to sit in the dugout and the referee stopped the game and practically escorted him to the dressing rooms – therefore he wasn’t taking any more part in the game.

So, surely if a manager is serving a ban – be it one match or more – then he shouldn’t be able to have any contact with his team until after the game? Or am I just being harsh?







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