Letting Bygones Be Bygones: Angelo Lawford

With the entire soccer world watching, John Terry and Anton Ferdinand upon meeting for the latest London derby between QPR and Chelsea, had a chance to make a statement as everyone awaited for a simple handshake to occur between them. There was an opportunity to show the soccer world that there is such a thing as reconciliation and letting bygones be bygones to let the healing process begin.

The opportunity was lost as neither could either reconcile or let bygones pass as the awaited handshake never came. Which is sad actually, because the longer they let this saga fester between them without resolution, the bigger the issue becomes.

Despite the origin of the controversy, there was plenty of opportunity for teachable moments to in turn become the proverbial silver lining within the dark cloud moving forward. But now all teachable moments have been cast by the wayside as neither Ferdinand or Terry, chooses to address the issue with one another. Leaving everyone that was hoping to see reconciliation in the dark as they now await to see what will become of the next time that they meet.

Will the soccer world get to see something different the next time around? Ultimately it is up to Ferdinand and Terry to set their pride and egos aside for the greater good of not just the beautiful game itself, but for the beautiful people that play the game and for the beautiful people that are fans of the game as well. At this stage, the issue is no longer solely about them and their issues with each other. It is about how they go about making sure that what is now history between them, doesn’t repeat itself down the road by way of other people.

As a side note, how do you think this latest incident influences the idea of the pre-game handshake going forward? Is the forced meeting between teams before games part of the problem in this saga?