Barton wants protection
Controversial Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton, who was fined $3,711 this week for baring his backside at a Premiership match, believes more should be done to protect players from the abuse they receive from fans.
The 24 year old escaped a ban for dropping his shorts in the direction of Everton fans after his side’s 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
“What I did was silly, a little bit childish,” Barton told the BBC.
“If I was to walk away and nothing was to happen to me, it condones what I’ve done.
“I felt they dealt with it in the right manner and they listened to what I had to say. They accepted there were reasons behind what went on and the matter’s been dealt with.”
Those reasons were the obscene abuse Barton endured during the Everton match, with some fans said to have taunted him about brother Michael’s 17-year prison sentence for murder.
Barton claims the authorities’ failure to take action against his abusers is what allowed him to be pushed to breaking point.
He has called for police to crack down on the kind of unsavoury comments he believes anyone would react to in normal life.
“If someone had said what they say to you in a football stadium on the street, you’re going to have a major, major altercation,” he said.
“It’s okay for them to do it in a football stadium. This situation has got to be addressed because I’m not the first footballer to suffer abuse and I won’t be the last.”