By Frederick Tawiah Peprah, Freeman; Ente. Prefect '91

They have often been denied the protection given to other English premiership blue-eyed boys such as the Michael Owens and the Alan Shearers with a notable exception of a few including Manchester United's David Beckham and Chelsea's inappropriately named Dennis Wise. English referees conveniently overlook their good qualities on-field and are always 'card happy' where these targeted few are concerned.

The English media on the other hand, 'Harvest Time' if I may call it never miss the opportunity to publish very damaging and unnecessary materials day in and day out about these so-called soccer bad-boys such that it makes monotonous reading. It regularly persecutes these few with wanton vindictiveness. I am an ardent Arsenal supporter and naturally intolerable to chelsea and manchester united (get the drift?) players but that does not affect my fairness when it comes to their most persecuted players.

Patrick Vieira is without doubt a very competitive footballer and considering his position of play on the pitch, inevitably gets involved with tackles just like the Roy Keanes, Edgar Davids' and our own Manu Petits of football. He is definitely not a dirty player and hang on, I do not condone his spitting incident with Neil Ruddock who subjected him to several racist taunts throughout the match. Nobody deserves to be spat at but God only knows what provoked his uncharacteristic reaction. Ruddock had no business pursuing and winding up (with intent) an opposition player who has unfairly been sent off, mind you the incident was between Vieira and Paolo Di Canio. Surely Ruddock, you couldn't have missed Di Canio's dive (he seems to have learned a few tricks from referee Paul Alcock) considering you were not far off, do you remember Ian Wright's impersonation of Di Canio and Alcocks incident at Upton Park? Well, it certainly will not be overly difficult to employ the same baton that was used to hit Peter to hit Paul. After all it is a game of football and English one as such.

Vieira is only young and is still learning his trade. We can only take consolation from the maturity of his fellow countryman Eric Cantona. Cantona grew up and became a great footballing talent.

Cast the first stone if you have not sinned or are infallible for that matter. John Dillon the Mirror Sports journalist and his colleagues should be ashamed of themselves for blowing the Vieira /Ruddock incident out of all proportions. From your coverage of the incident one would think you grew up with him. Maybe we should all search ourselves, think deep and ask ourselves if the incident merited the prolonged unsavoury coverage detailing back from 'Adam.' Arsene Wenger the Arsenal manager and Gordon Taylor the Professional footballers boss appears to be the only two among a very few to have approached this incident in a matured and appropriate manner.

The biasedly toothless FA could not resist jumping on the bandwagon again because it is an Arsenal player who seems to have offended. Maybe they should look closer to home. Perhaps they should resolve their FA Cup dispute with Manchester United (a club that seems to have their own jurisdiction on English footballing matters) as well as their on-going saga with the unruly David Beckham before seeking permission from Arsenal's David Dein to speak to the talented Patrick Vieira. Where was the FA and their exaggerated FAIRNESSNESS in English football when Alan Shearer savagely used Leicester City's Neil Lennon's head as a brick? Again where was the FA and the English media when Manchester United's Paul Scholes lynched Chelsea's Chris Sutton when he was down? Is it not ironic that Scholes' incident happened on the same day, in fact within minutes of the Vieira's incident? The various scenarios and injustices will take an academic dissertation exercise to explore. I seem to remember only too well that England's Sol Campbell's world cup goal was disallowed simply because the English captain Alan Shearer used his famous elbow on an Argentinian defender and yet who shouldered the blame for England coming home early? Poor old David Beckham.

For the sake of fairness and English football lovers and most importantly my fellow Gunners please give our Patrick a fair deal, protection and trial (the English media, referees and FA respectively) that is if he has to be tried after all. He has apologized for his recklessness and deserves a reprieve. It takes a big man to admit guilt and say sorry after all, so let's be equally big enough to forgive and FORGET and enjoy the game of English football. Surely he will not spit at a fellow professional again, Kate Hoey.

I just hope the police are not seeking revenge by fabricating stories about tunnel threats because they lost their previous case with OUR Vieira. Don't be alarmed GUNNERS will live and hopefully win the league and the FA Cup Man U. has second-rated with the help of the FA.