Football is the passion of billions across the globe, the one way ticket to fame, glory and riches and the dream of many young boys up and down the country. Lovingly known as the ‘beautiful game’ is it now starting to turn ugly?

Bill Shankly the once Liverpool manager captured the love for the game in his famous quote when he said “Football’s not a matter of life and death … it’s more important than that”, it has now for some who follow it become something more precious than life itself.

Despite the economic recession football grounds up and down the country are still packed to the rafters especially in the top divisions. Huge amounts of money are still being spent on signing new players such as the £50 million paid by Chelsea to acquire the services of Fernando Torres.

Many die hard traditionalists have long said that money is corrupting the game with clubs paying scant regard to their finances in the search for on-the filed glory. This has led to the European governing body UEFA making it mandatory for clubs to break even at the very worst in any financial year.

However it seems that the only thing rotten in Football is not the extraordinary amounts of money thrown about, but also the very patrons of the game who make it so ‘beautiful’.  Be they managers or players ‘role models’ are hardly the two words that instantly spring to mind when describing their behaviour, however they are seen as such by many impressionable minds.

A recent spate of incidents have laid bare the glossed over under belly of a highly lucrative sport.  The worst by far has to be the debacle that is the ‘old firm’ game between Rangers and Celtic after over 200 arrests when they played last month, another 34 people were arrested on Wednesday night, following an ill tempered game. With three Rangers players sent off ,13 yellow cards and various members of staff involved in an ugly standoff  at the end of the game even the local police have called for a truce between the two clubs.

Others unsavoury incidents (all within the last week or so) include:

Love isn’t the only thing money can’t buy it also fails to instill basic levels of civility that surely such high profile individuals must show. Football however is just letting society take a look at itself in the mirror, as this kind of reckless behaviour is not restricted to footballers alone.  Disrespect , disregard for others and a sense of superiority are all things that plague society today. The unabating quest for riches has left society’s moral barometer largely redundant.

Call it the ‘rat race’ or the ‘pressures of the game’ human beings are pushed to do anything in their power to protect the position and pride they have acquired even at the cost of others.

Islam provides Muslims with a barometer that is not so easily disregarded, it pushes them to constantly assess their behaviour in order to keep a minimum level of morality in the individual and the society. It is this kind of self-critical mindset that society needs today, the idea of ‘act now feel sorry later’ has no place in any civilised society.