Ghana Fans Demand FA Action Over Carlton Cole Immigration ‘Joke’

Upton Park star could be punished but he takes a more light-hearted look at events.

Ghana fans have demanded the Football Association to punish Carlton Cole for his twitter immigration joke.

The West Ham United striker received a backlash of abuse from unhappy Ghanaian fans and removed the tweets from his page.

“Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! Hahahaha,” @Carlton9Cole tweeted.

“The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St. George’s flag!”

NSU says the West Ham player must be reprimanded by the English FA especially when he’s an England international.

“His comment was not a joke but an attack on all the people of Ghana all over the world,” Abdul Aziz Haruna, president of NSU, told GHANA soccernet.

“Black Stars fans travelled from Ghana, all over the UK and other parts of the world to watch this game and support their country and give money to the English economy.

But Cole has taken a more light-hearted, if not entirely more subtle, approach to the criticism again via twitter.

“To all my followers the year is 1984 the thought police are on to me I’m no longer Carlton Cole call me Winston Smith,” @Carlton9Cole posted.

“I sit here as the clock strikes 13 a prisoner of the thought police! Anything u say will offend someone these days.”

“Sitting here outside room 101 wondering what my punishment will be! Lool.

“In room 101 they are making me watch my penalty miss against Bolton over n over again.”

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Spurs take stadium action

East Londoners the Hammers were selected over Spurs in February as the Stratford stadium's preferred tenant by the Olympic Park Legacy Company. Tottenham's failed joint bid with sport and entertainment giant AEG involved demolishing the stadium and rebuilding a football specific venue on the site.

West Ham's proposal was thought to be preferred due to their pledge to retain a running track around the pitch, after the OPLC promised the International Olympic Committee they would keep the athletics facility when they were awarded the Games. Reports surfaced on Wednesday that Spurs had issued a letter to the OPLC this week in relation to potential judicial review proceedings as construction on the 80,000 capacity Olympic Stadium was completed.

Tottenham have denied such reports, insisting 'at this stage' legal action has not been taken, but have confirmed on their official website they have contacted the company, as well as other parties involved, expressing their concerns with the processes which led to the decision. A club statement read: "At this stage the Club has not issued any proceedings against the Olympic Park Legacy Company (the OPLC) or any other party in respect of the decision regarding the award of the Olympic Stadium.

"The Club's lawyers have written letters to the OPLC, the Mayor of London, the Minister of Sport and the Secretary of State for Local Government and a separate letter to the London Borough of Newham raising a number of concerns with the processes which led to the award. The letters also requested - in the interests of transparency - for the provision of certain information concerning the processes, which the Club considers that it is entitled to.

"Tottenham Hotspur will determine its next step as and when it receives a response to these letters."

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Sagna wants action in wake of Scholes tackle

Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has called on referees to offer more protection to players after criticising Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes for a tackle on Samir Nasri.

Sagna was angered by Scholes' challenge on his team-mate in the FA Cup quarter-final between the two sides on March 12, particularly given that Arsenal have suffered two very serious injuries to Eduardo da Silva and Aaron Ramsey in recent seasons.

The French defender suggested that foreign players are targeted for rough treatment and that officials need to do more to eradicate dangerous tackles from the game.

"We've had two broken legs," Sagna told AP. "We went to Manchester and Samir got his leg ripped off again. There's nothing (done about it). They always wait until there is a major incident to make a decision, and then it's too late.

"He almost had his leg cut off. If he breaks his leg what shall we say? It's too late. The problem is you can't have a discussion with them, you can't have a debate.

"Samir should perhaps change nationality, I don't know ... I don't want to get into such a debate, I don't want to concentrate on that because I have much more important things to think about. I get the impression it's like that, maybe I'm wrong."

Sagna also conceded that Arsenal need to improve their communication and collective effort after conceding a farcical goal against West Brom, just weeks after the Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham that witnessed a horrible error.

"We have to talk to each other a lot more, we have to pull together, encourage each other," Sagna said. "At certain times I feel we are lacking this."

"When you make all those efforts, you reach the League Cup final, which is at Wembley, and then we soil ourselves, that's not normal. We were beaten in every domain, they won the most tackles, and honestly deserved it."

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