Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has been handed FIFA’s 2019 Fair Play Award – and pretty much nobody can believe it.
The eccentric Chilean coach has been handed the gong at tonight’s glitzy award ceremony in Milan for his part in insisting his Leeds players conceded a goal on purpose against Aston Villa.
If you can’t remember quite what happened, the two teams squared off during the run-in in last season’s Championship season, with both clubs in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League.
And, with so much at stake, Villa’s players were absolutely furious when Leeds took a 72nd-minute lead in controversial fashion through Mateusz Klich after they had refused to kick the ball out of play despite Villa forward Jonathan Kodjia lying prone in midfield.
Bielsa intervened on the sidelines and allowed Villa to score an unopposed equaliser and the Elland Road tie finished 1-1.
So, that’s a pretty decent sporting gesture, and probably worthy of the Fair Play Award, right?
Well, that doesn’t take into account the fact that Bielsa was charged by the FA a few months previous to the incident for sending a spy to secretly watch Derby County’s training sessions.
In the end, Leeds were fined a record £200,000 for Bielsa’s antics, but he’s still got the award, eh?
What do you think of the win, and the reaction?
Let us know in the comments section below…
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