[tomclarky]

(Original post by James82)
If I kicked you and it 'bounced off harmlessly' would you care?

I can't believe people are sticking up for Nalbandian, the guy should be sitting in a cell waiting to go before a magistrate tomorrow morning, anyone else in the stadium would be if they had done the same thing. There is no way that he didn't realise his actions were going to end up hurting the line judge, he's right in front of him.

If you didn't intend to hurt me, then i wouldn't care. I still don't think he intended to hurt the line judge, he has no reason to. He'd know that he probably would probably get disqualified if he did. I think the reason he was so bitter in the interview afterwards was because he didn't mean it and realises how stupid it was. I've been in similar situations before when you lose such a crucial point in a match and smack your racket at the ground without even giving it a thought. If the line judge wasn't sat there, i think he still would've kicked whatever was there infront of him.

[James82]

(Original post by JOR2010)
Ha, who would be stupid enough to do that? That could result in an even more serious sanction.

Nalbandian, obviously.

[Crazytimmah]

It was sheer stupidity, and he deserves a lengthy fine. I don't believe he deliberately intended to hurt the line judge, but that was the result of his actions, and he has to face up to those. He didn't act like an professional athlete, and didn't realise the consequences of his actions. He would have known that there was a line judge there.

[minimarshmallow]

(Original post by Sternumator)
I am suprised some people think the game shouldn't have been called off, you can't continue after that. He should be banned for a long time too. It is annoying people defend him by saying he didnt mean to hurt him when it was obviously going to happen if you kick the barrier like that. Even if there wasn't a person in the box I still think it is completely unacceptable behaviour, imagine if someone did that at a local club. Just because he thinks he is a big man tennis player doesn't mean it is ok to go around pointless destroying stuff he doesnt own.

Djokovic destroyed a bench in the French Open final, but that was allowed because it wasn't a person.

[James82]

(Original post by tomclarky)
If you didn't intend to hurt me, then i wouldn't care. I still don't think he intended to hurt the line judge, he has no reason to. He'd know that he probably would probably get disqualified if he did. I think the reason he was so bitter in the interview afterwards was because he didn't mean it and realises how stupid it was. I've been in similar situations before when you lose such a crucial point in a match and smack your racket at the ground without even giving it a thought. If the line judge wasn't sat there, i think he still would've kicked whatever was there infront of him.

I'd imagine most of the people who physically assault people don't have any reason to do it other than it being in the heat of the moment.

Even if we go along with your theory that he never intended to hurt the line judge, there is such a thing as wounding without intent, it is basically the same legal principle as death by dangerous driving or manslaughter, although there is no intent because a reckless action led to the wounding or death of another person then it is viewed as a more serious crime than the reckless action.

If I'm out tomorrow and something frustrates me I could kick a shop window, if somebody happens to be standing by it and gets cut by the glass then by your logic it's not my fault and the police would just say 'carry on, we might send you a fine in a few weeks for the broken window'?

[James82]

(Original post by Crazytimmah)
It was sheer stupidity, and he deserves a lengthy fine. I don't believe he deliberately intended to hurt the line judge, but that was the result of his actions, and he has to face up to those. He didn't act like an professional athlete, and didn't realise the consequences of his actions. He would have known that there was a line judge there.

Why just a 'lengthy fine', whatever one of those is? If you or I did the same thing we would be facing charges of criminal damage and wounding with/without (depending on your viewpoint) intent.

[Lighteater]

(Original post by tomclarky)
If Andy Murray had done that in the Wimbledon final, would he have been disqualified?

I think the match should have played on but with Nalbadian receiving a retrospective fine afterwards.

Tim Henman got disqualified for hitting a ball girl in a doubles match at Wimbledon so yes.

[member592149]

(Original post by Crazytimmah)
It was sheer stupidity, and he deserves a lengthy fine. I don't believe he deliberately intended to hurt the line judge, but that was the result of his actions, and he has to face up to those. He didn't act like an professional athlete, and didn't realise the consequences of his actions. He would have known that there was a line judge there.

A lengthy fine?

[tomclarky]

(Original post by James82)
I'd imagine most of the people who physically assault people don't have any reason to do it other than it being in the heat of the moment.

Even if we go along with your theory that he never intended to hurt the line judge, there is such a thing as wounding without intent, it is basically the same legal principle as death by dangerous driving or manslaughter, although there is no intent because a reckless action led to the wounding or death of another person then it is viewed as a more serious crime than the reckless action.

If I'm out tomorrow and something frustrates me I could kick a shop window, if somebody happens to be standing by it and gets cut by the glass then by your logic it's not my fault and the police would just say 'carry on, we might send you a fine in a few weeks for the broken window'?

Most physical assaults, perhaps from things like drunken fights are people that do get caught up in the moment, but still are intending to hurt that person i reckon.

So should we get the police involved because the line judge cut his leg? We can't really compare this to manslaughter. I've had countless minor injuries after being hurt by accident by my brothers. By your logic i should press charges against them.

If that happened, and the injury was the same as the line judges, then yeah i'd feel sorry for you if you were criminally charged.

You're making it seem like i stood up and applaused when Nalbandian did it. I agree it was unacceptable, just not worthy of ending the match.

[Hopple]

(Original post by James82)
One's a trained, fit, young athlete protected by trainers, the other is an old guy sitting in a chair protected by a pair of trousers.

You have to be blind to say that Nalbandian clearly didn't realise that the line judge was going to get hurt, of course it was deliberate. In the heat of the moment? Yes. Out of frustration? Yes. Accidental? No.

He went to kick the closest object, not the closest person.

[James82]

(Original post by tomclarky)
Most physical assaults, perhaps from things like drunken fights are people that do get caught up in the moment, but still are intending to hurt that person i reckon.

So should we get the police involved because the line judge cut his leg? We can't really compare this to manslaughter. I've had countless minor injuries after being hurt by accident by my brothers. By your logic i should press charges against them.

If that happened, and the injury was the same as the line judges, then yeah i'd feel sorry for you if you were criminally charged.

You're making it seem like i stood up and applaused when Nalbandian did it. I agree it was unacceptable, just not worthy of ending the match.

Of course I'm not comparing it with manslaughter, I'm comparing it to wounding without intent, I merely said that the legal principle regarding the lack of intent in wounding without intent is the same as manslaughter. If you wound somebody through reckless or negligent actions or inactions then you have broken the law regardless of whether you intended to wound them or not.

I know that if I did the same thing tomorrow with a piece of street furniture then I would be rightly picked up by the police and most likely charged.

[James82]

(Original post by Hopple)
He went to kick the closest object, not the closest person.

Maybe, but behind that closest object was a person, a person who he knew was there and could clearly see, but he still kicked that object and the person anyway.

[tomclarky]

(Original post by James82)
Of course I'm not comparing it with manslaughter, I'm comparing it to wounding without intent, I merely said that the legal principle regarding the lack of intent in wounding without intent is the same as manslaughter. If you wound somebody through reckless or negligent actions or inactions then you have broken the law regardless of whether you intended to wound them or not.

I know that if I did the same thing tomorrow with a piece of street furniture then I would be rightly picked up by the police and most likely charged.

Well at the moment we're not discussing a legal case. This is being blown way out of proportion. In reality, all that happened was a guy got frustrated and kicked something, and accidently gave someone else a cut on the leg. Similar things happen everyday and no one worries too much. It's obvious to me it wasn't intentional but clearly your never going to see that. If it was done to me i'd hope they'd carry on with the match.

[Hopple]

(Original post by James82)
Maybe, but behind that closest object was a person, a person who he knew was there and could clearly see, but he still kicked that object and the person anyway.

If he wanted to take out the line judge, why didn't he kick him straight rather than risk injuring himself on the wood? Heck, he had a weapon in the form of a racket he could have used to bludgeon the crap out of the guy, but he didn't.

[James82]

(Original post by Hopple)
If he wanted to take out the line judge, why didn't he kick him straight rather than risk injuring himself on the wood? Heck, he had a weapon in the form of a racket he could have used to bludgeon the crap out of the guy, but he didn't.

I don't know why he did it, but he obviously knew the line judge was there when he kicked him, and there's a big difference between kicking someone in frustration and bludgeoning the crap out of him.

[James82]

(Original post by tomclarky)
Well at the moment we're not discussing a legal case. This is being blown way out of proportion. In reality, all that happened was a guy got frustrated and kicked something, and accidently gave someone else a cut on the leg. Similar things happen everyday and no one worries too much. It's obvious to me it wasn't intentional but clearly your never going to see that. If it was done to me i'd hope they'd carry on with the match.

How exactly was it an accident? Even if he didn't intend to hurt the line judge you can't say he did it accidentally, why does nobody take responsibility for their actions any more?

And the only reason we're not talking about a legal case is because it's some overpaid sportsman who is obviously above the law, you know full well that if one of the crowd got frustrated and kicked an advertising hoarding into a line judge that they wouldn't be told to continue with their spectating and the would be escorted straight out of the ground and taken away by the police, why a different rule for Nalbandian?

[white_haired_wizard]

Disgusting behaviour from Nalbandian. Pathetic how he tried to shift the blame in that on-court interview onto the ATP, for, IIRC, having too many tournaments and doing mistakes themselves?! What a tosser.

Right to be disqualified and I'd like to see the idiot disqualified from Wimbledon too. Half-assed 'apology'. There was alot of blood there.

Wonder if he'll ever be invited/allowed to play Queens again?

[white_haired_wizard]

(Original post by JaggySnake95)
A lengthy fine?

lol, quite possibly one of the funniest comments I've read on here.

[Zhy]

Poor linejudges. Always getting the short end of the stick. Serena's favourite linesperson will have suffered similar trauma.



Poor thing.

[Tycho]

(Original post by tomclarky)
Well at the moment we're not discussing a legal case. This is being blown way out of proportion. In reality, all that happened was a guy got frustrated and kicked something, and accidently gave someone else a cut on the leg. Similar things happen everyday and no one worries too much. It's obvious to me it wasn't intentional but clearly your never going to see that. If it was done to me i'd hope they'd carry on with the match.

It's not being blown out of proportion. If I did something like this at work I would be sacked. It only worsens it that this guy was on national television and supposed to be setting an example of how a top athlete behaves. What message does it send to aspiring young tennis players? Any action other than disqualifying him would have added a level of acceptability to what Nalbandian did. The line judges deserve to be treated with respect, and Nalbandian overstepped the line... big time.

Incidentally, the police are investigating the assault and I suspect Nalbandian to receive a caution from them.