What you have to say about that ballboy – Hazard incident at Swansea V Chelsea

“This tactic is carried out by all the ball boys in the Premiership. It happened, Hazard was in the wrong by kicking him as the ball was on the opposite side of his body as the lad was pushed over by Hazard. It was an unproffessional thing to do and the boy's had his moment of glory. They've apologised to each other and that's the end of that. Don't drag it on !!!!!!!!”

“I would like to ask hobbles whether she/he thinks kicking a 17 year old boy on the edge of a sports field is sportsmanship either? I think we need to pay attention to what is really the issue in this matter - an assault by an adult (Hazard) on a youth.”

“Perhaps the boys father should explain to the boy the principle of sportsmanship unfortunately you can not BUY that.”

“So a lot of you on here think it's okay to aim your foot at someone that you have just pushed over, I do feel sorry for you, when I was a youngster I was taught the rules of life it seems that stopped somewhere along the way. Yes the youngster was wrong to tweet that he would waste time, it is obvious that he like a lot on here has lacked discipline in his life.The lad should be punished for being so stupid.”

“This idiot of a ballboy (boy=17?) should be banned from the Stadium. He did Swans and Swansea a major disservice, with all good publicity for this fantastic victory being lost. If he is a "boy" then his parents should also be called to account as all parents should be monitoring what their kids do on the internet. I bet he thinks he is a "man" when out with his mates. Disgraceful.”

“#ballboy
Some of the above comments are disgraceful and a terrible indictment on the people of Swansea.

What I saw was a blatant assault on a young man by an adult who should have known better. If someone had kicked another person in the street like this then I am sure the police would have taken a very dim view of it. It is assault and as such would normally result in investigation by police with the possibility of criminal charge. Tweeters like Cresswell1, LezzT and GowerHooker have missed the point and seem to be more interested in defending thugs like Hazard than upholding the law which we all have to abide by. Why is Hazard so special that he is exonerated? He is just a common thug. The police should have come onto the pitch and arrested him for an assault which they (and millions of other people) witnessed. If this disrupted the match, destabilised Hazard's career and embarrassed his team and supporters then so be it. Until the 'bubble' of football is pierced and people treat the antics of players on and off the pitch seriously then these things will continue. Upholding the law and setting wholesome and decent standards of behaviour is far more important than whether a team wins or not. What the tweeters above fail to grasp is that Hazzard is a role model - do they want their children to grow up thinking it is acceptable to kick others in the ribs just because they behave in a way that they don't agree with? What is particularly cynical is the way the media and tweeters are trying to divert attention from the assault and pin all the blame on this hapless fellow. If people think you are wasting time then you deserve a good kick in the ribs (those who think Hazard was kicking the ball and missed hitting the boy's ribs are living in cloud cuckoo land and just need to see the TV footage again). Is this the sort of society we want to live in?

The real embarrassment to Swansea are those who are so bewitched by the glory of their team that they are overlooking common decency and the need to set honourable examples.”

“the ballboy is just complete scum, he ruined a good match, should be banned from Swansea for life,”

“Should the ball boy have tried to waste time?...Not really in the spirit of sportsmanship is it.

But should a professional sportsman have taken it upon himself to push the guy on the ground and kick him? Quite amazed there is even debate.

Responsibility for match time and the wasting of it lies with the referee, Hazzard had no business trying to wrestle the ball from him, let the referee sort it out and add on additonal time.

That fact that so many fellow professional footballers are attempting to defend him, or debate the issue just proves how low football has sunk, seemingly normal rules of behaviour just do not apply. So if the player had punched him instead, would that be ok? Just trying to get the ball back after all.”

“the ball boy may have tweeted "#timewaster" but we wouldn't know this if an overpaid "role model" had not kicked him. the trouble with online news is it doesn't become tomorrow's chip wrappers. If he was a rugby player, Hazard would be cited.”

“the boy should delete his twitter account,that is if it is his account.the boy was pushed onto the ball by hazard who then proceeded to kick the ball and him.he should @hazard@ be banned for a long time.the police should have also charged hazard.
shame on you evening post,you should be defending this boy not taking the mick out of him.”