Ball boys being kicked around by a Chelsea star in the Premier League is never good, what type of punishment should Eden Hazard get for the red card?
As if things weren't bad enough already for Chelsea.
The club was eliminated from the League Cup with a 0-0 tie at Swansea in the semifinals on Wednesday night, but all the talk afterwards was about Eden Hazard, who was sent off the pitch for kicking a ball boy after he became frustrated when the boy did not give up the ball quick enough.
Late in the match, the ball was kicked aside and off an advertising board located behind the goal line area in at Swansea's Liberty Stadium. The 17-year-old ball boy walked towards the ball and picked it up, just as Hazard ran to get the ball for the upcoming goal kick.
As he reached the area, the boy fell down with the ball under him, prompting Hazard to try to lean over and grab the ball free. The Belgian used both hands to try to pull it away, kicking at the young ball boy in the process.
"Demba Ba told me the ball boy held on to it," Swansea defender Ashley Williams told Sky Sports 1. "I saw him kick him in the rib and you can't do that to a young boy."
Hazard took the ball and jogged back on the field, leaving the boy rolled on his side grabbing his ribs. According to ESPN.com, the ball boy worked for the team for six years.
Following the play, Hazard was given a red card by referee Chris Foy in the 80th minute, making a number of Chelsea players react loudly, since they felt Hazard was just trying to get the ball back in play quickly. The team could not push through any goals. Allowing Swansea to advance with the total-goal series on 2-0 aggregate. Swanseanext will play fourth-tier Bradford in the final at Wembley on Feb. 24.
"Chelsea invited the ball boy into the dressing room after the game to shake hands with Hazard and both parties apologized," Swansea said in a statement. "The ball boy was very impressed with the welcome he received from the Chelsea players and as far as both clubs and individuals are concerned the matter is closed."
Hazard later apologized for the incident and spoke to Chelsea TV to clarify what happened during the match.
"The boy put his whole body onto the ball and I was just trying to kick the ball and I think I kicked the ball and not the boy. I apologize," he explained. "The ball boy came in the changing room and we had a quick chat and I apologized and the boy apologized as well, and it is over. Sorry."
The report quoted Chelsea manager Rafael from his post-game press conference, saying that he agreed with Hazard's telling of about the events.
"Eden Hazard has been in to see the ball boy and the two have apologised to each other," Benitez said. The ball boy knows he was wasting time. We are disappointed to lose the player but we cannot change things. They both recognise there was a mistake. The boy was apologising for time wasting. Hazard was frustrated and tried to get the ball. He was kicking the ball and getting the ball. We can analyze if for half an hour but we know that both are wrong."
Following the game, the ball boy and his family was interviewed by police.
"South Wales Police interviewed the 17-year-old ball boy with his father after the game and neither wished to press any charges," Swansea said. "It was an unfortunate incident which both parties regret being involved in."
The club itself made some waves with a tweet that was written after the incident on their official account, which has over 1.79 million followers, writing: "Has football gone mad? Hazard is sent off for kicking the ball under a ball boy attempting to smother the ball rather than return it."
Later Chelsea apologized for the tweet, writing: "Apologies for earlier ballboy tweet. Hazard has now met with the ballboy and has said sorry."
Making the situation even more awkward for both sides, according to ESPN.com, Press Association Sport reports that the ballboy involved in the scuffle with Hazard is Charley Morgan, the son of Swansea director Martin Morgan.
ESPN reported that the ball boy wrote on his Twitter account hours before the game: "The king of all ball boys is back making his final appearance #needed #for #timewasting".
Following the match, Swansea manager Michael Laudrup said Hazard would regret his actions.
"The ball boy should have let the ball go, but he was pushed first and then he kicks him," Laudrup said. "As a player when you are behind, your pulse is very high and sometimes you say and do things. You overreact. But there are some things you cannot do."
The incident with Hazard took away from the spotlight on Swansea, who reached their first major cup final in 100 years.
"Over two legs Chelsea had the ball more than us," Laudrup said. "That is normal, that is Chelsea, but today they didn't really have any good chances. We had some good chances. They had to score at least two but to be honest we deserved it. They didn't score once in 180 minutes.
Hazard has scored six goals and added six assists in 23 Premier League games this season, which is his first with Chelsea after coming over from Lille on a 32 million pound ($51 million) transfer fee. He is considered to be one of the top young players in the game, but the ball boy incident could follow him for a while.
Hazard came onto the scene as a youngster and later won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year Award in 2008-09. Chelsea hadn't lost in three straight matches after drawing with Southampton and defeating Arsenal 2-1. The last loss for the club was against Swansea City back on Jan. 9 in the first Capital One Cup match, when they fell 2-0.
