Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa have been awarded the FIFA Fair Play award for that infamous Aston Villa clash last season.
Ian Wright has stated that he loves Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa after they were awarded FIFA’s Fair Play award for their actions against Aston Villa last season.
Former defender Richards, who was still on Villa’s books last season, couldn’t believe what he was being told as he thought presenter Mark Chapman was ‘lying’ when he shared the news.
The award is a reaction to the Yorkshire club, led by Marcelo Bielsa, allowing the-now Premier League club to score an uncontested goal at Elland Road last season.
Speaking on the Monday Night Club on BBC Radio 5 Live, this was the reaction of Richards and Wright, as they were being told about Leeds’ award.
“That’s got to be a joke,” Richards laughed on BBC Radio 5 Live. “You have got to be joking. Seriously? You’re lying.”
Wright added: “Nice one. I love Bielsa. I love Leeds and they deserve it.”
Richards was then told that it was because of that Leeds-Villa game when Bielsa allowed Dean Smith’s side to walk the ball into the back of the net: “I thought it was based on yellow cards though,” the former Villa man stated. “Obviously not.”
Last April, with Leeds and Villa heading into the play-offs, Bielsa allowed Villa to score an uncontested goal. It all stemmed from Villa thinking that Leeds were going to kick the ball out of play because of an injury to Jonathan Kodjia.
Whilst it looked like Leeds were going to stop play, they carried on and scored which caused angry reactions from the Villa players and their coaching staff.
That’s when Bielsa intervened and ordered his players to let Villa score, which they did through Albert Adomah, as the game ended up finishing 1-1.
Of course, during that season, Leeds were also involved in Spygate drama with Derby County, as the decision to award the Whites with such an award has been met with a mixed reaction because of that.
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