Sol Campbell - the man who left Arsenal to play football abroad and took a job at Portsmouth - has claimed that footballers' human rights are violated when supporters give them verbal abuse from the stands.
The ex England international this week called on governing body the FA to clamp down on supporters chanting abuse at players. They are professionals trying to do a job and being subjected to unfair criticism, he claimed.
Now let's ignore for a moment the fact that Campbell is quite happy to take the fans' money, and to earn more for 90 minutes' 'work' than most of those fans take home in a couple of years.
We won't dwell on the delight Sol takes in walking around at the end of games with his shirt off lapping up the applause of those supporters when his team wins.
Most of the abuse Sol gets is from Spurs fans furious that their hero walked out of the club for free to join fierce rivals Arsenal simply because they would pay him more money. But let's not consider that either.
There have also long been shadowy allusions to Sol's mental state, especially since he disappeared for several days after leaving a match at half-time. But we will leave such unsavoury gossip aside as well.
Indeed, why don't we steer clear altogether of this laughable notion that millionaire footballers should be free from criticism from the hard-working masses that pay their wages to play 'the people's game'?
Instead, let's look at one of the best mixed metaphors ever to be used in the field of workers' rights. The FA, it seems, have quite a domestic challenge...
"They have let us down because they have sat idle, head in the sand and tried to brush the problem under the carpet," moaned Sol.
Now sweeping something under the carpet can be tough at the best of times, but doing it while sat idle with your head in a sandpit is even tougher. I suggest Sol looks at a job in floor sweeping - I'm sure plenty would swop jobs with him, with or without the odd nasty chant from the stands.
