Frank Lampard has underlined the irony in Leeds United receiving the FIFA FairPlay award this week, after Marcelo Bielsa’s controversial role in ‘Spygate’.

Leeds allowed Aston Villa to score an unopposed goal in their 1-1 draw back in April, after Bielsa’s side refused to knock the ball out of play due to an injury and scored through Mateusz Klich.

That act of goodwill was rewarded this week at FIFA’s awards, causing some surprise.

Amongst those surprised is now-Chelsea boss, Lampard.

Last year, Lampard was in-charge of Derby and, like Bielsa, was caught up in the ‘Spygate’ scandal that saw the Leeds boss admit to spying on the Rams’ training ahead of a clash in January.

Lampard commented on Leeds’ award this week, highlighting the irony and why he felt it was strange.

“I did smile. Do we know who votes for these things?” Lampard said, as quoted by the Independent.

“What happened with Spygate was very well documented, and then they got fined, the rules changed slightly because of it, I felt it was improper.

“To get a fair play award off the back of that is...I thought it was irony at first.

“It was a strange decision for them to win that.

“I think everyone had the same reaction (to the fair play award), to be fair, because a lot of news was put to Spygate. 

“And I think quite rightly so and it got dealt with in the right way, so when you go and give an award for fair play in the same year then I don’t think it’s right.”

The game against Villa came later in the season when ‘Spygate’ had been dealt with, but Lampard felt it was right that Leeds allowed Villa to score.

“The moment in itself when you look back, I remember watching the game, it was a dead rubber against Villa,” Lampard continued. 

“It was quite right that they gave Villa the opportunity to score, quite right to level out the balance of what happened.”  

The Verdict  

Lampard might’ve moved on in terms of who he is managing, but there is clearly still a lot of anger about what happened with Spygate.

Obviously, given Leeds’ role in that incident, it is quite surprising to see them win the FairPlay award, but the act against Villa was good to see.

There was no need for the Whites to let Villa score – it isn’t in the rules that you have to stop play for an injury – but it shows the class Bielsa does have despite the Spygate saga.

Thoughts? Let us know!