It was a crunchy tackle that was not even sanctioned by the referee, but the end result is that Newcastle will be without Hatem Ben Arfa for most of the season. The promising Frenchman broke his leg in the match against Manchester City two weeks ago.

The culprit was Nigel de Jong, who will be remembered for his chest-high killer tackle on a Spanish player during the World Cup final Holland lost last July. Apparently, the Dutchman did not learn from his mistake in South Africa.

After his incident with Ben Arfa, Holland suspended the midfielder for two games, and he did not play in the Euro 2010 qualifying matches against Moldova and Sweden over the last few days. Manchester City did not take any action against its player.

But there is more to it than just a suspension, although it must be admitted that Holland must be commended for their initiative. The Dutch squad deprived itself of its player in spite of his eligibility, but it wanted to set an example. Such tackles, voluntary or involuntary, should never be allowed to go unpunished in football.

The worse off will be Newcastle. The valuable Frenchman was one of the key players in the side that is aiming to retain its place in the English Premier League. Newcastle will now have to make do without him for a substantial part of the season, and this will no doubt affect their performances and dent their ambitions. It must also be remembered that Newcastle will still have to pay Ben Arfa his salary while he is recovering.

But it is not only Newcastle who have been affected. Ben Arfa is a Marseille player, and is on loan with the English club. The value of a player diminishes following such a serious injury, and Marseille are looking into the possibility of suing De Jong. Newcastle’s dues for Ben Arfa depended on his performances, and the French player had to play at least 25 of the 38 English Premier League games for the full payment to be made. He will not get anywhere near those 25 games now.

What can be done in these circumstances? Some say that, although the referee did not book de Jong as he deemed the tackle to be fair, the Dutchman should still be suspended for a number of games. In this case, however, video evidence is not a valid option as the referee saw what happened and waved play on.

Others go further and propose that the player who made the tackle and hurt an opponent should be suspended for the duration of time his injured opponent takes to recover. This is perhaps an exaggerated suggestion, but at the same time is it fair that a player is knocked out of play for six months while the opponent whose tackle is threatening his career is allowed to go on as if nothing happened?

It is hard to imagine FIFA going for this type of punishment for the aggressor, but then there should be some form of compensation for the aggrieved player and the club he plays for. In a tough game like football, accidents can happen anytime, but there are some that could be avoided if the players are more careful and respect their opponents the way they should.

The de Jong-Ben Arfa incident is not the first of its kind and neither will it be the last. What is unfortunate is that, each time something like this happens, there is always talk of what needs to be done to curb such situations. Soon enough, however, the matter is forgotten.

Until the next time a player has his leg broken in two.