They call it a man's game. They also call it the beautiful game but in recent months football seems to have become the brute-iful game.

Many people claim that money and celebrity is ruining the game but there is a much deeper problem threatening the sport.
The first major furore centred around the sickening head injury Chelsea goal-keeper Petr Cech suffered after a clash with Reading's Stephen Hunt in September 2006. As has been well-documented, Hunt kicked Cech in the head when challenging for the ball.

It may have been totally accidental and Hunt did seem to be going for the ball. Non-the-less it left Cech with a fractured skull and he still has to wear a protective helmet when playing to ensure he does not receive any severe knocks to his head.

More recently in September of this year Manchester United were left enraged at a tackle by Middlesbrough's Emmanuel Pogatetz who was red-carded for an horrendous two-footed lunge on Rodrigo Possebon which left the young Brazilian needing oxygen.

And just last weekend Barnsley striker Iain Hume was rushed into intensive care after suffering a skull fracture due to a stray forearm more suited to the WWE by Sheffield United's Chris Morgan in the South Yorkshire derby at Oakwell.

Now these are just three incidents but many more have occurred, up and down the country in the last few years.

Fans may complain about the obscene wages that players earn but when you see careers and even lives put a risk by such terrible tackles the pay packets go out of the window.

It can be said that many players suffered terrible injuries in the bygone years - of course Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann played 15 minutes of the 1956 FA Cup Final with a broken neck.

But back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, football was a horrific sport with anything and everything allowed to go - Leeds United thrived on it!

But we are now in the 21^st Century and with more women and children attending football matches these scenes have to be cut out! The FA have brought in laws to stamp out the raising of arms and two-footed tackles but recent evidence shows some players are not taking a blind bit of notice.

Nobody is saying football should become a non-contact sport and follow the rule of basketball. The sport would simply not be the same if that occurred but for the safety and prosperity of football these dangerous tackles have to be stamped out.

That means heavy fines and bans, not just a couple thousand pounds and a three match suspension. That simply does not work. Players should be suspended for the amount of time the injured player is out of the game. Roy Keane would certainly have learned a lesson if he had to quit the game like Alf Inge Haaland did after 'that' knee high challenge in 2001.

The FA has launched their "Respect" campaign for referees this season. But how can players be expected to respect referees if they cannot even respect their fellow professionals.

Rob Miles