Chapter 1 Dracula's Press Conference

Dracula's press conference was like dropping an atomic bomb into a pool of stagnant water.

Although it was only a fifteen-minute press conference, and he was the only one speaking, not accepting any form of interviews, he still said far too much.

Especially a lot of things that everyone knew or didn't know before, but didn't dare to say.

The English Football Association has always been targeting Chen Hero—this was indeed clear to everyone. It's just that for one reason or another, everyone tacitly understood and didn't break the news.

But now Dracula revealed it all in one go.

Take the drug test, for example. In any form of competition in the world, drug tests are random. That is to say, there is a chance that you will be selected, and there is also a chance that you will not be selected for testing.

This is for fairness.

But after every Premier League and domestic cup game, Chen Hero would be taken for urine tests. And there was no written explanation for this, no regulations, but the English FA just did it anyway.

Every game was tested, and it had been going on for twelve years.

The English FA's perseverance was truly admirable. But what was even more admirable was their boredom and prejudice.

In the beginning, some media outlets spoke out for Chen Hero, believing this was discrimination. Just because an athlete from China had achieved such brilliant results, they should not be listed as a key monitoring target for stimulants. This practice was tantamount to telling the world that they suspected Chen Hero of taking banned drugs and that there were doubts about Chen Hero's results. This was an insult to Chen Hero. No professional athlete could accept such an insult.

But some media outlets defended the FA, saying that even if they couldn't find anything, it didn't mean Chen Hero was innocent. Who knew if Chen Hero had taken advanced technology that couldn't be detected? As for why they did this... it was because Chen Hero's performance was too abnormal! He was the top scorer in every competition every year. He even led Liverpool to seven championships in eight consecutive years! As long as he and Liverpool participated in the game, there was no suspense. The final championship definitely belonged to Liverpool.

Such terrifying results completely surpassed the limits of humanity. He was either an alien or he had been persistently taking banned drugs. If you don't agree to send Chen Hero to a research institution for dissection, then you must agree to continuous urine tests.

This logic was very unreasonable, but it was quite popular. Because Chen Hero and Liverpool's achievements were too amazing...

In the end, Chen Hero ended the media controversy. First, he denied that he had taken any banned drugs that current technology couldn't detect. He also said that if there was such a thing, the Chinese team would have won the World Cup long ago, instead of celebrating nationwide just for breaking into the finals like they do now.

Secondly, he said that he was not afraid of shadows if he was upright. If the FA wanted to taste his urine every day, he didn't mind giving them a urine test.

It was really strange that such blatant discrimination could be allowed to exist.

In addition, Chen Hero was fouled a lot in the games, but the referees didn't call those actions fouls very often. At first, everyone thought it was just a coincidence, but later, some people who were interested in this matter compiled these statistics and found something wrong.

Later, some media revealed that the English FA had a special regulation for their referees. This regulation would not exist in any written documents, but every referee did know about it. It was a "special rule" specifically targeting Chen Hero. The rule stated that fouls against Chen Hero could be given a lighter penalty or no penalty at all, because if the real rules were followed, other teams would have even less of a chance to deal with Chen Hero and Liverpool. This rule could also be regarded as providing some rule-based support for other teams to break Liverpool's monopoly.

It was a pity that the other teams were too disappointing. Even with the tacit indulgence of the referees, no one could shake Liverpool's dominant position.

This was why Dracula said it wasn't Chen Hero's problem, but the shame of other teams.

You have the help of the referees, and you still can't win. What face do you have to compete with Liverpool for the championship? Do you really want the referee to send five players from Liverpool off the field at the beginning of each game, and then directly award you a 3-0 victory before you are satisfied?

You are truly hopeless!

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Dracula's press conference revealed these things. Some things everyone knew before, some things everyone didn't know.

Now that they were all said, everyone could see and hear them.

Then they thought about it and realized that it was really the case.

The English FA had done a lot of things against Chen Hero and Liverpool in the past ten years. Although they euphemistically said that it was to ensure that Liverpool would not monopolize the championship. But everyone still had some moral cleanliness and thought that it was too much for an official institution to directly intervene. Where was the spirit of "fair play" placed? Even if Liverpool monopolized the championship, there was no evidence to show that their championship was stolen or robbed. In that case, you had no reason to directly intervene.

If the referee personally came down to participate in the game, that would be terrible!

The actions of the English FA set a very dangerous precedent for football. If this example succeeded, it might give other football associations the reason to directly intervene in the game.

In the future, any national football association could impose sanctions on a team on the grounds that the team's results were too exaggerated and too good.

Was AC Milan's fifty-eight-game unbeaten streak too much? It was too much!

Was Lyon's seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles exaggerated? It was exaggerated!

Did Real Madrid's behavior of gathering superstars such as Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Beckham, and Raul make the football world panic? Should it be controlled? It should be controlled!

Was Rosenborg's fourteen consecutive Danish league titles normal? It was too abnormal!

Unfortunately, the football associations didn't have the courage or the precedent to follow at that time. Otherwise, so many great stories in the football world would have been swept away by power long ago.

Now, the English FA had set a "good example" for everyone. They did it with confidence and were not restricted in any way. In the future, when similar situations occur in your country, you can do the same!

No one needs to approve, no one needs to agree, there is no evidence, just a "we suspect" reason, and you can wave the powerful stick of rules and completely kill your eyesore. If anyone questions you, you can righteously say that you are against monopoly, to protect the future of football, and to make football more beautiful...

Anti-monopoly law is truly invincible here!

That is blatant political interference in football, it is power.

This is also the future that the self-proclaimed democratic and free Western people are most worried about.

If the football associations become dictators of football, where will the world's number one sport go?

The media are always good at thinking and exaggerating.

This question, after they rendered it, immediately became a very serious matter. It seemed that if this matter was not handled well, it would not only be a matter of life and death for Liverpool and Chen Hero, but also the life and death of football.

So Dracula's words turned the public opinion around.

Previously, the media criticized Chen Hero en masse, denouncing him as a butcher and a murderer.

Now, with Dracula's secret encouragement and the enthusiastic participation of many reporters who were afraid that the world would not be in chaos, half of the public opinion began to criticize the English FA, questioning what the FA was trying to do, and there were many voices sympathizing with Chen Hero.

This made the FA very embarrassed.

They then issued a strongly worded statement, expressing their indignation and denial of all Dracula's accusations, and reserving the legal right to sue Dracula for defamation.

In response, Dracula responded with an unexpectedly tough attitude: "They are exasperated and angry. Why are they exasperated and angry? Because I hit their sore spot, I hurt them, because I was right! Thank you for the FA's response. You helped me prove to everyone what I said! I am willing to fight a lawsuit, and I am willing to be legally responsible for everything I said!"

For many years, Dracula, Chen Hero's agent who appeared in the media, had been a gentleman who spoke slowly and methodically, and who did not show his emotions. Because Chen Hero had been playing for Liverpool, everyone could not understand the tough side he had at the beginning. Only those companies may know something about it, because they have to talk to Dracula about Chen Hero's endorsement contract. In terms of Chen Hero's interests, Dracula, this vampire, really did not give an inch. He was very, very tough. He would rather break the negotiation than give in. In the end, those companies often surrendered and agreed to all of Dracula's conditions.

But the media did not know these things, and neither did the FA.

Until now, when Chen Hero's career and personal reputation were facing the biggest crisis, Dracula finally showed everyone his tough side.

Many people were thinking that if Dracula had not only focused on serving Chen Hero, perhaps Mendes would have had no chance to become a big shot in European football...

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One press conference reversed the public opinion, and one tough response allowed everyone to see the ugly side of the English FA.

Dracula showed his personal skills to the fullest.

But this was not his biggest goal, nor was it his biggest achievement.

The above were not the heaviest bombs in this press conference.

The fatal blow to the English FA was not these remarks that stripped their pants off, but the last sentence.

They will appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport!

This was what the English FA feared most.

Dracula's one press conference, one sentence, brought a fierce beast to the English FA and even FIFA -- the International Olympic Committee!