From Robbie Fowler's pretend coke-sniffing to Paul Gascoigne getting imaginary booze poured down his throat, goal celebrations have been a colourful part of soccer for years.
Roger Milla's dance around the corner flag and Diego Maradona's wild charge toward a TV camera are memories from the World Cup.
But Emmanuel Adebayor's celebration in front of Arsenal fans last weekend has dragged the game into the mire.
After scoring against his former club, the Manchester City striker raced the length of the field in a sprint almost worthy of world-record holder Usain Bolt and slid dramatically in front of Gunners fans who had been taunting him.
Adebayor's flamboyant gestures inflamed them into hurling objects at him. One of the stewards trying to control the snarling fans was knocked unconscious and a moment of celebration was turned into a scene of violence.
The Togo striker apologized afterward, but the damage had been done. Although the behaviour of the Arsenal fans before and after the goal was inexcusable, he now faces the possibility of disciplinary action at a time when his new club has three other strikers injured.
Soccer authorities have spent the last few years trying to curb excessive celebrations, ordering referees to show the yellow card to players who take off their shirts to either wave, throw into the crowd or show a message underneath.
While such celebrations are not generally meant to cause offence or incite opposing fans and players, soccer authorities fear they could lead to serious problems if they don't take a strong line.
Manchester United captain Gary Neville was fined after celebrating a winning goal scored by a teammate against Liverpool by running the length of the Old Trafford field and celebrating in front of his opponents' followers.
Sometimes, the celebrations have political tones.
Paolo Di Canio marked a goal he scored for Lazio with a fascist salute and Gascoigne was fined two weeks' wages for playing an imaginary flute in front of Celtic fans after scoring. The flute is a symbol of the Protestant Orangemen and the Celtic supporters are staunchly Catholic.
Adebayor says he has no real beef with Arsenal and could have joined those players who famously chose not to celebrate after scoring against their former teams.
Lukas Podolski was close to tears after scoring for Bayern Munich against former club FC Cologne. When Red Devils great Dennis Law backheeled the ball into the United net while playing for Man City, he refused to join in the celebrations knowing his former club was being relegated.
Adebayor had the opportunity to do the same.
If he had ignored the taunts and simply let the goal be his response, there would have been no violent scenes in the stands and he would not be in danger of a suspension.
