More soccer exceptionalism

Last night, I wrote about the hand-wringing that has resulted from France cheating its way into the World Cup via a blatant handball. I suggested that this reaction would not occur under comparable circumstances in American sports.
Today comes news that the players for Wigan in the English Premier League have said they will personally refund the ticket price to fans who made the trip to North London to witness their 9-1 drubbing at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs’ nine-goal output tied a Premier League record (the Prem has been around for less than 20 years), and was particularly shocking because Wigan isn’t terrible (they sit only one spot below Everton, for goodness sake).
In any event, I wouldn’t expect any American sports team to compensate its fans after a loss, no matter how awful.