RACISM: THE MENACE ABOUT TO SINK FOOTBALL
Football, the beautiful round-leather game, has united the world for more than a century. The game was introduced to The Olympics in 1900 and has been held on every occasion since then apart from the 1932 Los Angeles Games in The United States; in the same vein, the first edition of a FIFA football competition involving the whole world – FIFA World Cup – was held in Uruguay in the year 1930. Since then, football has evolved and developed to one of the best [if not the best] grossing games in the world.
Football has been a source of income and mean of livelihood for the whites and blacks alike, but since its inception in the global scene and the time blacks start going professional, a discrimination tagged “racism” has been a hindrance to the emotional well-being of footballers, development and smooth running of the game. Several football players and officials – majorly of the African and Semitic descents – have being the targets of racial slurs from fans, officials and fellow footballers. Racism seemed to reduce between the year 2000 and 2010 to some extent, but had increased by 43% in the 2018/19 season alone according to Kick it out.
RACISM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
The UK, Poland, Russia and Italy seem to be the hotspots of the menace. In The UK, Racism could be traced back to the 1930's when dark-skinned Everton footballer, Dixie Dean was racially abused in a game in London. In 2004, a TV Sports pundit, Ron Atkinson, resigned from ITV after he was caught referring to ex-Chelsea player, Marcel Desaily as a “fucking lazy thick nigger”. Famous Turkish footballer, Emre Belozoglu was charged by The FA for directing racial insults to Joseph Yobo, Tim Howard and Joleon Lescott in December 2006 but was later found not guilty; in 2014, Emre became the first Turkish footballer to be convicted of racism after he was found guilty of directing racial abuse to Ivorian footballer, Didier Zokora. In 2012, Chelsea captain, John Terry was found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during a premier league match against Queens Park Rangers, Terry was subsequently banned for four games and fined £222,000. Patrice Evra was a victim of racial abuse from Luis Suarez in 2011 after referring to the former as a “negrito”, meaning “little black man” in Spanish; Suarez was found guilty and then banned for eight matches and fined £40,000. Between August and October 2019, Tammy Abraham, Kurt Zouma, Paul Pogba and Marcos Rashford were all racially abused on the social media after making match-costing mistakes. Recently, the European Championship qualifying match between England and Bulgaria was marred by racist chants directed to several England players from the Bulgarian fans, this led to the resignation of the head of Bulgarian Football Union and the national team manager.
ITALY
Netherlands international, Ruud Gullit, Aaron Winter and Paul Ince suffered racial abuse in Italy between 1992 and 1997. One of the best ever to grace the game, George Weah, went physical on an opponent, Jorge Costa on 20th November 1996 during the second leg of a Champions league match between AC Milan and FC Porto because he believed Jorge had directed monkey grumbles at him during both fixtures of the match. In the same vein, Mario Balotelli, Kevin Prince Boateng, Nigel De Jong, Moise Keane and Romelu Lukaku have all being racially abused by either fans or even pundits. An Inter fans group called Curva Nord even went on to say the monkey chants aimed at Lukaku by Cagliari fans in August 2019 was a sign of respect and not racism.
GERMANY
At the height of reaction to racism in Germany was the exit of Mesut Ozil from the German national team in July 2018. He tweeted “In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am immigrant when we lose". Racism in German football did not start that year; in 1994, Julio Cesar threatened to leave Borrusia Dortmund because he was refused entry into a local nightclub because of his black skin. In fact, monkey chants in German football has been replaced by codes such as the number “88” which stands for HH or “Heil Hitler”. Nigerian footballer, Adebowale Ogungbure was once spat on and called “nigger” by opposition fans in a match between his team, Sachen Leipzig and Hallescher FC. To some in Germany, monkey chants at black players is viewed as normal.
SPAIN
Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho received racially-driven verbal abuse from Real Zaragoza fans in February 2005. Eto’o threatened to leave the pitch midway into the game but was stopped by Ronaldinho and the referee who calmed him down. Barcelona won the match 4 – 1 and Eto’o danced like a monkey after the match, saying rival fans treated him like a monkey. The match referee, Fernando Carmona never mentioned the incident in his match report. Another serious case was Villareal fans throwing banana to Dani Alves in a match between Barcelona and Villareal in April 2014. Alves took up the banana and took a bite. Apart from Samuel Eto’o and Dani Alves, Carlos Karmeni, Shaun Wright-Philips, Ashley Cole, Felix Dja Ettien and Dalian Atkinson have all been racially abused in Spain.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Some initiatives and campaigns such as Kick it Out and Show Racism the Red Card have refused to work in combating racism in football. Countless racial allegations have been made all around the footballing world and several punishments have been dished out to offenders, but authorities seem to see racism as a “misdemeanor” since some other offences attract heavier sanctions than the act. For example, the monkey chants by Bulgarian fans aimed at certain black players in the Three Lions team attracted a fine of £34,230 while Nicklas Bendtner was fined £80,000 for an unauthorized advert in his pants. In addition, wearing of Anti-Racism shirts has not done anything to reduce the menace because even a racist person could decide to put one on. In an interview with Wall Street Journal, Raheem Sterling suggested the teams of racist fans should be punished by points deduction. In the wake of the racial abuse directed at Jason Euell on 22 September 2009 by a Stoke City fan, Harry Redknapp suggested fans who commit the act must be imprisoned and not just be banned from football. In 2005, the abuse by Zaragoza fans made Eto’o suggest that the stadium must be shut down for a year; though it sounds outrageous, closing down stadiums in which footballers get racially abused would reduce the menace to a bearable minimum. Chelsea chairman, Bruce Buck suggested the solution to racism was education. Yes! Education of everyone especially the young on how bad racism is seem to be a very prudent way-forward, but more should be done. Racism did not just start yesterday, in fact, racism is arguably one of the motivation for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade! One of the potent solutions to racism in football and in every other place it is perpetrated is the issuing of a public apology to the Black World followed by a very specific education that colour is not a sign of superiority and that no human is superior in any way since blacks could donate blood to anyone who has the same blood group as them. This should not just be started by The FA, UEFA or FIFA but by international economic organisations such as The UN, NATO, AU and EU.
Kayode Kolade Christopher
Member, Whistle Sports Group (WSG).
Football has been a source of income and mean of livelihood for the whites and blacks alike, but since its inception in the global scene and the time blacks start going professional, a discrimination tagged “racism” has been a hindrance to the emotional well-being of footballers, development and smooth running of the game. Several football players and officials – majorly of the African and Semitic descents – have being the targets of racial slurs from fans, officials and fellow footballers. Racism seemed to reduce between the year 2000 and 2010 to some extent, but had increased by 43% in the 2018/19 season alone according to Kick it out.
RACISM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
The UK, Poland, Russia and Italy seem to be the hotspots of the menace. In The UK, Racism could be traced back to the 1930's when dark-skinned Everton footballer, Dixie Dean was racially abused in a game in London. In 2004, a TV Sports pundit, Ron Atkinson, resigned from ITV after he was caught referring to ex-Chelsea player, Marcel Desaily as a “fucking lazy thick nigger”. Famous Turkish footballer, Emre Belozoglu was charged by The FA for directing racial insults to Joseph Yobo, Tim Howard and Joleon Lescott in December 2006 but was later found not guilty; in 2014, Emre became the first Turkish footballer to be convicted of racism after he was found guilty of directing racial abuse to Ivorian footballer, Didier Zokora. In 2012, Chelsea captain, John Terry was found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during a premier league match against Queens Park Rangers, Terry was subsequently banned for four games and fined £222,000. Patrice Evra was a victim of racial abuse from Luis Suarez in 2011 after referring to the former as a “negrito”, meaning “little black man” in Spanish; Suarez was found guilty and then banned for eight matches and fined £40,000. Between August and October 2019, Tammy Abraham, Kurt Zouma, Paul Pogba and Marcos Rashford were all racially abused on the social media after making match-costing mistakes. Recently, the European Championship qualifying match between England and Bulgaria was marred by racist chants directed to several England players from the Bulgarian fans, this led to the resignation of the head of Bulgarian Football Union and the national team manager.
ITALY
Netherlands international, Ruud Gullit, Aaron Winter and Paul Ince suffered racial abuse in Italy between 1992 and 1997. One of the best ever to grace the game, George Weah, went physical on an opponent, Jorge Costa on 20th November 1996 during the second leg of a Champions league match between AC Milan and FC Porto because he believed Jorge had directed monkey grumbles at him during both fixtures of the match. In the same vein, Mario Balotelli, Kevin Prince Boateng, Nigel De Jong, Moise Keane and Romelu Lukaku have all being racially abused by either fans or even pundits. An Inter fans group called Curva Nord even went on to say the monkey chants aimed at Lukaku by Cagliari fans in August 2019 was a sign of respect and not racism.
GERMANY
At the height of reaction to racism in Germany was the exit of Mesut Ozil from the German national team in July 2018. He tweeted “In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am immigrant when we lose". Racism in German football did not start that year; in 1994, Julio Cesar threatened to leave Borrusia Dortmund because he was refused entry into a local nightclub because of his black skin. In fact, monkey chants in German football has been replaced by codes such as the number “88” which stands for HH or “Heil Hitler”. Nigerian footballer, Adebowale Ogungbure was once spat on and called “nigger” by opposition fans in a match between his team, Sachen Leipzig and Hallescher FC. To some in Germany, monkey chants at black players is viewed as normal.
SPAIN
Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho received racially-driven verbal abuse from Real Zaragoza fans in February 2005. Eto’o threatened to leave the pitch midway into the game but was stopped by Ronaldinho and the referee who calmed him down. Barcelona won the match 4 – 1 and Eto’o danced like a monkey after the match, saying rival fans treated him like a monkey. The match referee, Fernando Carmona never mentioned the incident in his match report. Another serious case was Villareal fans throwing banana to Dani Alves in a match between Barcelona and Villareal in April 2014. Alves took up the banana and took a bite. Apart from Samuel Eto’o and Dani Alves, Carlos Karmeni, Shaun Wright-Philips, Ashley Cole, Felix Dja Ettien and Dalian Atkinson have all been racially abused in Spain.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Some initiatives and campaigns such as Kick it Out and Show Racism the Red Card have refused to work in combating racism in football. Countless racial allegations have been made all around the footballing world and several punishments have been dished out to offenders, but authorities seem to see racism as a “misdemeanor” since some other offences attract heavier sanctions than the act. For example, the monkey chants by Bulgarian fans aimed at certain black players in the Three Lions team attracted a fine of £34,230 while Nicklas Bendtner was fined £80,000 for an unauthorized advert in his pants. In addition, wearing of Anti-Racism shirts has not done anything to reduce the menace because even a racist person could decide to put one on. In an interview with Wall Street Journal, Raheem Sterling suggested the teams of racist fans should be punished by points deduction. In the wake of the racial abuse directed at Jason Euell on 22 September 2009 by a Stoke City fan, Harry Redknapp suggested fans who commit the act must be imprisoned and not just be banned from football. In 2005, the abuse by Zaragoza fans made Eto’o suggest that the stadium must be shut down for a year; though it sounds outrageous, closing down stadiums in which footballers get racially abused would reduce the menace to a bearable minimum. Chelsea chairman, Bruce Buck suggested the solution to racism was education. Yes! Education of everyone especially the young on how bad racism is seem to be a very prudent way-forward, but more should be done. Racism did not just start yesterday, in fact, racism is arguably one of the motivation for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade! One of the potent solutions to racism in football and in every other place it is perpetrated is the issuing of a public apology to the Black World followed by a very specific education that colour is not a sign of superiority and that no human is superior in any way since blacks could donate blood to anyone who has the same blood group as them. This should not just be started by The FA, UEFA or FIFA but by international economic organisations such as The UN, NATO, AU and EU.
Kayode Kolade Christopher
Member, Whistle Sports Group (WSG).
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